Wiring a House, 4th Edition

Very informative

The 4th edition is my second copy of this book, and I refer to it often when working on wiring projects around my home. There is a lot of really useful info in the book, such as Rex's advice at the beginning about things you should or should not do. If you are planning on doing some home wiring, this book should be in your library. As others have mentioned, you will need to combine it with one or two other books to get the whole picture, for example other books I have show whole rooms wired, which this book lacks.One or two minor issues with the book keep it from 5 stars for me. One, in the advice section at the beginning, the statement is made "no multiwire circuits", but then no further explanation is given and you need to use an online search tool to look it up to figure out what the author is talking about. Which if you are working on any electrical in your house at all, you should know exactly what a mult-wired branch circuit is, it consists of a 12/3 or 14/3 cable that feeds two circuits but shares a neutral. Prior to the 2008 NEC, these circuits could use separate breakers with no tie, and you could be working on one without knowing it, with a hot neutral - which can fry equipment plugged into it or worse. By the way I agree with Rex on this one, pull two cables instead of using MWBC, and other books actually show using this method in their layout diagrams (I'm looking at you, B&D).Another issue is derating, I wish it was covered better. The author again recommends not bundling wire, and only putting one wire per hole drilled in studs or joists. This advice is reasonable, however you can't always do this, so it would be good if the book included further information on the subject. My recommendation on derating and running cables near each other, is to look up current code or consult another book on the subject, as you should know what this means if you are working on a larger project that involves multiple cables, cable stackers, stapling cables, drilling holes in tight locations, etc.Overall this is a good book that packs in a lot of really good information and "above code" advice, I highly recommend it, just know that it does not cover every subject in depth, so augment it with other books and current code references.

No wiring book does it all - except the one I might write one day....I love / hate wiring. I have gotten really good at after installing 2500 feet of NMC cable, 3 sub-panels, a 220V electric charging station, bending EMT metal conduit and so on.Lessons leaned: you can start with the all trades in one home depot book but as you get more into the projects you will need more books - that's why I own 5? books and many pro tools - Klein line pliers, right angle drill, Irwin 3 blade bits and extensions, cable lube, pulling sticks, etc. I also pay a licensed contractor to review my more in-depth projects.CONS: this and all books...Pictures Pictures Pictures - The more the better.Oh so that's how that ran / run that cable or attach to that box etc.Example, I saw a picture of wire connectors inside a Panel board / load center - I asked my licensed contractor - can I splice a wire inside the fuse box (load center) he said sure.I went to buy a sub panel but I needed more holes and in different places - he said drill them - I said how many - he said as many as you need! WOW - never thought of that and not a single book I own talks about either of these two cases.South Western United states: Whoops we forgot about you!! I live in San Diego and I never saw the main or sub panel mounted outdoors! None of the books deal with southwest. When you install a surface mount sub panel it is super helpful to drill holes in the back of the panel to enter the structure. You avoid using conduit this way. In the books: lets just assume you have a basement and the panel is there with all exposed framing - HELLO in the southwest homes don't basements and the panel is mounted outdoors.Some day maybe I'll write a book and deal with all this stuff.

Very informative book. This book covered residential wiring only. And assumes no previous knowledge.Tons of information, clear explanations, good pictures. Read this book and you will be able to do big and small jobs correctly. The author doesn't just tell you what to do, but he explains the concepts and theory behind the job, so you understand why you are doing it the way he suggests. Now that I understand the whys, I am not inclined to cheat or try and fool the inspector. A whole chapter just on grounding. Same for ground fault interrupters. Now I understand...that stuff is important.I have done only some very minor electrical work in my house, but now, after studying this book, I am ready to wire the new detached garage we just had built. 100 Amps!! Underground conduits, sub-panel, ground rods, thhn wire, it all seems to make sense. I'll save at least $1,000 doing it myself....and probably won't burn the garage down in the process.Again, easy to understand. He also has a tendency to exceed the standard codes sometimes, but he tells you when and why his advice does exceed codes so you can decide for yourself.There where times when I did have to go on-line to get some further information, but it would be unrealistic to expect the author to include everything. It was mostly some code details that I wanted to double check.I am actually looking forward to the the town inspection, where I can show off my work....and have someone double check what I did. My wife would kill me if my stepson got electrocuted from walking across a wet garage floor.

Excellent book. Fully explains everything a handyman to seasoned veteran could possibly want when wiring a house. Excellent ideas to go "above code", with which I fully agree. Someone borrowed my copy of this book and didn't bring it back, so I purchased another since I consider it an essential read to anyone considering doing their own electrical renovations. Concepts are explained well and Mr. Cauldwell's personal stories regarding the content are interesting.When I read through this book, it does not feel like I am reading some dry textbook, like Educational Psychology. It is much more interesting than that. Although I am not a trained electrician, after reading through the book a number of times I feel confident I can tackle nearly any electrical challenge in my home.

A basic wiring book. Don't count on it to get you through a total house wire job.