4 ms·

This is where YouTube and DIY forums come in. It doesn't require advanced knowledge to perform most electrical repairs and maintenance oneself, and young people

This is where YouTube and DIY forums come in. It doesn't require advanced knowledge to perform most electrical repairs and maintenance oneself, and young people's practical skills have atrophied compared to their parents and grandparents at the same age, and I say this as one of those young people.

SoftTalker 3y ago
Yes I can't really think of any electrical job around the house that I could not do myself. Calling in an electrician to change an outlet is expensive because such trivial work is boring and they don't really want to do it. Sort of like hiring a senior developer to change a heading on a web page. So they charge a lot. They also have to cover the cost of travel to and from the house, even to change a $5 wall outlet.
- rootusrootus 3y ago
  I'd probably pay someone to redo the panel. I could definitely do it, but it's tedious and I'd be pulling the meter to get it done anyway, at which point the conversation with the power company will be smoother if a licensed electrician is having it. But everything else is fair game. It's really straightforward. The part I hate the most is fixing the drywall if I have to damage it running some new wire.
  - dcherman 3y ago
    I generally would agree, but be careful. You don't know what you don't know, and that could be dangerous. As one example, I would guess that the vast majority of folks are not familiar with what an MWBC is and how they work, however they're extremely common, especially in older buildings. As another example, most folks have never heard of box fill and will just try to shove wires into a box until it fits. I'm not an electrician and would definitely encourage folks to learn to do this work themselves, but be careful and if you encounter something that is not familiar, pause and learn until you understand what you're looking at, even if that means putting it back the way it was for a bit and doing some research.
KRAKRISMOTT 3y ago
The issue is "on the job" training. Law, medicine, accounting, plumbing, welding, electrical, civil engineering all requires a certain amount of "working hours" measured in months and years before they let you take the certification/licensing exam. You can't always do it yourself and stay compliant with regulatory codes. This is a big problem because it allows existing players to exploit and play gatekeeper. Get rid of this requirement and many labor shortage issues will sort itself out. Don't allow institutions to be the gatekeeper. The certification exams are sufficient.
PKop 3y ago
Partially because those parents and grandparents didn't think it necessary to teach them anything. At least there is YouTube now
lutorm 3y ago
It requires a license though, otherwise it's illegal in most places. Youtube can't help with that.
- kibwen 3y ago
  > It requires a license though, otherwise it's illegal in most places. Youtube can't help with that. Are you actually sure about this? Everywhere I've ever checked, it's been legal for a person to work on the wiring in their own home, without needing to be licensed.
  - lutorm 3y ago
    Here in HI you are not allowed to do electrical or plumbing work unless licensed, your own home or not.
  - lostapathy 3y ago
    I think Chicago and maybe all of Cook County Illinois are a notable exception to that, and with goofy, overbearing codes to top it off.
    - allenrb 3y ago
      That’s where I live and to my knowledge, this is true. We haven’t got a monopoly though. Lived in Atlanta for many years and once asked around a bit. Pretty sure I could not legally do so much as replace a receptacle by myself. From what I can tell, it is usually more rural areas where it’s legal to do your own work and then have it inspected. Ridiculous. Needless to say, I’ve done plenty of electrical work over the years. Would have loved to have some of it inspected, but that wasn’t allowed.
      - lostapathy 3y ago
        Exactly this - over-regulation keeps people from using the safety mechanisms at all. My other favorite example is gun background checks. If I want to sell a gun to a guy in my neighborhood that I don't really know, there's no practical way to do it such that he gets the background check you get when you buy from a dealer. Completely ridiculous.
gota 3y ago
That is true - but the few hours I'd have to invest in this are better spent doing something else (or nothing at all, which is valuable). And I don't need to do these repairs and maintenance at a frequency which would make learnings 'stick'. Furthermore, I am afraid (or 'excessively cautious') of electricity, although that might stem from ignorance In contrast, I've learned to be my own accountant, of sorts, because I have to deal with it frequently enough, and have never heard of a person dying or becoming gravely injured from dealing with a spreadsheet in error
meetingthrower 3y ago
Hah! Exactly. You are talking to a guy who GCed his own house build, all trained off YouTube. And I've done a LOT of electrical as part of it. (But for the sake of speed I hired a crew to get the house wired up in 2 weeks. Also needed them for permits / inspections since it was a new build.)
icedchai 3y ago
There's is good money in the trades. I've done a few small home repairs myself (changing faucets, putting in hard wired smoke detectors, swapping a garbage disposal, putting in a new toilet, and others) I watch a few Youtube videos, and if I'm confident I can do it myself without flooding my house or electrocuting myself, I will. Sometimes it takes an extra trip to the hardware store, because I'm missing a part or tool. Each one of these repairs would be $300 or $400 minimum in this area. Actually, probably more, since I'm basing that on pre-pandemic prices when I had other things done. I'd guess more like $500 minimum today.
- latchkey 3y ago
  I'm doing a full remodel of my tiny condo on my own now because of exactly what you said. I hired people, found them totally expensive and decided I could do it myself, if I watch enough youtube. It is going really well, but is a slow process. The parts that I don't feel comfortable with, I just hire out.

