Certain jobs you do around the house that involve electricity may be manageable on your own; you can often hang a flat-screen TV on the wall with the right hooks and a hammer, and you can change out switch plate covers with nothing more than a screwdriver. However, there are other jobs around the house that are best left to an electrical contractor, even if they don't seem overly complicated or dangerous. Note a few of those here so you know when to call an electrician and why it's the best choice for your home.

1. Landscape or outdoor lighting

It's good to have an electrician manage landscape or outdoor lighting, since they need to ensure that the wiring and other electrical components will be safe from weather, rodents, muddy soil conditions, and the like. Landscape and outdoor lighting may need additional ground fault interrupters or other such safety mechanisms to reduce the risk of a shock or short. They may also need to be wired on their own circuit, depending on how much power they require, so you don't have circuits constantly overloading and tripping.

2. Installing alarm systems

An alarm system doesn't just get attached to a wall and then plugged into an outlet; it needs to be wired right into your home's electricity so that its power source cannot be easily cut or interrupted. It too may need its own circuit so that it doesn't switch off simply because you're running other electrical devices on the same circuit, and it gets overloaded. An alarm system may also require certain wires to be run along doorjambs, window frames, and other such points of entry; if that wiring is not installed properly, your alarm may be ineffective.

3. Any wiring in the laundry room, kitchen or bathroom

When you're installing, updating, or otherwise addressing wiring in areas that are more prone to moisture and water exposure, you want to leave this job to an electrical contractor. These areas will need an additional ground fault interrupter so that they will immediately switch off when overloaded. You also need to ensure you're using the right face plates and other accessories that will protect the wiring behind the walls from moisture buildup. There may also be building codes that affect these areas in particular, and if you don't follow those codes, your homeowner's insurance may not pay for damages that result from an electrical fire. As a result, you may need to have the work redone before you can sell your home in the future.

For help with these and other issues, contact a company like Multiple Trades & Maintenance.

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