| Wiring Basics |
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Wiring a new bathroom typically isn’t very difficult, especially if you’re removed the old stuff and have access to inside the walls. You can install new wiring to fixtures with basic tools. Electrical wiring is built in to a cable, multiple insulated wires that are then wrapped in a sheathing. A common wire cable for residential service is Type NM 12-2 G meaning non-metallic (plastic) sheathing around two insulated 12-gauge wires and a bare ground wire. The two insulated wires are black (hot) and white (neutral). Another popular wire size is 10-gauge. Remember that the smaller the gauge number the larger the wire and the more electrical current it can carry. That means 10-gauge wire is larger and carries more electricity than 12-gauge wire. Wiring typically is “pulled” or installed from the fixture to the service panel. That is, you install the electrical lighting fixture box and switch or the receptacle boxes then run the wire from the boxes to the panel through walls. Cables for lights and switches run higher in the wall and in the ceiling. Cables for receptacles run low in the walls. Once the cables are in place, remove any slack and carefully attach the cable to framing studs with construction staples. Your building department will tell you where cable needs to be stapled to keep it from moving around in the wall. Just make sure you don’t put a staple through the cable or wires—a definite fire hazard. Sometimes running new wiring in an existing bathroom can be a challenge. Just remember that you can open up a wall, trace the old wiring down, then close up the wall with new drywall paneling or a drywall patch kit. Or you can use a “fish line,” a special tool for running wires in walls through small holes. Alternately, you can install wiring on the outside of the walls using special metal runs available through electrical supply stores.
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