Rewiring a House for Dangerous Dummies

Household wire secured with staples

From time to time Antisocial Network research team members run across content that is so obviously written by a blithering idiot that they have no choice but to share it at a staff meeting. Last week's finds included one that had half the research team in stitches and the other half looking around wondering why their colleagues were laughing. Once he'd gotten up from where he was ROFL, our founder wiped the tears that had been streaming down his cheeks and explained to the puzzled ones just what was so amusing about the article "How to Remove Electrical Wires," posted to eHow.com (later moved to the Hunker.com niche) by a first-time nominee by the name of Nathan McGinty.

McGinty, who lists degrees in both communications and journalism in his eHow short bio, claims to work in the "technology industry." It's apparent to our staff, though, that he's never performed – or, for that matter, seen performed – any residential electrical wiring. Oh, sure, he included the requisite safety warning:

"Turn off the electricity to the wires that you wish to remove..."

...which ranks pretty high on our list of "anyone who needs that is a candidate for the Darwin Award" instructions. This warning follows on the heels of McGinty's suggestion that your jurisdiction may require a permit and may not even allow DIYers to "perform electrical work." We rather doubt anyone needs a permit to undo electrical work...

Be that as it may, Nathan goes through all manner of instructions such as

Remove any coverings... so you can access the wires. Test the wires you are removing with a voltmeter. Unscrew the terminals holding the wires in place with a screwdriver. Pull the wires off the terminals. Bend the wires back with a pair of needlenose pliers, if needed, so you can pull off the wires. Locate the other end of the wires. Disconnect these wires from the terminals or other wires. If these wires are held together with wire nuts, for example, unscrew the wire nuts from the end of the wires. Untwist the wires to get them apart. Use scissors to cut away any electrical tape holding the wires together.

Yep, that -- according to the expert McGinty -- is how you prepare to remove wiring. Oddly, Nate include lots of instructions about getting the wires straight, but said nothing at all about what method one might use to "Locate the other end of the wires." Perhaps some sort of magic spell? Who knows?

Of course all that bullpuckey pales when you read McGinty's next instruction:

"Remove the wires by pulling them through the wall or conduit."

That's what had our staffers howling with glee: you see, residential wires are stapled in place (see the accompanying image) within  the walls or ceilings to prevent them from sagging and potentially shorting out. There is no way on earth you can simply pull them out of a wall unless they were installed by someone every bit as clueless as McGinty!
There are other problems with this bull, too, such as "What should I do if the other end of the wires are connected to other wires?" This bull rises to such a level of dumbassery that we not only awarded McGinty's post a Dumbass of the Day, we also tagged it dangerous stupidity. Be forewarned... be very forewarned. FWIW, this content is now at at Hunker.com, retitled "How to Remove Electrical Wires" -- still wrong, though...

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