Wiring a House (Best of Fine Homebuilding) [Hardcover]

Rex Cauldwell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Best of Fine Homebuilding | Publication Date: November 1, 1996

-- Covers wiring any room, proper grounding, installing panels, and more

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Electricity is one of the least understood yet most important aspects of do-it-yourself building and renovation. Used safely, it allows us to enjoy a life of convenience, but when its basic rules are violated it can destroy one's home. A master electrician, building inspector, and licensed general contractor, Cauldwell shows how to properly use electricity in this revision of his 1996 text. Starting with electricity's basics, he then explains tools of all types, shows how and where electricity enters the house, and explains grounding (which is vital for safety). Proceeding through the house, Cauldwell demonstrates how to wire both new construction and renovations and to install receptacles, switches, fixtures, and wired-in appliances. Important safety information is provided, including ground-fault circuit interrupters, lightning, and surge protection. Finally, Cauldwell gives instructions for wiring "Above Code," his system of wiring that exceeds the minimum standards required by the electrical code and results in a safer, higher-quality installation. This title does an outstanding job of explaining an area of perennial confusion for do-it-yourselfers. Recommended for every collection.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

Master electrician Cauldwell has been wiring houses for almost thirty years and is in a fine position to explain the job. From avoiding the wrong materials to designing new wiring and working with old, Wiring a House focuses on safety and long-term durability alike, telling how to work with both new and old construction. An invaluable guide. -- Midwest Book Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Taunton Press; 1ST edition (November 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561581135
• ISBN-13: 978-1561581139
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Electrical

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

122 of 125 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Goes beyond the basics, but has some gaps, November 21, 2004

By 

C. MacPhail (Solana Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wiring a House (For Pros By Pros) (Paperback)

I am a homeowner who has done dozens of minor and major electrical projects over the last 20 years.

This book is full of practical tips and details I have not seen in the basic books. I wish I had read it years ago.

Not the best starter book, it's for those who want to go beyond the starter books.

Cauldwell has and conveys a deep understanding of the electrician's work. His many insights and "Above Code" sidebars help you do a better job than your $90-an-hour electrician would do.

Heavy emphasis on mechanical tips...fishing, drilling, etc. which is usually the most challenging part.

Excellent photos and illustrations.

I don't give it 5 stars because there's too much missing. How many conductors are permitted in size X conduit? What gauge wire do I need for 50 amp service? What if it's a long 100+ ft. run? Can the ground wire be a smaller gauge? The book desparately needs reference tables for this kind of stuff.

There are no tips for pulling wire through conduit, bending PVC conduit, or outdoor wiring in general.

Too bad, because in many respects this a masterpiece.

164 of 177 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comparison of 3 how-to books on home wiring, December 18, 2002

By 

Atheen M. Wilson "Atheen" (Mpls, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wiring a House (Best of Fine Homebuilding) (Hardcover)

I've decided to remodel my spare bedroom. It's one of those "furnished closet" type spaces that tends to collect junk at an alarming rate. While it's a lovely little room when it's empty, it disappears in the furniture that gets put into it. Even the sliding glass doors over the small balcony don`t give one an illusion of spaceousness. I had a roommate for a while who used that room, and she had to climb over her bed just to get to her bureau.

The plan is to put up lighted crown molding to add dimension and indirect lighting to the room and to remodel the ample closet space into a bureau cum mini-closet cum desk area. By putting in a full sized futon, I can use the room as a sitting room/spare bedroom, and without the clutter, it'll seem quite spacious.

To accomplish my goal, the project required some rewiring of the room, so I found three books that seemed to have the information I needed: Wiring 1-2-3 by the people at Home Depot, The Complete Guide to Home Wiring by the Black and Decker people, and Wiring a House by Rex Cauldwell. Each is an excellent book with much to offer, but I definitely found that each had a slant that made it specialized in some way.

