Electrical Repairs You Can Do Yourself [Series]

[fa icon="calendar"] April 01, 2014 / by Home Services Expert

DIY Maybe it was a handy father or grandfather who showed you a thing or two about basic electrical repairs. Or maybe you had the chance to watch a professional electrician at work and a light bulb of a different kind went off and you thought, “Hey now. I think I can do this repair, too.”

Whatever your motivation, Experts In Your Home would like to encourage that DIY spirit by presenting a series of articles on basic electrical repairs which will be appearing soon on our blog.

Please remember the key word here: “basic” repairs. Complex repairs or those that result from a fire or other emergency are always best left to licensed Chico electricians. The types of repairs we have in mind include:

1. How to safely change a light bulb

There's more to this topic than you might think; we're especially thinking about those people who, for whatever reason, don't heed the wattage limits on their lamps and other lighting fixtures.

2. How to repair an extension cord

Round up those broken or cut extension cords now because if your home is like many others, you have at least a few cords that you're reluctant to throw away (and now you won't have to).

3. How to fix a broken doorbell

Ironically, this is one repair we often stumble upon when we arrive at a customer's home to make another repair. While there's nothing wrong with a good ol' knock on the door, we don't want our customers to miss other guests or deliveries.

4. How to replace a light switch, with the option of a dimmer

No matter how skilled and competent your home builder, chances are that there is a light switch somewhere in your house that malfunctions—or casts a bright light that you would like to soften.

5. How to properly install a ceiling fan

If you've found the directions contained in the box of a fan to be somewhat lacking, you wouldn't be alone. From what our customers tell us, they would have a few more ceiling fans in their homes if they knew how to install them on their own. (And why not? Ceiling fans are great energy savers, especially in the summer.)

6. How to install an outlet

It's probably a sign of the times, but Experts In Your Home fields many requests for additional outlets, perhaps to accommodate a growing number of laptops, tablets and cell phones.

7. How to check the circuits in your breaker box and tend to an overloaded circuit

Let's face it: When the lights go, it's normal to feel a bit anxious. We'll teach you how to give your breaker box a clean bill of health when you're calm and passive.

These are the types of electrical repairs we believe would be the most useful for our customers to learn about, based on what we hear and the calls we receive. But if there are other electrical repairs you'd like to learn about in this series, don't hesitate to contact us.

In the meantime, we encourage you to invest in a few basic but important tools before we get started: a flashlight (with a supply of backup batteries), a sturdy, fiberglass ladder (because it's non-conductive) and a quality set of electrical tools, including pliers, screwdrivers, wire strippers and electrical tape. You also might purchase a circuit tester (to test for the presence of electricity).

Look for these articles soon and remember: Experts In Your Home has been providing expert electrical repairs to Northern California residents in & around Chico since 1948. We're proud of our longevity and even prouder to have been an educational resource for nearly four generations of truly enlightened customers.

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