DIY Network

Electrical Work: To Subcontract or Not? From "Be Your Own Contractor" episode DBYC-106

Some of our do-it-yourself contractors had the electrical and engineering experience required to wire their own houses. If you have any doubts about your own qualifications and expertise with regard to electrical work, don't hesitate to hire professionals. This is not a job that you can afford to do wrong.

In this episode of DIY's Be Your Own Contractor our do-it-yourselfers share with us the experience of getting their electrical work done while acting as their own contractor. We see that many of them had electrical experience so they did their own electric work. They discuss the importance of advance planning, as exemplified by one contractor who planned out every electrical detail including a place to conceal his panel box behind a piece of framed art. We hear stories about electrical installations including some of the mistakes that were made. Finally, we see how some of our contractors went above and beyond by installing special electrical and home-automation features in their homes.

In this segment, the do-it-yourselfers discuss the importance of planning electrical work and their decision as to whether to sub-contract or do the work themselves.

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Electrical: Who's Doing the Work?

• Alan Sain acknowledges that most home-builders opt to hire sub-contractors to do their electrical work, and with good reason. Mistakes with this job can be costly, and can lead to serious damage or personal injury. Alan, however, has an electrical and engineering background, and felt confident enough to do all of the electrical wiring for his home in Butler, PA (figures A and B). Alan felt that subcontractors, though generally qualified and talented, may not put the level of personal attention into the installation that he could himself.

  Figure A

  Figure B

  
  
• Doug Kerr had some difficulty finding an electrician who could do the electrical wiring for his steel-framed house in Los Angeles. In order to stay on schedule, Doug was forced to do the work himself. He had done some minor electrical work in the past, but enlisted sought some experience and help from his brother-in-law for this whole-house installation (figures C and D).

  Figure C

  Figure D

  
  
• John Spracklen (figure E) planned the locations and installed the boxes and outlets in his Olmstead, Kentucky early on in his project, allowing ample time to make minor modifications to the plan -- e.g., more convenient switch or outlet locations (figure F). Without this kind of advance planning, homeowners typically find themselves "stuck" with the quick and sometimes haphazard decisions made by the electrical contractor at the time of the installation.

  Figure E

  Figure F

  
  

  	Figure G
  	Figure H
  	Figure I

• Fred Samuels did all of the wiring for his home in Rockwood, Tennessee (figures G and H). He was opposed to use of overhead house-wiring, and ran his own underground line to his home. He advises those building homes to anticipate their family's needs in setting up the electrical service, and devote more time and planning to the endeavor than you think is necessary.

• Skip Weahunt of Fair Oaks, California suggests that one money-saving option for the do-it-yourselfer is to hire an electrician to do the basic rough-in wiring for the home, but then do the trim work yourself. The trim work would include installation of light fixtures, electrical outlets, switches and other electrical accessories.

• Lynn Underwood of Vail, Arizona suggests asking a subcontractor what you can do for them that might lower the overall cost of the job. This might include simple jobs like cutting holes in the wall-studs to run wiring (figure I), nail in the outlet boxes, install light boxes, etc.