The tools required for this project are a thin blade screwdriver, needle nose pliers, wire strippers, razor knife or sheet rock saw.

If you have an existing outlet on the other side of the wall, you can do this quit easily.  First make sure the power is off at the existing outlet. Remove the cover and the receptacle screws. Gently pull the receptacle out of the box.  Next take a thin blade screw drive and push on the edge of the box untill it goes out the other side of the wall. This will show you where the stud is on the other side. Measure the box and mark the wall. Use a sheetrock saw or razor knife to cut the opening out. remove the plugs so you can run the romex wire from the existing box to the new box. With the wire inside of the new box, push the box in place and screw it to the stud. Strip the romex about 4 inches and strip the black and white wires about 1/2 inch and connect the to the new receptacle. black on gold screw,white on silver screw and bare ground on the green screw. Install the receptacle and mount the cover. Go to existing receptacle and repeat the connection the same as the new receptacle. reinstall the receptacle and cover and turn the power on-you are done!

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The tools required to replace the exhaust fan are: flashlight, wire strippers, needle nose pliers, screw drivers and nut drivers. See tool list

When going into the attic, be very careful to step on the ceiling joist and not between or you can be hurt or at least damage the ceiling sheet rock.

To replace the exhaust fan, first verify that the power is turned off.  You can turn the breaker off or if the breaker is not marked, using a multimeter, verify the voltage is off by shutting the breakers off one at a time and reading the voltage at the exhaust fan connections. ( They are usually connected with wire nuts that you can carefully remove to check the voltage. After the power is turned off and verified disconnect the wires from the exhaust fan. The wires may be physically attached to the exhaust fan by a clamp which can be loosened to pull the wire out of the exhaust fan. Most fan motors have 3 screws holding them to the housing. Remove the mounting screws and pull the exhaust fan out. By doing this you do not have to climb a ladder on outside to rremove the exhaust fan. Then reinstall the fan with the mounting screws and reconnect the wires. Turn on voltage and verify that the exhaust fan is working and you are done.

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Remove the bulbs and the center cover. The center is usually held by tabs. You can squeeze the cover and get it out of the tabs on either side and drop it down from the fixture. Carefully remove the wire nut from the black wire coming out of the ceiling and connected to the ballast. Note: this is the “hot’ wire. Use the lineman pliers to seperate the black wires. You can put the wire nut on the wire that comes out of the ceiling for safety while removing the ballast. Disconnect the white wire in similar fashion. Next use the wire strippers to cut the remaining wire connected to the ballast within 2 or 3 inches of the ballast. Use the nut driver to remove the nuts holding the ballast in place. Note: the ballast me be physically warm to touch. you can use a rag or cardboard to hold the ballast while removing the wire nuts. The ballast will have a model number on it. Most home florescent lights have 120volt ac ballasts that can be purchased at the local hardware store.

Use the nut driver to install the ballast. Connect the red wire to red wire and the blue wire to blue wire. The 2 yellow wires on the ballast are then connected to the 2 yellow wires going to the light sockets. You can twist the slack wire together to keep it tucked under the cover. Connect the white wire to white wire and last connect the black wire to black wire. Replace the cover and bulbs and you are done!

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• multimeter
• screw drivers
• wire strippers
• flashlight
• needle nose plier
• Step ladder

To find the necessary tools at an affordable price visit Tools For Household Electrical Repairs

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The first step is to make sure that the power is off. If the breaker panel is marked shut off the proper breaker. Next check to see if power is off. You can do this by removing the switch cover plate and loosening the switch mounting screws. Set the multimeter on the proper ac voltage scale and with the switch turned off place the leads on the 2 connections with insulated wires connected. The multimeter should read 0volts. If not go back and recheck all the 120volt breakers until you show 0volts.

At this point you can remove the 2 light fixture attaching screws and carefully pull the fixture down from the ceiling about 5 or 6 inches. Disconnect the 2 insulated wires and the bare ground wire from the fixture.