Of the three books, only the Cauldwell book was written in a person-to-person format. The author is a third generation electrician with years of experience, and as he says quite charmingly, "I have written this book from lifelong experience and knowledge--some of which has been passed down through each generation. However, there is no one within my family to pass the gauntlet to--no fourth generation to pick up the trade. Therefore, by reading this book you will become heir to my knowledge and experience. You, in effect, will become the fourth generation (p. 1)." His style is very much master of the craft to learning apprentice, explaining all facets of his field from how electricity is produced, how it is measured, what types of wires carry it to and into your home, and what tools one needs to do electrical work. He not only provides the information, he tells the reader the "whys" of what is, which I find helpful because it permits one to problem solve and trouble shoot more effectively. Particularly useful are those things that he tells the reader to avoid and what can happen when they aren't! The drawings are very helpful, particularly as they are clearer than photographs can be. Sometimes less is more in this regard. The schematic of the main floor of a house (pp. 22-23) which detailed how wiring is arranged for each room was quite helpful for my project, since it described what I should (and did) find in the walls when locating my power source and routing new wiring. I also found that the information on materials to select was helpful. I was able to go to the store and pick out just what I needed without any trouble at all.

While the Cauldwell book is a good one to read from cover to cover because of it's clear and thorough discussion of electronical wiring and its many helpful hints (which I did), it really did not help with my specific plans. It does cover some types of project, but I found that The Black and Decker book was more useful for my specific wiring goals. It's definitely a "how to do it" book with information on trouble shooting current wiring for potential problems (pp. 122-143), on code requirements (pp. 145-146), on how to calculate electrical loads and when to upgrade. It also includes simple repairs for the home owner, everything from checking which fuse controls which part of the house, to replacing plugs and repairing fluorescent lights. It also provides some advanced projects, like rewiring a kitchen or installing outdoor wiring. Of particular interest to my husband, the computer guru in our household, was the information on the home network wiring systems.

For my own project, I found the circuit maps for 26 common wiring layouts of greatest help. With the aid of this feature and the Cauldwell book, I was able to draw on paper the likely arrangement of the present wiring in my spare bedroom, and plan in the pathway to and from the projected new outlets. The diagrams on pages 155-167 also gave me a clearer idea of which wires connected to which specific sites on the receptacles, and what the pathway of the current would be. I was thrilled when I turned on the wall switch in the room, and the lighted crown molding actually came on, first try!

Wiring 1-2-3 is another group-effort type book like the Black and Decker. It'd made a splendid gift for the new home owner or prospective buyer. It provides the most extensive information on inspecting the home for electrical problems and providing measures for repairing them. The table of contents highlights almost every conceivable project, and each project has a list of materials, a skill scale that projects the level of difficulty to expect, and the amount of time that would be required by the experienced, the handy and the novice. It also makes some suggestions regarding the selection of a professional electrician for difficult projects, and does not urge the novice to go beyond their comfort level.

Although I didn't use the Home Depot book for actual planning and wiring, I found it was especially helpful with the messy stuff, things like drilling holes through the attic to route wires, the nitty-gritty of fishing for wires, and repairing the damage to walls where holes had to be made to route wires. In general these books are useful all round books.

I'd give all three books a 5, each for its own area of usefulness. If you're a person who likes to have a multi-perspective approach to your projects, then I'd recommend all three. Certainly the Home Depot book would be a very nice house warming gift.

60 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for the guy who is doing his own home wiring, March 3, 2003

By 

"justanobuddy" (Groton, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wiring a House (Best of Fine Homebuilding) (Hardcover)

I'm building my own house. I am a former industrial electrical engineer (I've moved on to other things). The problem with being an engineer is that I know the big picture, (I can spec a panel and size the service entrance cables in a heartbeat, I used to know the NEC like the back of my hand). The problem that I run into is figuring out the way the guys who install the stuff I spec make what I spec meet code and do it quickly and easily.

This book will show you how the guys who do installations every day do them.

If you understand basic electricity, this book will be a good guide to help you do an installation that will make your inspector happy.