Wiring a Basement Archives - I Finished My Basement

Designing Your Basement Electrical Plan

February 27, 2016 by Jason 31 Comments

Diagramming the electrical plan for your basement

In the following video I walk you through the electrical planning for my basement. I used a program called Microsoft Visio. You don't have to use Visio, I used it because I had previous experience with it through my job. You can use just about any other software or even a piece of paper and some colored pencils. The idea isn't to get the perfect plan but rather to have a good summation for how you're going to wire your finished basement. [Read more...]

Recessed LED Lighting for your Basement - Save $700

October 27, 2015 by Jason 78 Comments

In this post I will tell you exactly what to buy to install recessed lights in your basement. Plus, how you can save $24.19 per light. For my basement, with 30 recessed light fixtures, that's $725.00. Would you like 725 dollars? Of course you would!

Please excuse my crude drawing. I'm trying out my ipad mini to draw diagrams. The 4 components of LED lighting are: housing, switch, trim and bulb.

My eyes are tired and my fingers are sore. Why? Because I've been scouring the inter-webs researching LED lighting for finishing your basement. This is by far my most researched article ever. Good thing, because this stuff is [Read more...]

Electrical Box Extenders - This .83 cent piece of plastic could keep you sober.

September 19, 2015 by Jason 16 Comments

Within about five minutes of looking at the brand new drywall in my basement I had a mild freak out attack.

electrical box extenders for basement finishing

If you set your electrical boxes to far back during your basement finishing project these extension pieces will save you!

The drywall guys didn't do anything wrong. They had dry walled the wall exactly as I had framed it.

This problem was that I had set the blue electrical box to deep in the stud.

So when I went to install an outlet switch or a plug it was not flush with the drywall.

In some cases they were so far back I couldn't even screw on a cover plate. I really had a minor freak out down in the basement.

I was throwing stuff, cursing up a storm and slamming back Miller Lights, thinking that all this little problem needed was some beer.

Despite my drunken tirade the problem did not go away. I determined that my only solution was to cut away some of the drywall, rip out the electrical box and then re-install it closer to the front of the stud.

I had about 15 different light switches or plugs that would need an adjustment of some type. This was going to take all weekend!

But then it hit me. [Read more...]

Installing Recessed Lights in 7 Easy Steps

April 17, 2014 by Jason 10 Comments

First, put on your blue dork suit and ridiculous yellow visor hat. Then rock, scissors, paper to see which wire to cut first.

Installing one or two recessed lights is a great starter project for learning to wire your basement and electrical wiring in general.

If your basement is unfinished then you probably only have those little "string lights" illuminating your space.

But if you're like me then maybe your kids have started to play down there. Or maybe you have a poker game down there once in awhile or some storage shelves. Either way, you need some lights!

One of those lights should be controlled by a switch. You can replace that light with a [Read more...]

Metal Conduit - Tips for a Successful Installation

November 17, 2013 by Adam 9 Comments

Now that you've read part 1 and have all your equipment on standby, let's move on to part 2 - Metal Conduit Installation.

PLEASE NOTE:Only certain areas of the US and Canada require metal conduit, such as the Chicagoland area in Illinois. Most of you can use a regular Romex install. Please check the code in your area.

As I mentioned in my opener, once you get the hang of it, installing conduit is pretty simple.

(For the simplicity of this article, I will be talking specifically about outlet runs but the same ideas apply when running your lights)

Step 1: Installing Metal Conduit Outlet Boxes:

Usually the "new work" blue boxes come with pre installed nails. I recommend the similarly designed "new work" metal boxes which have metal tabs you tack into place, followed by a couple of wood screws to fully secure the box.

They make a variety of these boxes though, so

[Read more...]

Metal Conduit - The equipment you'll need for a successful install

November 1, 2013 by Adam 10 Comments

For the vast majority of readers everything in Jason's electrical section is 100% accurate and meets National Electric Code (NEC). There are exceptions though.

Many of my Chicagoland brethren and I, fall into that minority... lucky us.

Type NM wire (commonly referred to as Romex) is NOT up to code in Chicagoland.

Yes, that's right, your local city ordinances have the power to override the NEC and enforce their own local code. Seems silly, but I'm sure they have their reasons - 1871 Great Chicago Fire? Who knows...

So Adam, if I can't use Romex, the wiring method widely used by 90%+ of American homes, what do I need to use? [Read more...]

What Kind of Electrical Wire Do You Need To Finish a Basement

March 5, 2013 by Jason 17 Comments

Maybe you're thinking;

"I can't really finish my basement on my own, because I don't know how to do electrical stuff. I don't even know what wire to buy!"

You say "stuff" because you really don't have a clue what it's all about.

Well... I would say back to you - "That's a really lame excuse." You haven't even investigated it yet.