You are now ready to install the new light fixture. Connect the 2 insulated wires and the ground wire. Note the new light will probably have short wires to connect to the existing wiring. If the old fixture had screw connections cut off the end and strip about 1/2 inch and use wire nuts to connect the new fixture. Next mount the new fixture to the ceiling box with the to attaching screws and replace the bulbs and light shield. Next reinstall the light switch and switch cover. then turn on the breaker and you are done!

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Changing out the doorbell push button is a quick and easy procedure. Most doorbell push buttons do not wear out, They usually have sustained some kind of physical damage such as button stuck or broken.Most push buttons are very similar in size and have 2 screws attaching the push button to the wall.

The doorbells controls are usually low voltage and you do not need to disconnect power to change them. The only tools required are a screwdriver and needle nose pliers.

The first step is to remove the 2 attaching screws and pull the pushbutton out from the wall. Then remove the 2 wires from the pushbutton.

Next connect the 2 wires to the new pushbutton. Note it does not matter which way you connect the 2 wires as long as one is on each side of the pushbutton. Attach the new pushbutton to the wall and you are done!

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This procedure is a simple process that requires only afew tools. these include a multimeter, needlenose pliers and a thin blade screwdriver and possibly a sharp knife if there is a lot of paint on the edge of the receptacle cover.

First remove the cover plate screw and pull the cover plate off. Remove the screws from each end of the receptacle and gently pull the receptacle from the box by grasping the receptacle at the ends where the screws were.

Again, make sure that the power is off before disconnecting the wires from the receptacle. First, see if the breaker panel is properly marked. Shut off the correct breaker. If the panel is not marked, you can shut off all the 120volt breakers ( the narrow breakers with only one terminal). then set the multimeter on the 250 vac scale and touch 1 lead to the ground lead (the bare wire) and the other lead to the black wire connection and then to the white wire connection.
You should not show a voltage on either test. If you show about 120 volts, go back and recheck the breakers to make sure you have power off at the receptacle. When the test shows 0 volts, you can remove the wires from the receptacle.

Note: the receptacle may have 2 sets of wires on all connections. If it does be sure to get them all reconnected properly or you may have another receptacle not working.

The black wire goes on the gold colored screw and the white wire goes on the silver screw. The ground wire (bare wire) goes on the green screw.

After all the wires are connected, reinstall the receptacle and replace the cover plate. then turn on the breaker and use the multimeter to see if you have 120 volts – depending on your location, the multimeter will show between 110volts and 130 volts and that is OK.

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The next option is to replace the switch yourself. This can be task can be accomplished in a short time with few tools. the tools required are a thin bladed screwdriver, needle nose pliers and a multimeter. The light switch can be purchased from a local hardware store, usually for $2 or $3.

Note: The tools required to do the repairs are not necessarily expensive. A Palm-Size Digital Multimeter Tool, DT830B can be purchased for less than $20. A Fuller 405-2925 Pro 5-Inch Long Nose Cutting Plier with Comfort Grips can be purchased for less than $10. If you have a regular flat head screwdriver, it will probably do the job.

The first step is to remove the 2 screws that hold the switch cover in place. Next remove the 2 screws that hold the switch in place and grasping the switch where the screws were, gently pull out from the switch box.

At this time make sure that the power to the switch is off. If the breaker panel is well marked,turn off the proper breaker. Then go to the switch and test to make sure the voltage is off. To do this set the multimeter on the 250vac scale. Place 1 lead on the ground wire ( it will be bare) and the other lead on the other leads, one at a time. If either test shows voltage of about 120 volts, the power is still on. You can try turning off the breakers 1 at a time and repeating the multimeter test you will find the correct circuit to turn off. You can also turn off all of the 120volt breakers (they are the ones with only 1 narrow bar to turn off) to be sure. After making sure that the power is off, you can disconnect the switch.

Mark the wires and remove them one at a time. reconnect the wires on the new switch and install the switch in the switch box. replace the switch cover and the the last step is turn the breaker back on.

As you can see, the light switch replacement can be done quickly and much cheaper than calling an electrician and waiting for an appointment.

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