If your home's electrical system has developed a fault and you are on a tight budget, you might feel tempted to try to fix the problem yourself, instead of hiring a professional to do the work for you. Here are two reasons why it is not a good idea to perform electrical repairs without the help of a qualified electrician.
You could endanger yourself and other household members
If you attempt to repair an electrical fault in your home, there is a very strong chance that you will make a serious error that will put you and other household members at risk of injury.
Firstly, if you do not have the appropriate safety gear (such insulated gloves and boots) and the wiring you are working on is close to a leaking water pipe, you could end up being electrocuted.
Secondly, your lack of expertise could easily lead to you making a mistake that could eventually lead to an electrical fire breaking out. Something as small as forgetting to secure any loose wires in your home's fuse box or failing to notice and repair a corroded electrical wire could lead to these connections igniting and causing a fire.
If an electrical fire breaks out at night, whilst you and your family are asleep, it could result in major injuries and even fatalities. Even if it occurs when you and other household members are out of the house, it could spread through the entire property in a matter of minutes and destroy all of your belongings.
You could accidentally void your home insurance policy
Many home insurance policies stipulate that if electrical work needs to be performed on a property, this work should be carried out by a qualified electrician.
As such, if, in a bid to save yourself a few dollars, you try to fix an electrical fault within your home by yourself instead of paying an electrician to perform the repair work for you, you could end up voiding your home insurance policy.
This could have disastrous consequences if you make a mistake whilst carrying out the electrical work that results in a fire breaking out and damaging your property.
In this situation, your insurance company may refuse any claim that you make, to cover the cost of replacing or repairing your damaged possessions.
This could result in you having to take out a loan of several thousand dollars, to repair your home and replace your belongings.
When it comes to renovating a home, there are a lot of things you can do, and quite a few you should not! I am renovating my first home, and I have learned a lot simply by watching home handyman videos. However, when it comes to electrical work, I am limited by both safety and legal restrictions. My electrician will do the brunt of the rewiring work, but I am using this blog to help you identify causes of electrical faults; so you can bring to the attention of your own electrician. I will also discuss the basics of home electrical systems, such as what circuit breakers do, so you have a better idea where to start looking when the power goes out.