Although there are many things that a homeowner can do to maintain and repair the electrical system, extreme care should always be taken when working with electricity. The following is a brief explanation of the components of a residential electrical system and some repairs and maintenance that homeowners can perform on it.

Service drop or lateral: The overhead electrical line running from the pole at the street to your house is called the service drop. If the line is installed underground, it is called the service lateral. Since these cables carry high voltage, the typical homeowner will not be able to repair them.

AJC File (ENLARGE)

Home inspector Bill Garwood checks the panel box. When possible, the main breaker should be turned off before removing the cover.

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The homeowner can, however, see some of the more obvious problems that can occur with a service drop. If you have a service drop, look at its connection to the house. In most cases the cable consists of two black wires and one bare, silver wire. The silver wire will be connected to the house at the weather head.

There should be a little sag in the black wires. This sag is called the drip loop, and it keeps water out of the weather head. If the bare wire is pulled loose from the house or there is no drip loop, you should contact your power company.

After inspecting the connection of the service drop to the house, follow the cable to the street. The cable should not contact trees. If trees contact the service drop, it could be pulled loose from the house during heavy winds. In this case you should contact a licensed and insured tree service to trim the tree away from the cables.

The electrical panel box: The panel box is the box on a wall somewhere in the house that contains the breakers or fuses. An inspection of the panel box will require removal of the metal cover. Several screws hold the cover in place. If possible, you should turn off the main breaker before removing the panel.

Remember to turn off all computer equipment before turning off your main breaker. If you are not able to turn off the main breaker, use extreme caution when removing the cover. If you have the least discomfort about removing the cover, I recommend you not do it.

If you manage to remove the cover from your panel box, look at the wiring. If there are two wires on a single breaker or fuse or the rubber cover on any of the wires appears melted, you should contact a licensed electrician to inspect the box and make any necessary repairs. It is a good idea to have a licensed electrician tighten the screws on the breakers or fuses once every five years or so. Loose screws can cause overheating that can become a fire.

Wiring: In most cases the majority of the wiring in the house is not visible. There will, however, be some accessible wiring in crawl spaces, basements and attics. A simple visual examination of exposed wiring in these areas can be beneficial.

Look for any small boxes containing splices in the wiring. These boxes are called junction boxes, and they must have covers. Also look for any wire splices that are not contained in a box.

Look for any wiring that has been chewed by rodents, exposing the metal wire inside the covering. All of these conditions are fire hazards.

Switches and outlets: We are all familiar with these components of the electrical system. Because they typically work well, we tend to take these parts of the electrical system for granted. Like anything, however, these components wear out, and when they do, they can be fire and/or shock hazards. If you have to wiggle a plug in an outlet to make it work or you have switches that do not work every time, it is time to replace them. Except for dimmers, if a switch or outlet is hot to the touch, it is time to call an electrician and have it replaced.

Because of the special knowledge required to keep electrical systems safe, I always recommend that even the simplest repairs be made by a licensed electrician. The state of Georgia licenses and regulates electricians.

How to choose an electrician

Before you hire, I recommend that you get the following information:

• References from previous customers

• How long they have been in business

• Copies of licenses, liability and worker's compensation insurance policies

• Verification of bonding

• Written guarantees for their work.