When it comes to fixing the electrical work in your Florida home, most homeowners who jump into the DIY pool do so for two main reasons. One, of course, is for the thrill of victory, so to speak. The other, and more obvious reason, is for the cost savings. The majority falls into the second category, but the results are often just the opposite.

Well-meaning homeowners often end up spending nearly double of what they budgeted due to poor planning, lack of knowledge, and costly mistakes.

At times, building codes can seem like a hassle that only create more work. But the truth is that these codes are put into place to keep us safe. Just like how a poorly formed foundation can cause massive damage to your home, cutting corners in electrical wiring could cost you your entire house. Whether you’ve purchased a new home, are trying to sell your existing home, or you just don’t know, its a good idea to bring your home up to the electrical code.

The best way to start bringing your home up to code is to target critical areas. These are places that see heavy electrical usage and potentially hazardous situations. Areas such as bathrooms and kitchen are very important to have up to standards. In the bathroom moisture can eat corrode wires and outlets which can cause electrocution. The kitchen also uses the largest, energy using appliances in your home. These outlets should be safe and grounded; if they are not, it can cause fatal injury.

In addition to these locations, there are several other places that should be targeted:

The best way to ensure that your home is up to code is to have a home inspection by a professional. With the long list of potential problems, only a professional can identify the work that needs to be completed. Especially when buying and selling a home, it is important to bring it up to code.

Faulty electrical wiring does not only cause fires but could also result in electrocution if you touch an exposed wire. When unconcealed wires come into contact with combustible materials, they can easily cause fatal fires. You can prevent many deaths caused by faulty electrical wiring by learning some signs of faulty electrical wiring. The main signs include:

Entertainment systems have come a long way since the days of televisions with single mono speakers that plugged into a wall and used antennas. Today, you can have an entire home theater experience with digital 2K projection technology, 7.1 discrete audio channels with lossless DTS-Master Audio HD sound, video game consoles, and streaming technology bringing you entertainment from more sources than anyone could have dreamed of only a decade past.

This does mean a far more complex electrical wiring network, however. The old-fashioned TV simply needed to plug into a wall, and that was it. If you want a full home theater set-up, it’s almost essentially a room renovation or new room addition as far as the electrical wiring is concerned. Nowhere else in your home will have as many appliances requiring electrical power at the same time.

One of the reasons to have professional assistance with this task is that you will want as much of the wiring as possible, such as those running to the speakers, to remain hidden within the walls. Electricians can make this task much simpler and take away the need to rip apart your walls to have the wires installed.

Electricians can also help you protect your home from electrical power surges that an entertainment system can cause; we advise our customers to look into whole-house surge protectors as part of a large-scale entertainment add-on: the basic power strips are not sufficient on their own to protect from the problems of major power surges.

Electricians can also help you upgrade outlets and your circuit breaker panel to accommodate the higher electrical demands. If you have older two-prong outlets, you definitely need those replaced with grounded outlets.