Wiring a House 5th Edition (For Pros by Pros)

Buy it and read it. You will be glad you did. Some of the other residential wiring books have oodles of color photos but not as much substance. This author has great photos illustrating his points, but he also tells you what you need to know: Why you don't want multiwire (common neutral) circuits. Why one ground rod may not save your expensive appliances and electronics. Why, when building a new home, you want extra empty breaker slots in your panel. Why you do not bond neutral to ground in a sub-panel. How to plan for later upgrades and expansions. Why you should often run 12 gauge even if the code allows 14. Why backstabbing an outlet may be easy but you will pay later. Why the least expensive receptacles are a bad choice, and so on. Tired of replacing your well pump after it gets fried by lightning? The author has solutions. Wondering what tools you need to work on your wiring, again great advice. The author speaks from intelligence, wisdom, and a lifetime of thoughtful experience. A truly wonderful "how to" book. I've read most of the popular books on residential wiring and wish I started with this one. Kudos to the author.

Love this book. It has sooo much content in it and colorful photos/illustrations on every page. It took me weeks just to flip through and skim every chapter. The index and table of contents are well laid out and easy to navigate if you have a specific topic you need to research quickly. I also think the tools chapter was so helpful. Knowing which tools to have for the job/what professionals use in the field makes it so much easier. This is the one to buy if you’re looking to have a library on home improvement stuff and you want a solid electrical book.

I'm using this as an introduction for myself to learn the actual application of residential electricity. I have been a framer by trade all my life and just recently began studying electrical theory to get a foundation under me (which I highly recommend, it makes the application easy as walking) and now I'm stepping into adding this skill to my residential construction abilities. After this, all I really lack is plumbing & a little more masonry. Like I said this book is a great balance between being a hands on reference when you are actually going to do the work and just a strict textbook teaching text. I feel like I wasn't shorted anything I needed to know. Throughly recommend it. I just recently fixed some electrical issues on my own house and my fiancés parents. Its a good way to start getting your feet wet in any new trade. They say the greatest teacher is necessity! And we have needed those things fixed for years. Anyhow I highly recommend this book for the beginner in doing residential electricity. What else can be recommended to an aspiring electrician? 1) Electricity One-Seven by Harry Mileaf (This is the go-to book for all electrical theory, physics and mathematics needed but its quite expensive since it is no longer being printed) or Basic Electricity by Van Valkenburgh, Nooger and Neville, Inc. (this is equally impressive) 2) Any up to date Electrical Codes book. Especially if you are wiring a new project without anyone to contact. You'll need to be able to pass inspection. Uglys Electrical Reference is a trade-wide trusted source for electricians.

I'm a homeowner who is getting ready to re-wire a home. I have the 4th edition of this book and decided to get the updated 5th addition since it includes updates for the 2014 NEC code cycle, which my area has adopted (I still have to look up the local amendments). This is a good book for a homeowner who is going to be wiring/re-wiring a house, or someone who is learning about electrical installations. It is not a substitution for knowing the NEC or hiring a qualified electrician, but is a good reference. There are other books that I have to supplement this resource, such as a copy of the NEC, the Black and Decker "Complete guide to wiring" as well as some older reference materials. This book by far has a lot of good tips, tricks, and experience packed in that the other books do not contain. Couple notes: (- 1/2 star) One of the key points in chapter 6 is a note about shop tools and freezers not being permitted to be in front of GFCI receptacles, but there is no elaboration on this bullet point in this chapter, nor in the GFCI Chapter. Also the stocking up section would be much better if he used total footage for the supplies rather than the number of rolls (since 1000' rolls of 12/2 and 14/2 wire are sold). Maybe a note about using these 1000' spools in comparison to the 250' rolls would be helpful too. (- 1/2 star) With expanded use of AFCI in the 2014 NEC, some areas of the home (specifically the Kitchen) require both AFCI and GFCI protection, and there are no tips, sage advice, or strategies outlined on this topic, which is disappointing given that there is so much other good, useful and handy tips he provides. Perhaps due to the lack of actual installations that he has 1st hand experience with. Overall: I do recommend this to anyone involved with building, remodeling, or retrofitting a home's wiring system. The technical information you can find in most how-to books, like the Black and Decker book, or the Wiring 1-2-3 book from home depot. This book really shines when it comes to the knowledge, tips, and tricks that Rex shares as part of his experience from being an electrician. It also has a comprehensive chapter on Grounding, which is more detailed than any other book I've seen to date.

Wish I had bought this sooner, it would have prevented me from making some dumb, and dangerous, mistakes. I really like the way it is written. Who ever thought a book on wiring would be fun book to read! I'm a lot more confident in my wiring skills with this book as a reference.

I needed to install some electrical wiring in one of my sheds. I'm a retired, electrical engineer. I understand the electrical concepts but I didn't know the NEC code for installing electrical wiring, outlets, breaker panels, etc. This book is excellent in it's easy to read presentation and pictures. I learned enough to do install all the outlets, breaker panel and circuit breakers. I highly recommend this book.

I looked at a lot of different books on how to do electrical and this one really gave me the information and confidence to tackle electrical projects around my house. It's written by a master electrician, and it feels like he's mentoring you more than just teaching you. Most books like this give you all the options for how to do something, but this book tells you the way a professional electrician would do it and why. For instance, when replacing an outlet, you can either use the quick-wire holes in the back, use both sets of screws, or use a pigtail jumper to the outlet screws. Rex explains that a professional electrician will use pigtails and he thoroughly covers why. The book also covers some things that many homeowners will never need - like how to plan and install your own breaker panel, but reading those chapters was still quite helpful just to understand how everything works, even if I'll never need to actually do that. The target audience for this book is serious DIY-ers and folks looking to get into the trade professionally.

Needed more.