How to Add Outlets to a Room | Ask This Old House
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Ask This Old House’s Electrician Scott Caron adds outlets to baseboards as well as floors. He runs electric wiring from the fuse box and gets the homeowner the coverage she needs.
#ThisOldHouse #AskTOH
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Cost: $20-100
Skill Level: Medium
Tools List for Adding Outlets to a Room:
Drill
Jigsaw or router
Wire stripper
Screwdrivers
Shopping List:
Insulation rod
Outlet boxes.
Electrical wires.
Faceplates.
Steps:
1. Turn off all power to working area at main electrical panel.
2. Trace out cut area for each elecrical box.
3. Drill corner holes to pilot saw blade.
4. If necessary, drill into framing for wiring
5. Run electrical wires from outlet box holes to electrical panel, pulling 4 feet through the wall.
6. Strip insulation from electrical wires and attach to electrical box
7. Attach white wires to silver screws and black wires to brass screws and then the ground wire.
8. Use electrical tape to tape around the box.
9. Attach box to the wall and cover with outlet plate.
10. Repeat for each outlet needed.
11. De-energize the whole electrical panel by shutting off the house’s main breaker.
12. Install and arc volt breaker by attaching white and black wire to the breaker.
13. Attach white wire from the new breaker directly onto the electrical panel’s neutral bar.
14. Turn the main breaker back on.
15. Electricity is not a hobby, if you don’t feel comfortable with any of these steps, call an electrician.
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How to Add Outlets to a Room | Ask This Old House
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Gotta love how everything always works out so perfect with the basement situation
Right, I'm on a slab. This wouldn't be nearly as easy for my house.
Yup. I’m guessing that panel was just added too.
It's best to install a basement under your slab before you do this.
@@The_Savage_Wombat lol
@@LostMySauce especially with mold, web, and spiders in attic.
4:15 They didn't even edit out when he hit the customer's wall with his pliers. Smooth.
Rubber mallet is the correct tool there imo
I love TOH. The solution always involves an ample amount of space in a basement
Steak Williams and they always edit out some steps in the process
Oh you have a basement? Try installing outlets on the first floor of a two story home built on a concrete slab.
Vortex 369 that’s what I was hoping would be demonstrated.
Or adding a light on the first floor and having no strapping
Those of us not in century old houses on the upper East cost of the US are like; geez...thanks.
I want to say, I’ve been watching This Old House for about two decades and I find this show to be such a treasure!!! I feel like I can do anything with my house! Of course, I won’t because some stuff requires more than one person but this show is just so awesome and informative!
Actually you are a treasure!!!!
showed everything and nothing at the same time, awesome job
One of the worst of "This Old House series". Wasted my time too.
Just run the romex up the bubble frame without any drilling, the junction box will just magically appear in the basement all wired up correct for you to run to these outlets. The romex runs itself too from the panel so don't worry about passing through joists correctly etc. What's so hard to understand lol.
Though I never expected to be a licensed electrician after a six minute video.
Btw my house is bubble frame and I'm gonna have to drill like a madman. Place is built like a tank. 120 years ago, they didn't think about me having to run some romex upstairs
I'm sure the actual episode had details.
“To get started i use an insulation rod...”
“What is that? A drill-bit?”
“Not really. It’s an insulation rod.”
"And we put it on the end of a drill and use it as a drill bit."
@Crotch Banister yup and I've used it many times for coax fishing. Nice because it's an easy hole to repair if you miss your mark. Only issue it they don't seem to make coat hangers like that anymore lol
I've used a cut coat hanger to drill a pilot hole from outside my house through the cedar siding, the house wrap, the sheathing, the insulation, the vapour barrier and the drywall. About 7-1/2" total thickness.
lol
This girl would be screwed without a man in her life
"ok, pull about 4 feet". customer pulls 10 for good measure
Just in case, u never know...