SoftTalker 3y ago

Yes I can't really think of any electrical job around the house that I could not do myself. Calling in an electrician to change an outlet is expensive because such trivial work is boring and they don't really want to do it. Sort of like hiring a senior developer to change a heading on a web page. So they charge a lot. They also have to cover the cost of travel to and from the house, even to change a $5 wall outlet.

rootusrootus 3y ago
I'd probably pay someone to redo the panel. I could definitely do it, but it's tedious and I'd be pulling the meter to get it done anyway, at which point the conversation with the power company will be smoother if a licensed electrician is having it. But everything else is fair game. It's really straightforward. The part I hate the most is fixing the drywall if I have to damage it running some new wire.
- dcherman 3y ago
  I generally would agree, but be careful. You don't know what you don't know, and that could be dangerous. As one example, I would guess that the vast majority of folks are not familiar with what an MWBC is and how they work, however they're extremely common, especially in older buildings. As another example, most folks have never heard of box fill and will just try to shove wires into a box until it fits. I'm not an electrician and would definitely encourage folks to learn to do this work themselves, but be careful and if you encounter something that is not familiar, pause and learn until you understand what you're looking at, even if that means putting it back the way it was for a bit and doing some research.

KRAKRISMOTT 3y ago

The issue is "on the job" training. Law, medicine, accounting, plumbing, welding, electrical, civil engineering all requires a certain amount of "working hours" measured in months and years before they let you take the certification/licensing exam. You can't always do it yourself and stay compliant with regulatory codes. This is a big problem because it allows existing players to exploit and play gatekeeper. Get rid of this requirement and many labor shortage issues will sort itself out. Don't allow institutions to be the gatekeeper. The certification exams are sufficient.

PKop 3y ago

Partially because those parents and grandparents didn't think it necessary to teach them anything. At least there is YouTube now

lutorm 3y ago

It requires a license though, otherwise it's illegal in most places. Youtube can't help with that.

kibwen 3y ago
> It requires a license though, otherwise it's illegal in most places. Youtube can't help with that. Are you actually sure about this? Everywhere I've ever checked, it's been legal for a person to work on the wiring in their own home, without needing to be licensed.
- lutorm 3y ago
  Here in HI you are not allowed to do electrical or plumbing work unless licensed, your own home or not.
- lostapathy 3y ago
  I think Chicago and maybe all of Cook County Illinois are a notable exception to that, and with goofy, overbearing codes to top it off.
  - allenrb 3y ago
    That’s where I live and to my knowledge, this is true. We haven’t got a monopoly though. Lived in Atlanta for many years and once asked around a bit. Pretty sure I could not legally do so much as replace a receptacle by myself. From what I can tell, it is usually more rural areas where it’s legal to do your own work and then have it inspected. Ridiculous. Needless to say, I’ve done plenty of electrical work over the years. Would have loved to have some of it inspected, but that wasn’t allowed.
    - lostapathy 3y ago
      Exactly this - over-regulation keeps people from using the safety mechanisms at all. My other favorite example is gun background checks. If I want to sell a gun to a guy in my neighborhood that I don't really know, there's no practical way to do it such that he gets the background check you get when you buy from a dealer. Completely ridiculous.

gota 3y ago

That is true - but the few hours I'd have to invest in this are better spent doing something else (or nothing at all, which is valuable). And I don't need to do these repairs and maintenance at a frequency which would make learnings 'stick'. Furthermore, I am afraid (or 'excessively cautious') of electricity, although that might stem from ignorance In contrast, I've learned to be my own accountant, of sorts, because I have to deal with it frequently enough, and have never heard of a person dying or becoming gravely injured from dealing with a spreadsheet in error

meetingthrower 3y ago

Hah! Exactly. You are talking to a guy who GCed his own house build, all trained off YouTube. And I've done a LOT of electrical as part of it. (But for the sake of speed I hired a crew to get the house wired up in 2 weeks. Also needed them for permits / inspections since it was a new build.)

icedchai 3y ago

There's is good money in the trades. I've done a few small home repairs myself (changing faucets, putting in hard wired smoke detectors, swapping a garbage disposal, putting in a new toilet, and others) I watch a few Youtube videos, and if I'm confident I can do it myself without flooding my house or electrocuting myself, I will. Sometimes it takes an extra trip to the hardware store, because I'm missing a part or tool. Each one of these repairs would be $300 or $400 minimum in this area. Actually, probably more, since I'm basing that on pre-pandemic prices when I had other things done. I'd guess more like $500 minimum today.

latchkey 3y ago
I'm doing a full remodel of my tiny condo on my own now because of exactly what you said. I hired people, found them totally expensive and decided I could do it myself, if I watch enough youtube. It is going really well, but is a slow process. The parts that I don't feel comfortable with, I just hire out.