Have you ever been in need of an electrical outlet only to find that they’re hidden by furniture or in a hard to reach place? How about that elusive time of day when you’re cell phone’s down to 1% and you have a handful of charging cables, but nothing to plug it into? This seems to be a regular occurrence at The DIY Village, so we’ve finally solved these problems! We created a DIY industrial USB charging station that has an accessible outlet; 2 usb ports capable of charging all of your devices; and even has a built-in accent light! We think it would be the perfect addition to an office, your teenagers room, or even a college dorm room!
DIY Industrial USB Charging Station Materials List:
In order to make room for connectors and fittings that you’ll be using to build your Industrial Charging Station, you’ll need to remove (2) 1/2-inch and (1) 3/4-inch knockouts from the handy box. (Set the handy box aside)
The hardwired emergency light has screw-out plugs that give you installation options.
Remove one of the side plugs from the light base and re-route the wiring through the opening. Read more
https://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/USB-Charging-Station.png427640Matt Knowltonhttps://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PHG-logo-tagline-2020-1030x211.jpgMatt Knowlton2014-09-10 07:00:002021-07-16 03:20:16DIY Industrial USB Charging Station
There we were, Harvey the electrician and I were happily making progress on the kitchen renovation. Harvey was just finishing up on the last row of outlets when his hand disappeared into the wall. “Ummm, Ms. Bailey, I think there’s something wrong with this stud.” I looked over to see him pulling wood shavings out of the hole he had cut for the outlet. “What the…..?” (I repressed my urge to curse.) Within five minutes of his discovery, we had pulled down the sheetrock around the suspicious stud and were glaring at a poor excuse for two framing members and the wall’s bottom plate.
The two studs were so brittle and destroyed that I was able to poke my entire finger through them. (Let’s see you do that to a solid 2×4, Mr. Houdini!)
Not good…not good at all. I had to make the unfortunate call to Pretty Handsome Guy to tell him the bad news. But, I broke it to him lightly, “Honey, what is the one home disaster we HAVEN’T had to deal with yet?” He guessed tornado (Shoot, forgot about that one.) “No, Termites! But, the good news is that there is no live infestation.” See, it always helps to temper the bad with some good news. 😉
The next few days were fraught with nail biting, lightly walking around that wall (for fear it might topple over), and multiple phone calls to the termite company, our building inspector and a structural engineer. To make this long story short, the structural engineer was the most helpful and advised us to fur out our walls to carry the wall load over the remaining perfectly good rim joist. If that sounds Greek to you — no worries — I really want to share with you what I’ve learned about TERMITES instead! Read more
https://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/worker_termites.jpg465620Brittany Baileyhttps://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PHG-logo-tagline-2020-1030x211.jpgBrittany Bailey2013-02-18 18:30:122021-07-22 03:37:11All About Termites and Clean Up with The Bagster Bag
Today I am going to show you How to Add an Outlet Extender. On Monday I showed you how easy it is to install the Flow Wall panels. The only thing that will slow you down is if you run into a light switch or an outlet. But, that’s easily remedied by cutting a hole in the material.
Materials:
(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)
https://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/fit_outlet_extender_over_outlet.jpg427576Brittany Baileyhttps://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PHG-logo-tagline-2020-1030x211.jpgBrittany Bailey2012-03-28 11:50:132021-07-22 19:44:43How to Add an Outlet Extender
So, this is one of those not so pretty posts, but I promise it is Oh So Handy! Especially if you live in an old house (20 yrs. or more). Our home was built in 1978 and most of our outlets are almond colored and many are so worn that they won’t hold a plug anymore. I used to get annoyed EVERY TIME I vacuumed downstairs and turned the corner only to have the vacuum plug slip from the outlet. Not only is this frustrating, but it is also a fire hazard. Old outlets should be replaced for safety reasons (but, hey, I’m okay if you just want to change them to a pretty white outlet.). Changing Out an Old Outlet is easy!
Changing Out an Old (UGLY) Outlet
I distinctly remember my father showing me how to wire an outlet when I was about eight years old. I didn’t remember exactly what he taught me, but I do remember the feeling that – yes, I can do this myself! Being the father of three girls, Dad taught us all the things he would have taught a son. This is a picture of my Dad, my sisters and me teaching him all we knew about bows, barrettes and bobby pins.
