Project book · an hour

Replace a kitchen or bathroom outlet with a GFCI

The outlet with the test button, for where water and electricity meet. A straight swap for the plain one.

Shut it off first

Turn off the breaker and check every wire with a non-contact voltage tester before you touch anything. Call a licensed electrician if you find aluminum wiring, no ground wire, scorched wires, more wires than you can account for, any doubt about which wires go on LINE and which on LOAD, or a GFCI that will not reset. Some Arkansas cities require a permit for electrical work, so check with your city if unsure.

What to buy — untick anything you have

Electrical

Tools — already ticked off, since most people have them

Tools

It lands in the shopping form, where you can edit anything and say what you think each thing costs. Nothing is ordered until you send it.

How it goes · about an hour · confident

  1. Turn off the breaker, then check both halves of the outlet and every wire with the voltage tester.
  2. Take the plate off, pull the outlet out, and photograph and label each wire before you disconnect it.
  3. If the old outlet has only one set of wires, connect them to the GFCI terminals marked LINE, following its instructions, and leave the LOAD terminals covered. If there are two sets of wires, or you are not sure which is LINE, stop and call an electrician.
  4. Fold the wires back carefully. A GFCI is bulkier than a plain outlet, and nothing should be forced.
  5. Fit the plate, turn the breaker on, and press TEST then RESET. If it will not reset, turn the breaker off and call an electrician.

Something else

Build a raised garden bedMulch a flower bedPaint a roomPut up garage shelvingFix a patchy lawnBuild a fire pitMount a TV on the wallCookout for a crowd

Feeding people instead? The recipe book works the same way — pick a meal, say how many, every ingredient lands on the list.

Replace a kitchen or bathroom outlet with a GFCI — everything for it, in one tap · DriverRuns