You haven't read an article like this that reveals to you this 1 simple fact:

You only need 3 wire types:

14/2 - The White Wire - used for wiring lights and light switches

12/2 - The Yellow Wire - used to wire plugs

14/3 - Same as 14/2 but with an extra red wire in it so you can control the same lights with 2 different switches (like for hallways and stairs) [Read more...]

How many recessed lights do you need for your basement?

February 28, 2013 by Jason 14 Comments

How many recessed lights do you need for your finished basement? That's what you're wondering. Right?

I thought about scouring the internet for that perfect illumination calculator that GE probably built. I'm sure it has some crazy complicated math that hinges on the light spectrum, what phase the moon is in and the color your eyes… but then I thought, "F" that.

I'm going to shoot a video of me, walking around my basement, showing you how many recessed lights I put in and where I put them and then I'm going to give you 5 awesome tips to help you finish your basement with recessed lighting.

Here's the video

The truth is that there is no universal basement lighting truth. Everybody has an opinion and to a degree they're all kind of right.

So please allow me to sprinkle some of my insights into your basement dreams and desires (in regards to lighting). These aren't the end all be all - these are just 5 rules of thumb to consider when designing your lighting. If you follow these, you'll be pretty happy with how things turn out. [Read more...]

Do you need a sub-panel for your basement? Why, and how much will it cost?

December 19, 2012 by Jason 8 Comments

When you're planning the wiring for you basement keep in mind that you may need to install a sub-panel. How much will it cost? Should you install it yourself? What should you buy? Do you really need one?

Lucky for you, you have a friend who's finished a basement before... me! In this post I'll go over what I did and why I made the decisions I made.

An electrical sub-panel is basically an extension of your primary electrical panel. Or as I like to call it, the "main" panel.

If you're adding new electrical circuits to your basement (lights and plugs) then you may not have enough slots on your main panel to hook them all up.

You probably have [Read more...]

Installing Electrical for Your Basement - A 21 Item Checklist

June 12, 2012 by Jason 17 Comments

Installing electrical in your basement is my favorite part of the whole basement finishing project.

You just feel bad-ass doing it. You've got the wood dust everywhere from drilling holes. You're pulling wire and hooking up lights. People come down to the basement and they're like "man, you could kill yourself doing that" and your like "I know. But I won't, because I've got all the right tools".

So what do you need? Well here's my list. I just went downstairs and inventoried my "electrical bucket", this is everything I used to install the electrical in my basement. Enjoy!

21 Things You Need for Installing Electrical in Your Basement

If you see anything on here that you need, click on the image and it will take you to Amazon via my affiliate link (which supports this website !)

Voltage (Line) Tester - This is one tool you should always have with you if you’re going to be working on an outlet, a switch or any electrical device. Touch it to a line to see if it has electricity running through it.

Wire Cutter (Stripper) - For cutting wire (duh). Oh, and for stripping insulation off of wires and for making loops at the end of cooper wire. Don't cut your finger in one of these... it really, really [Read more...]

How do you Install a Light Switch

May 3, 2012 by Jason 11 Comments

Seconds after this photo, I realized I had a big problem. Be sure to read Step 4 to see why this light switch installation was only just beginning.

How do you install a light switch? It seems simple enough. Just walk right up there and install it. No problemo.

I remind Charlotte and Christian about 2000 times per year to turn off the lights in the basement after feeding the cats. Sometimes they remember, other times, not so much.

Regardless, each night I have to trudge down to the basement storage room, which is about 8 leagues under the sea, and check.

The solution. Install a new motion sensing light switch. On the surface installing a light switch seems easy. Heck, even the back of the box shows it in 3 easy steps.

Except, it's not so easy if you haven't done it before. At the end of the post I have a list of 4 gotchas that make this easy project... [Read more...]

Electrical Boxes... and flying death monkeys

April 7, 2012 by Jason 14 Comments

Walking into the electrical section of your local big box hardware store for the first time is sort of like walking through the Land of Oz.

There's totally weird stuff that you've never seen before. Everyone around you is speaking English but nothing they're saying makes any sense. You know instantly that you don't belong and the only way out is to find the Wizard so you can ask him a few questions.

Chillax Dorothy. Once you pull the curtain back you'll realize it's not that complicated. Let's talk about what will likely be your first purchase if you're finishing your basement [Read more...]

Wiring Your Basement

February 15, 2012 by Jason 20 Comments

Electrical Wiring for Finishing Your Basement:

Let's start, for a change, by getting straight to the answer. The answer is yes. Yes you can do the electrical for your basement yourself.

At least 95% of it can be done by yourself. In fact 80% of the electrical work in your basement could be done without ever hooking the electrical wires up to the panel or sub-panel. [Read more...]