They're not trades people ok. I bet they would cry if they had to use a Porto- potty with no running water everyday at work
That's why you charge double when the homeowner wants to help.
Sometimes it is nice to marry a woman who is really bad at measurements.
Totally unrelated,,,small hands as well.
I literally lol'd at this
I respect that he pays attention to aesthetics when doing work in people's homes.
You mean putting outlets in sideways?
Glad to see instruction done by someone who actually knows what he is doing. I have seen a few videos on UA-cam that were code violation after code violation. One kid had open splices in the attic and he's showing other people how to create the same fire hazards.... Oh my
UA-cam is full of safety violations and people are destroying their property and in some cases killing or severely injuring themselves because of it. UA-cam should be held 100% financially and legally responsible for all its content.
My new house has the outlets in the baseboards, but not installed sideways, installed the normal way. Looks so much better with them in the baseboard. Really cleans up the walls. It’s a nice little detail.
Really nice until you have to reach down to the floor to plug something in later on when your 70 years old. The lowest I’ll ever go is 18 inches to the bottom of my plugs.
LOL .... "what is that, a drill bit?"
no, this here's a long sharp wire we use as a drill bit.
Happy New Year This Old House! May I wish you a prosperous, happy & healthy year! ❤️
When he beat on that box with his lineman’s I felt that lol
What a great episode! Highly functional value for the homeowner! Great job THS! :)
Enjoyed reading the comments. Particularly found the comments from those outside the US interesting. As to the video I have some comments/questions. Why use metal boxes vs. plastic. I don't see the advantage and I've been installing outlets in my homes and for friends for many years.
Also I strongly discourage putting the outlets in the baseboard and certainly don't like to do place them in sideways. I did that all over the second floor in our home when I ran into issues with lots of cracking when trying to put them into plaster. My wife H-A-T-E-D the sideways plugs. There were too many things that the plug is designed to be vertical not horizontal. She liked those oil fragrance things for awhile and she couldn't use them on the second floor. And you know what they say. If the wife ain't happy... tell her to get you a beer. That'll get her out of your hair for a minute. The biggest reason I won't use the baseboards again though is that I don't know what the home owner is going to want in 20, 30, 70 years. There is no repairing that hole you put into a solid oak board.
I've actually come looking for better methods to install outlets into plaster walls than what I've used in the past. Too bad we weren't shown how he worked the entertainment system items.
Thanks for making the video. I picked up some tips. One final question. You used a power drill to screw in the anchor screws. Why did you use a hand screwdriver to tighten the outlet screws. I'm impatient and lazy (in other words ... efficient). I use my power drill for everything. I'm so spoiled:) Speaking of which. I just got a battery for my original Black and Decker VersaPak screwdriver. That is THE BEST power screw driver I've ever had. I used to use it on everything small. Home stuff. computer stuff.
"Why use metal boxes vs. plastic." Because that wasn't being installed in drywall, which is the only kind of wall plastic boxes are intended for.
95% of a job like this is balancing the act of finding a decent outlet location with finding a reasonable wire path before your first cut. It’s rare to find such an easy path as was shown here. Still a good video!
Sounds like a good project for this weekend.
So... that was easy in a hundred year old house.
Now try adding an outlet in the ground level of a 1970's house on a concrete slab with no floor voids and 2" high baseboards. That would be my house, by the way.
Yeah, and my apartment.
And my axe
I was born in the 70’s....I am not “Old” 😩 I am Forever 21...Your house doesn’t apply 😁
@Mr. Meeseeks I ended up ripping into the ceiling because the attic is above the second floor. Some jobs there's just no easy way. LOL
my basement is finished, impossible to fish wires to the box due to duct work
How to Add Outlets to a Room - that is unlike 99% of rooms
next on this old house how to install an outlet in the bottom of your bathtub for your hairdryer
i guess its a different part of the country , cause i aint never seen it be that easy.
@@vwtroy that's what I said 😂😂
That's a standard room in ... an old house. Kinda like the title of the tv show !!
