I am not an electrician
I get reminded of that from time to time. Other people can replace outlets and fixtures, but I can't.
Our second house was a tri-level. When we built, we were a little short of cash.
It was actually a Wausau home....factory build and delivered to the homesite. It came in the morning and by that night was basically finished. They literally plugged in the bathroom, hoisting it up with a crane and setting it in place.
We did not have a range hood, but we had the wiring installed for a range hood. It was a galley type kitchen, about four feet wide and 10 feet long. There were some wall outlets, ceiling lights, and the fridge running on electricity.
The appliances were avocado green....which was a pretty popular color back in the mid 80s. So we eventually bought an avocado range hood.
The electrician told me the wire for the hood was right behind the wall. Drill a hope, pull the wire through, hook up the range hood. Easy smeazy.
I flipped the breaker for the fridge. I flipped the breaker for the wall outlets. I flipped the breaker for the lights. I tested them....none worked.
I drilled my hole.....no wire. I poked around. I searched around. I put my finger in as far as I could. I got a coat hanger and forced it into the hole....voila, a wire.
But it was stubborn. It did not want to go through the hole. I made the hole a little larger, but no go. So I found a vice grips and clamped on to the wire.
KAZAP!!!! I flew across the four foot of space and banged into the counter. A huge black spot marked the wall where the vice grips locked onto a live wire. My head hurt and I swear I had x-ray vision for an hour or two.
Plus my hair was standing straight up. You may not believe it, but I had very curly hair until that day.
I eventually turned off the main breaker and hooked up the range hood.
But it was the last time I did an electrical job around any house. I found out there were people who knew what they were doing and did that for a living.
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