No room for error with electrical wiring
the wires/cables on a specific circuit protected by a circuit breaker must match the rating of the breaker. Are you confused yet? I think you can see where this is going.
Things you might not even consider come into play. The location of the drilled holes in wall studs and floor joists is critical. The NEC discusses this, and you don’t want drywall screws or finish trim nails puncturing your cables. The number of cables that can be stacked on top of one another when nailed to a wood stud is important too.
You need to understand how many conductors, or individual wires, are allowed inside certain boxes. The NEC discusses the cubic-inch volume of boxes and relates it to the number and size of the conductors. Some modern boxes have the maximum count printed on them. Is your head spinning yet? We’ve still got so much more to discuss!
Wiring for three-way and four-way switches is not hard, but you need to understand how it all works. A few years ago, I recorded two separate videos showing how to wire up each switch, and these are on AsktheBuilder.com. I prefer using a special cable, called a 3 wire, between these switches. This cable contains an extra wire in it that normally has red insulation on it. After watching my videos, you’ll understand why this special cable with the extra conductor is so helpful.
You’ll need to fully understand the different circuit breakers that are now required by the NEC. I clearly remember years ago when the ground-fault circuit interrupter breaker was first introduced into the code. Not only are you required to use those in certain wet locations, but the NEC also now requires an additional arc-fault circuit interrupter breaker on many other circuits.
Here’s my advice. Seriously consider hiring an electrician who will allow you to do lots of the mundane work such as nailing up the boxes, running the cables between them and even allowing you to connect up many of the switches and outlets after the drywall is up. But allow the electrician to do all the truly complex aspects that only come with years of experience.
Don’t forget, there’s a very special way that the wires are stripped and looped onto the screws on outlets and switches. Mess this up and you likely will become a grim statistic.