Basement Boogie: Bright side, dark side

We've been "on the final day of wiring" for nearly a week (but today, we really mean it. No one is sleeping until the basement is wired). It seems like such an easy job - run the Romex cable through our pre-drilled stud holes from box to box and hook the circuits up to the breaker. And, honestly - it is pretty easy. If you get it right.

Romex nicks easily, so you have to be careful when you're cutting it. Hubs has taken to gently scoring the outer cable and then tugging that off to expose the wires underneath. That seems to be working pretty well.

You also have to plan ahead incredibly well, which typically, Hubs and I are great at doing. One misstep when feeding the Romex through studs and around other obstacles means you've got to pull it out and start over again.

It's a very one-step-forward-two-steps-back process. Add to that the fact that we have run out of Romex twice (both times 20 minutes after the hardware stores closed) and we're starting to loathe all things 'lectric.

So, it's a lot of work and it's tedious and frustrating, but Hubs made a good point yesterday. It's not worth $4,000 (ish). That's what an electrician would have cost (ish). Instead, we spent maybe $400 (ish) on materials and probably nearly 40 (ish) hours huffing and puffing, but we're not only picking up a new skill and bringing the basement to code, we're saving FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS. Around here, that's a boatload of cash. It's 100 batches of homebrew; a floor, couch and TV; new windows for the basement and our drafty bedroom, 400 skeins of classy yarn, or 26 wear-your-nice-pants dinners at a swanky local restaurant.

Verdict: This. Is. Worth. It.

Please remind me of this if we manage to be wrong again and I have to spend tomorrow night wiring, too.