Cables, can lights, and switches: Oh my!

I found out about this Home Wiring book on Amazon.com. One of the reviewers claimed that this book taught her everything she needed to know to wire her whole basement.

I was skeptical. But, we had priced out a small two-room job to local contractors, and they quoted me $100 per recessed light. There had to be a better way...

So, I got the book from the library, read it and re-read it, and then got to work. Two weeks (and lots of trips to Home Depot) later, we had pulled out all the existing wiring in the basement, replaced half a dozen old receptacles, learned to differentiate 15amp and 20 amp circuits and arc fault/ground fault issues, ran 500' of electrical wiring through all the walls and ceiling joists, relocated 3 incandescent lights to our two storage rooms, accidently cut (and then restored) power to the exterior lights in front of the house, installed 18 recessed lights, a 4-way switch paired between two 3-way switches (so that the boys can turn on the stairwell lights from their bedroom, the bottom of the stairs or the top of the stairs), two interconnected smoke/CO detectors, 29 receptacles, a bathroom fan, five wall sconces, vanity lighting, new circuits for the bathroom and workshop, and a subpanel to handle the new circuits.

Not surprisingly, I was a bit nervous for our electrical inspection. I had used every electrical know-how I had in wiring this basement. If something (or tons of things, more likely) were not "up to code" how would I know how to fix it? I certainly didn't want to put all this time and sweat into the wiring, only to have to call an electrician to bail me out at the last minute. Alas, my worries were in vain. We passed with flying colors!

And, learning how to do the work myself brought the cost of each recessed light down to...
$5.35!

Above is a small sampling of the electrical gadgets and gizmos that made their home on our dungeon floor over the past few weeks: can lights, cables, sconces, baffle trims, receptacles, wire nuts, etc.
Here's a bowmaking workshop / airplane hanger in progress...20 amp circuit for running drill presses, grinders, etc. All protected against ground fault currents.

Recessed lighting between the studs. Each of the boys hammered in the lights above their future beds.

Here's one of my handymen drilling a hole through the framing for running a new electric cable. Sure, it looks a little scary, but we shut down power to anything we worked with, and none of us were ever shocked.



And, since we didn't have enough room in our 40-year old electric service panel (above), we installed a new subpanel that gives us a few more openings for the basement remodel, and future additions (hint, hint)!!!