Yup a lot of homes in the north east are like this one
Cutting that beautiful molding.
I LOVE the look of the house
Nice to have an assistant with small hands.
when did he run the hdmi wires and how
Probably a PVC pipe or just behind drywall with pipe fitting
I am so done. I told an electrician I wanted my outlets recessed into the wall and he told me he couldn't without tearing the wall apart. His solution was putting those ugly external boxes on the baseboards. Had no idea this was an option.
Idk man this electrician doesn't look very professional or maybe you have a cement wall
I would’ve called a new electrician when you heard him say that
If you have a wall with typical stud construction and no void spaces, the only other way would be to open up the wall 12” wide the length of the wall 18” above the floor. Then you’d have to drill every stud to run wiring. Your electrician is right
This house sbown is not common in other parts of the country. There are no basements in Texas, I can tell you that much. What he did in this video would require a massive demo and replacement of drywall, if you want the outlet to be recessed with the wall.
This is only an option in a perfect scenario. Do you have a basement or crawl space? No? then this won't work.
shows like this give people an unrealistic expectation. Not only is this scenario rare, they cut out all of the hard work from the video, making it look really easy.
These videos are great but you can totally tell that they give those questions for the client to ask. haha
You are probably right. I dd not stand behind my electrician asking him questions.I wanted him to do it right, so I left him to it.You will not become an electrician in 20minutes.
floor outlets are wonderful.
They are unless you are elderly or have a back problem or worse. Having a water damage in that area and have to take up that floor and water could have damaged that outlet sometimes causing a fire because either the box is outdated with no safety measures or simply because there was no ground.
"Is that a drill bit?"
"No, you put it in a drill and use it as a drill bit."
thanks for the clarification
The cables allowed here in Germany are definitely rigid enough to withstand stepping on it, unless maybe you are in some kind of hotel where very many people would step on it for years. But besides the would only be one arc before the breaker or the residual current circuit breaker depending on the wires touching. This usually cannot make a fire.
Old houses like this don't have arc fault breakers. Arc fault breakers became code in the U.S. around the year 2000. And it's only been in the past few years that they are required on all circuits. That said, I agree with the guy in this video. You should avoid extension cables where possible.
Scott's philosophy - Everything is a hammer. :)
I think he just broke a new world record for the fastest, best looking pigtails lol. I’ve still got work to do
Right??!! Man alive, takes me forever. I doubt that he blinked lol
@@vandammefan34 You think this is difficult?
@@MAGAMAN I dont do it everyday so it takes me a bit. I wouldnt say difficult though.
I have a couple of electrical outlets that have No Power GOING to them , they use to work before, I CHECKED the circuit breakers they seem to be fine, I also checked the electrical outlet, the connections they also seem fine.Can you assist me with this problem, I am in the Rhode Island area, PLEASE Advise
You taught me so much about how easy it is to do simple wiring like this, thanks!
That's what This Old House does almost every time, , , they show the easiest scenario where there's plenty of room to just daisy chain through a nice big crawlspace of basement. My grandma could do that . . . . show us how to add outlets where its NOT easy enough for a child to do!
When the oscillating tool was cutting the baseboards I could actually smell the sawdust burning just watching that smoke
Actually, as long as you use a power strip as intended, it will be just fine even when fully loaded. What you dont want to do is put more than one together, or add splitters to create more plugs than the manufacturer gave. The strips and surge protectors and other safe guards buily in, use them right and youll be fine. As with anything.
Makes it look easy 😅
I love it when these electrical how to videos are done in locations where conduit are not required. Anyone can install an outlet that way. Do this in conduit and you add a lot of complexity.
JayWC3333 exactly, and that's why there are licensed electricians
JayWC3333 it's not required for homes.
Where I live and work conduit is required for homes too.
JayWC3333 in America?
Yes! I live and work in Illinois. So, your comment about conduit not being required in homes is not correct.
