An Electrifying Frugal Hack

Once in a while I try to fix something myself instead of calling for a repair person.  I have this vision of myself as a handy woman. A couple of times I've even followed instructions over the phone from my internet company, the hydro office and my furnace repair guy.

A friend told me that she had replaced all the electricity receptacles in her condo. So...

I thought...how hard could it be?

Not very as I found out.

This outlet in my kitchen had thrown out a couple of sparks so

I decided to replace it myself after watching
many DIYs on Youtube. 

 You need some good flashlights as of course you have

to turn off the electricity....

And, not shown here...I used a thingamajig to test if

there was any charge...

I really don't want to be electrocuted!

No charge so safe to continue...

 Also not shown...

I made a diagram and took photos (obviously)

so I'd know what wire went where. 

Instructions also came with the

new receptacle so this was a very easy process...

I'm guessing that perhaps the problem with this receptacle

was caused by all the plaster and caulking used when the subway tiles were

installed. There was guck everywhere so once I detached

the wires from the old receptacle I did some

cleaning of the space.

Once the wires were detached I hooked up the new receptacle

according to my diagram and pushed it back

inside its wee home...

 Put on a new cover plate...

 ....turned the electricity back on....

and TA DA! it works... just like magic!

You may or may not wonder why I didn't use a white

receptacle and cover plate to match the tiles...

Well, because all of the receptacles in the house are "ivory" and I 

didn't want to make the investment until

I knew whether this was a job I could handle or not...

turns out I can!

Total cost of this repair:

$22.88 for the new receptacle, the cover plate and

the voltage tester.

Boost to my handy woman self esteem: 

priceless!