I know several of you would never think of taking apart your outlet. You might say electricity scares you. Well, that is a good thing! A healthy fear of electricity will make you more cautious, so don’t lose that fear. It is a good thing to double and triple check your safety when working with electricity. Now, are you ready to update your outlets? Changing Out an Old Outlet is a relatively easy task to do. And, I promise I will show you step-by-step instructions.
I highly recommend performing outlet replacements during daylight hours (or have a lamp that you can plug into an extension cord from another room.) Also, don’t let your little ones watch you, we don’t want them to stick a screwdriver in the outlet when you aren’t looking. Therefore, it is best to handle this fix during nap times.
Materials needed:
(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)
* It is safest to work with tools that have rubber or plastic handles that won’t conduct electricity.
Optional tools:
vacuum to clean out the receptacle box (there will be dirt and dust in there and this may be the only opportunity you will have to clean it!)
cushion to sit on
power drill with screwdriver bits to speed up the process
Required Safety Instruction:
Turn off the power to the outlet you are working on. I highly recommend putting a night light or light in the outlet and turn it on. Then shut off the circuit at your circuit breaker and check to see that the light has gone out.
Also note that just because two outlets are in the same room, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are on the same circuit. Plus, it is possible for the top and bottom of one outlet to be on separate circuits. Always check both the top and bottom of an outlet before you work on it.
Instructions:
Okay, let’s begin. Take a deep breath and realize that if an 8 yr. old can do it, so can you!
1. First, turn off your power, double check both outlets with your light to make sure the power is out to both top and bottom outlets.
2. Then take out your voltage tester. Insert a probe into each of the top two holes. If the tester lights up, you need to back up and turn off the power to the outlet! If it doesn’t light up, then check the bottom outlet as well. Still no light? Perfect, the power is off to your outlet.
3. If you haven’t done so already, remove the face plate from your outlet by unscrewing the middle screw.
4. Unscrew the two mounting screws as shown below.
5. Gently pull the outlet out of the receptacle box. Inspect the outlet and see if you have the same amp replacement outlet. (Usually there are marking denoting 15A 125V or 20A 120V on the silver tabs, on the back or near the screw hole in the middle of the outlet.)
6. Note which wires are attached to the outlet and where. Then make a drawing if you need to of their position. Or work by transferring one wire at a time.
7. If the wires are wrapped around screws (lucky you), unscrew your wires and skip to step 10. If your wires are poked into holes in the back of the outlet, you may choose to try to release them by poking a flat head screwdriver into the slot next to the wire, or you will need to cut the wires as close to the outlet as possible.
8. Now strip about 1/4 inch of the insulation from the end of your wire.Then gently use your wire strippers to clamp down on the wire being sure it is scoring the insulation. If you need to, rotate your wire strippers 90 degrees and cut through the insulation again. then while the strippers are still around the wire, pull gently towards the end of the wire to remove the cut insulation.
9. Next take your needle nosed pliers and grasp the end of your wire and twist the end to make a shepherds hook shape. Do this for all your remaining wires.
10. Looking at the back of your new outlet, you will see that one side has silver screws and/or markings on the back that says white wire. The other side of the outlet should have gold screws and/or markings indicating hot wires (the black wires). And one screw towards the bottom that is green, this screw is for your bare or ground wire.
11. Hook each of your wires around the appropriate screw (Gold Screws = Black wires; Silver screws = White wires; Green screw = bare or green wire).
12. Further, using your needle nosed pliers, pinch your wires tightly around the screws attempting to close the loop.
13. After that tighten each screw being sure that the wire stays tightly wrapped around the screw.
14. If all your wires have been screwed tightly onto the outlet you can gently push your outlet back into the receptacle box. Try to rock the outlet in by alternately pushing on the top and then the bottom. If your outlet doesn’t go in, pull it out and rearrange the wires so they fold neatly behind the outlet and try again.
15. Screw in the mounting screws.
16. Finally, replace the faceplate.
Now you can turn the power back on and use a nightlight or lamp to make sure your outlet works!
Hey, you are done! Congratulations, you did it. Reach up and pat yourself on the back because I’m proud of you! Now that you know Changing Out an Old Outlet is easy as can be, I have a next level swap for you! You can use the same tutorial to install a USB Charging outlet!
Let me know how you did. Changing Out an Old Outlet was easy, wasn’t it?!
https://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/old-outlet-new-outlet.jpg320436Brittany Baileyhttps://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PHG-logo-tagline-2020-1030x211.jpgBrittany Bailey2010-07-19 22:32:002020-12-02 10:50:53Changing Out an Old Outlet
