Replaced a hallway switch in 45 minutes, the ceiling light took 3 weekends

I swapped out a single pole switch in my hallway fast, but when I went to fix a flickering ceiling light in the same house, the wiring turned out to be a mess from a 1980s remodel in Akron. The junction box had three circuits sharing a neutral and no labels, so I spent two weekends tracing everything with a multimeter before giving up and calling an electrician for $240. Anyone else run into a 'simple' fix that turned into a full investigation, or am I just unlucky with previous owners?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela7284d ago

Pro tip for next time: grab a roll of colored electrical tape and tag every wire as you trace it, takes ten minutes and saves you a whole third weekend of guessing. Your $240 bought peace of mind, that's a deal.

ruby_bell474d ago

Calling the electrician wasn't giving up, it was smart - $240 is cheap for not burning your house down on a mystery 1980s circuit. I see it as you saved two weekends of frustration and got a labeled box out of it.