3 Home Electrical Repairs You Should Never Do Yourself

Unless you work for a qualified electrical company (and if you did, I’d wager you wouldn’t be reading this), then you should never attempt any electrical repairs at home, unsupervised. There are certain tasks that arguably aren’t all that complicated, or dangerous. However, there are a fair few which could be catastrophic to both you and your home if botched up. 

You might think to yourself: how hard can it be? Watch a quick YouTube tutorial and away you go! Take it from us: it isn’t worth it. An electrical shock can be deadly and if you’re unprepared when attempting some repairs then you’re significantly more likely to experience one. 

In this article, we’re going to take a look at 3 home electrical repairs which you should never attempt to do yourself! 

1 – Repairing Appliances 

This is the big one, something which more people than you’d imagine attempt under no supervision. Of course, one would think that so long as you turn an appliance off at the mains and disconnect it from the main power source, then you shouldn’t have any problems poking around inside. Wrong. Every electrical appliance has what’s called a capacitor. These little devices store electricity for a number of functions and do not discharge once the mains have been turned off. So, if you go poking around inside with a screwdriver and you come into contact with the wrong thing…well, it certainly isn’t going to tickle let’s put it that way. 

2 – Attempt Wiring with the Power On 

This might sound like a given, though you’d be surprised. In fact, there are a number of foolish electricians out there who handle live wires themselves, in spite of the fact that it is terribly dangerous. Which is all the more reason for you not to attempt it yourself. Even if you’re confident that you’ve switched the power off for that particular part of the house, to be safe you’d want to turn absolutely everything off, which is not practical. Your best bet is to bin it off entirely and call for a qualified electrician to assist you. 

3 – Go Anywhere Near the Weatherhead! 

The Weatherhead is that metal pole sticking out of your house, connecting your home to the utility powerlines. We cannot understate how important it is that you stay well away from this! If it looks loose or is slightly wonky at the moment, calls for assistance. Do NOT attempt to straighten or tighten it yourself. Certainly, don’t grab a long metal pole and use it to push the Weatherhead back into place. Just leave it well alone. The among of electrical power surging through that pole is enough to send you packing, so do the sensible thing and call a qualified electrician immediately.