Awesome video, not to be that guy but I'm not so sure those receptacles being that low to the floor meets code in most areas! Check code in your area before installing that low!
Good lord! Did they specifically scout for the easiest place to work?? Like many others have said, this isn’t normal lol.
Yeah that is just...not right...LOL.
Is a tv scam no real job no concrete in wall no damage drill bit very easy no dust
They absolutely do, every one of these videos has 100% easy access to whatever needs fixing.
Surprised a #1 square drive screw driver wasn’t used on both the receptacles and the gfi/arc breaker on the circuit breaker box. I also believe that torquing the connections should be done.
At 5.45 i thought for a second he was wearing the tv on his back
Absolutely 1 clean job. Fantastic how to video.
What if you don't have studs? I have an old house with plank framing. Nobody ever seems to have info on dealing with plank framing.
Yeah, it always looks so easy on TV. Snaking wires requires major drywall work in most homes.
Like a lot of homes in the north east Basements are a Savior for the main floor at least 😉
Another great instructional video.
In the Chicago area, you can’t use Romex, code calls for metal conduit
And in Chicago, they still required lead pipes for your water service until the Feds banned it in 1986. Let's not do things the "Chicago way" if we don't have to.
In Chicago, 10-15 murders take place over a weekend
How did you route the wire from the first outlet to the other 2? Or were they all directly connected (individual, dedicated circuits) to the breaker box ?
Because the basement ceiling isn't finished, he probably routed it along the joists there. Daisy chaining each one
Nice job, Could u send more time explaining the solution to running the wires in the house, screwing the wire to and outlet gets old after the 1st time. What about in houses WO basements, where drywall is covering up everything and you have to go into the attic.
My house was built in 1964, and I'm still often surprised at how many outlets I have in this house. Someone clearly did some work in here before I moved in.
Probably a math lab
2:46 Watch your back, girl! Lol.
Just wow! I learned a lot by watching thus video and I will watch several more times just because I liked it... Thank you so much!
So people are saying can't put them in the skirting board because water can gather on the floor. Does that mean he also shouldn't have installed a floor box for the lamp socket? I'm British but I watch TOH just because I find the way things are done across the pond absolutely fascinating. Light and sockets on the same circuit, separate gas appliances for water heating and space heating, pole mounted transformers in the street only feeding 1 or 2 houses. All seems like pure craziness to me 😂
What about when you have an old house like this but you need outlets added to the second floor and you can’t just run a wire from the second floor to the basement??
"i'm going to give you outlets everywhere; how does that sound?"
"well that sounds re---"
"great, let's get on with it."
😂😂
LMAO :)
“It’s a freakn outlet bonanza, now call ya friends we’re gonna have a potty”.....her: “ummmmm?”
Next I'm gonna replace all your lamps with light sabers
She said it sounds great.
That was a great video!
My grandparents ran their stereo systems wires through the carpet like that.
Speaker wires are not dangerous, so don't worry about your grandparents safety.
Idk maybe I missed it but I didn’t see him ground the metallic box. Maybe the outlet has the self grounding clip but I prefer to ground the box the right way anyways.
This guy is amazing .
3:11 He should've left some more rubber sticking out, Because the rubber (insulation) will eventually wear down and the copper touching the metal box can make an electrical short.
🤣🤣🤣
Where i am from, electrical outlets must be a minimum of 75mm from floor level to the bottom of the outlet.
That's great if you have a basement. How would you do it when you have a slab?
Can someone who knows explain why the metal box? Is there a particular need for it in this application? Why not an old work plastic box?
Gauge 20 amp wire for outlet for power draw is better separate lighting on 15 gauge, these outlets are all linked same breaker meaning the draws all from one
Is there a video of how to fix outlets if they don't work?
You don't fix them, you replace them.
Show how to get a receptacle on the second floor with a finished basement...
Pretty easy if you have and access area-like a basement.
Where is that white cable connected at? Into another outlet?
