It is impossible to make repairs in an apartment without touching on the issue of electrical work. The main component of this issue is the wiring of electricity in the apartment, or rather its installation. 100% success can be guaranteed by a specialized office or a good sacramento electrician with decent experience, but this approach will require a lot of money.
When funds are not enough, and the work needs to be done, one can only rely on oneself, or rather on one’s own hands. Before starting work, you need to think everything through and calculate how much electricity will cost with all the associated costs. Having carefully considered all the nuances, where and what should be, you can start calculating the distribution of electricity.
Necessary tool
First of all, you should take care of the tool that will be needed for installation. The list of tools is relatively small compared to many other jobs, but they are still needed.
As a rule, all hobbyists usually use tools that are available in almost every home and do not complicate their lives by buying the right tool. They only make their work more difficult.
To install electricity in the apartment, you will need the following tools:
- hydraulic level (popularly known as a hose), or laser level;
- building level 60 cm long, and 2 m;
- colored painting thread (lace);
- end punch;
- perforator crowns for drilling walls with a diameter of 60 mm and 85 mm;
- perforator drills with a diameter from 5 mm to 12 mm, length from 60 mm to 110 mm;
- construction hammer;
- chisel (popularly called a chisel);
- construction roulette;
- pliers and nippers;
- pliers for removing insulation;
- a set of screwdrivers;
- indicator;
- multimeter;
If most of the tools are in the household, that’s good, but most of them don’t have even half of them, you have to buy them, it’s better to buy a perforator, because you can’t do all the work in one day, and the rent will then cost the price of a new perforator.
The scheme is a necessity
The wiring of electricity in the apartment begins with the fact that the electricity scheme in the apartment is drawn up and calculated. This step is mandatory, since you will have to refer to this document more than once, and besides, it is impossible to remember what was planned at the beginning of the renovation, and also for the entire apartment.
Before grabbing a piece of paper and convulsively starting to draw some doodles, it doesn’t hurt to get a little enlightened about how and what to draw. Another important aspect, few people know the standards, for which wire can withstand how much voltage, and this is very important, the very quality and reliability of the future wiring will depend on it. In addition, one should not forget about selection.
Each calculation begins with the fact that it is necessary to draw a survey of each room separately and to scale, and mark the location of sockets and switches, lighting, with accuracy to the centimeter. After each room is drawn, it is necessary to draw the plan of the apartment in full and to scale, it is undesirable to make the drawing small, it is better to draw it in a large format, then it will be easier to understand. After drawing the plan, you can draw the wiring.
Drawing of the electrical scheme
Any wiring begins with a switchboard. Having chosen, say, the red color of the pencil, the main (carrying) wire is drawn along a more convenient route. It is drawn in the way it will be laid, in some cases (if these are not load-bearing walls) the wires can be laid through the walls. There can be several supporting branches, now it is popular to divide each room with a separate circuit breaker (circuit breaker) in the switchboard. From the switchboard, the wire is led to each room, or rather the wire must enter the room, and to the distribution box.
Distribution boxes for incoming carrier wires are usually located above the entrance door inside the room or slightly away from the entrance door. The rest of the distribution boxes are placed directly vertically above the switches and sockets.
In the green pencil drawing, an internal carrier wire is led from the input junction box. The internal carrier wire connects the distribution boxes, the input and the box into which the specific outlet is connected. An internal carrier wire runs from the entry box to the farthest distribution box, usually located near the window. It is not necessary to connect all the boxes with one wire, it is better to divide them into two branches, left and right.
The professional electrical scheme in the apartment is drawn in one color, but not everyone can understand the scheme, the amateur scheme is much easier to understand. It is necessary to continue the drawing of the scheme on the scan, more precisely, simply mark the lines connecting the junction boxes with the sockets, preferably with a separate line with each socket, this will be useful when calculating the total length of the wires.
It is undesirable to combine distribution boxes and the carrier wire for sockets and lighting for several reasons, firstly, it is difficult to understand electricity later, secondly, if necessary, then replacing the socket will not necessarily turn off the lighting, because the lines are different.
Do not forget that the different colors of the pencil will later make calculations easier, and it will be easier to understand what power the wire is.
Wiring installation
It is recommended to perform all the wiring with a monolithic wire, the only complication will be that the monolithic wire is more difficult to “lay” in the required place, but the monolithic wire is more reliable. In practice, most of the electrical wiring in the apartment is made with a multi-core wire, it is much cheaper than a monolithic one, and it is easier to “lay”. The parameters for the wire remain the same as for the monolithic wire.
Installation begins with marking the height and location of sockets and switches, and lighting, by the initial plan on the survey. The next stage is the marking of the distribution boxes, exactly vertically above the sockets and switches, after which drill the holes for the boxes and sockets. For the resulting boxes to look more decent, they should be made at the same height, after which “grooves” for the wire are cut.
Final assembly
After the wires have been mounted and checked, it will be possible to continue the repair, plaster the walls, etc. After the completion of all repair works, the stage of final installation of sockets and switches, lighting devices will come.