Does this method work for adding outlets on a second floor of a home
Isn't there a minimum distance from the floor on an outlet?
Nope. They could be IN the floor if you wanted
Stripped the wire with his linesman’s? Yeah he’s legit!!
Let’s see a video on how to repair the baseboard because some electrician drilled holes in your baseboards!
Awesome instructions! Should the metal boxes have been grounded for extra protection?
you should always do that. Its code in a lot of areas too.
What if you have a finished basement?
I've learned over the years to use white outlets, then I can see what I am doing even if the room light is low. I also like to give the tape a nice stretch as I wrap it around the receptacle, just to make it stick a little harder. I find that's a smart thing to do in general, even in a NM box. It is not hard for the ground wire to bend in such a way that it leans into the hot screws. I always try to wire my boxes with ground and neutral on one side, and hot on the other. And when I am pushing everything in, I try to maintain that separation.
Good job.
The cord under the carpet was staged. It's brand new, you can see the kinks in it from when it was folded up for packaging. It would have been worn flat had it been under there for any real length of time.
Good spotting. You my friend should be a detective.
Nothing gets by Bill cahill
Bill Cahill, pet detective!
We’ve got a detective here
Bill cahill to the rescue. Heee haaaaa
Isn't the first outlet from the power box suppose to be a GFI?
Only near water..i.e. sink, tub etc.
No
Nope
What about adding an outlet to the second level of the same age/type house? Not as easy to pull the wires.
@Abbey Wolfe in a balloon structure house you can pull a wire from the basement all the way up to the attic in less than a minute.
So nice of him to hide those tv cables
Ok so you add a new breaker to the box?
Me: follows instructions and has 5 wires going to circuit breaker.
I honestly thought he said carpet wiring and then he continued to speak and realized he meant copper.
Nicely done , Scott!
1:30 That whole series of words was ridiculous.. XD
I don't think it's necessarily code, but I know the NEC recommends pigtails instead of attaching both sets of wires to the outlet. The method shown in the video will save you some wire nuts and wire but is pretty old school.
Steve Sid the NEC doesn’t make recommendations
@@leonardholt5311 🤣🤣🤣 I forgot about that “recommendations” section of the NEC
What do I do if I don't have a basement to pull from?
why did u use lamp wire (white) instead yellow one?
A lot of outlet circuits only require a 15 amp circuit yes you can plan ahead an d pay more for a 20 Amp circuit but most of time its not needed
Insulation rod try a coat hanger cut with a sharp point shown that 25 yrs ago
Only if I had a house like this
Can I use this same installation process to install cable TV jacks or Telephone jacks for installing a telephone or cable tv and internet
If you plug them into you electrical panel like he did, you are going to have problems.
I watch all of this guys videos. He does GOOD WORK!!! Thanks for all of his videos!!
Why every 12 feet? Is that preference? Can I put an outlet on the floor and one on the roof in the same vertical line?
Most appliance/electronics cords are 6 ft. Every 12 ft would allow desired placement.
awesome work.
Im confused, so You installed a few new outlets so does that mean you need install a few new circuit breakers, one per each outlet? That may sound dumb but i can't find a video that explains this process.
A good rules of thumb is to have no more than 12 devices off of a general multi purpose circuit
Jonathan Soto no you don’t.
I love this show it is so informative
Very helpful. Makes it look so simple.
Can I use this installation process to install telephone or cable TV wall jacks
Because we need to add more phone and cable TV jacks
Where is the other ground wire at?
Congratulations Scott. Nice and neat job. Just 3 questions, 1st.- When running HDMI cables, What distance between HDMI cables and Power cords I must leave between them to avoid noise? 2nd .- If I run each cable( not three in one insulation) do I need to join them with electrical tape or just knit them, or leave them straight each? and 3th.- How did you run the cables from each outlet in the wall and below the floor? Thank you for your video.
He istalled them without conduit! Does N.E.C. allow that?