Our doorbell died. As in…thud…kerput…throw it in a hole six feet deep and talk about it’s glory years over a plate of potato salad.
It actually happened a while back but we had been procrastinating the job of installing the replacement until finally we decided that enough was enough. It was hanging by it’s wires – not exactly safe for girl scouts selling cookies to notify you they are there to deliver the seventeen boxes of Samoas. It would totally delay the delivery if they messed with the exposed live wires. Although, it would be a good plan if I was planning to hijack the wagon full of heavenly deliciousness…not that I would do that. Afterall, the electricity might melt the chocolate. Duh. We knew that the doorbell was pretty bad when the delivery guy told me that we needed to fix the bell because the broken plastic cut his finger. I was all like “Dude, that’s workers comp…you should go on vacation.” And then I sterilized the broken button. Communicable diseases are real people. I should know 🙂
So we headed to our local home improvement store to snag a little five dollar fix. Since our button was wired, all we needed was a replacement wired push button to install with our existing bell system. We ended up choosing this oil-rubbed bronze square plate with a dark button. We liked the style because it didn’t look cheap like our previously plastic version. And at under $5 it was one of the cheaper options.
Ok…so how we did it….
First we turned off the power at the breaker box. We made sure it was off by double checking it with this neon tester. They are very inexpensive and I would HIGHLY recommend getting one…especially if you ever want to change out light fixtures or outlet plates or stuff that can electrocute you.
After we determined that the wires were no longer live, we used a screwdriver to unattach the bell button from the wires. At this point we made a mental note which wire was the ‘hot’ wire and which was the ‘neutral’ wire. Since both our wires were the same color (a big no-no when it comes to electrical work – one is supposed to be white, the other black) we established the hot one by seeing which screw it was attached to. The hot one was attached to the brass screw and the neutral one was attached to the silver screw. That slew of detail for all you home improvement fanatics out there.
Then we came across a little issue.
The wires were coming out of a little hole in the trimwork of our door.
Normally, that wouldn’t matter but in this case, we had a slight problem because the back of our new button was quite a bit bigger than the hole. There would be no way that this sucker could sit flush against the trim as is.
Enter Mr. DeWalt drill.
This baby is like our first child. Seriously. Will is no longer a first-born. He’s gonna have to compete with this puppy his whole life while we say things like “Will, did you hear what DeWalt accomplished today?” and “Will, why can’t you be more like DeWalt?”. Sometimes Jeremy just walks around with this thing in his hand just to rev it a little. Let’s just say it’s mildly hot. And when I say mildly, I mean extremely.
Anyhoo. All we did was get out DeWalt and outfit him with a drillbit the same approximate size as the back of the new doorbell button.
Then, we made the hole a little bit bigger…making sure that the drillbit didn’t touch our wires.
Then we just followed the instructions included with the doorbell. We took the hot wire and attached it to one screw by hooking it over the screw head and tightening it down. Then we did the same with the neutral wire.
Finally, we pushed the button into the recessed hole and used the finishing screws to attach the bell plate to the trim. The last step was to turn the power back on and give the puppy a push.
I’m very pleased to announce that our new doorbell button has a clean record and looks pretty good to boot.
Not too shabby, huh? It blends seemlessly in, dontcha think?
Plus, you gotta love a five dollar fix that takes only a minute or two. I know I do.
So have you replaced your doorbell before? Or maybe you did the whole kit-n-kaboodle with a new chime and everything? I know that I had to hide the ones that play Rocky Top from my boyfriend. Geez…the Georgia fans would shoot us. Or perhaps electrical related projects scare you a bit and you don’t go near em? Tell me all about it and I’ll be right here reading…with bells on 🙂
Meredith says
Love the new doorbell! I’ve never actually replaced one myself, but my parents built a new home a few years back, and one of the things that my dad insisted on was having the doorbell play the chimes for Carmen Ohio (the Ohio State University’s Song – the chimes play across campus every hour and both of my sisters, myself, AND my parents all went to OSU). Everybody comes to our front door now, which is a little odd since we’re definitely garage-door people, but they all want to hear the chimes! I may have done it myself a couple times 🙂
Jen says
In our neighbourhood no one has wired in chimes for some strange reason. We ended up getting a wireless doorbell that you affix to the outside of the house and plug the chime in any outlet in your house – we even move it to the backyard if we’re sitting out there and expecting company.
2 weeks ago my 3 year old son asked if he could ring the doorbell on our way out at 7:30am. I said sure, why not. Not 10 seconds later my across the street neighbour came outside in her bathrobe – “did you know that when your doorbell rings, ours does too”
Miranda says
After reading your post I don’t feel so bad about having an absent doorbell for about a month (ever since we replaced our front door and frame). We never got around to replacing it and now we have a two week old baby, so it definitely fell to the bottom of the priority list. I’m pretty sure I have missed a few visitors these 2 weeks because they were forced to knock on the door and I didn’t hear them. Hopefully the wires sticking out of our door aren’t hot or we might fry a well-wisher or 2. P.s. I love the last comment posted. I’m an OSU grad as well and would love if my doorbell would play Carmen Ohio!
liz @ bon tmeps beignet says
You have me crackin up @ worker’s comp and drooling over Samoas.
We REALLY need to replace our doorbell too. People will call us and say “Are you home? I’ve been ringing the doorbell for about 5 mintues now”. No dude, we kick it old school so use your knuckles next time.
Come to think of it, our doorbell hasnt worked since we moved in. I wonder if we even have the box that makes the noise (I’m sure there some techincal word for it) because in the 2 years we’ve lived there I’ve never seen it.
Heather S says
I just found your blog (through Sherry’s “house crashing” section) and I am blown away by your DIY projects! Seriously, I bookmarked a million posts last night!! I am obsessed with your den… love the white, black, and green. Can’t wait to hear how that white PB couch in your living room holds up to your little man! (Congrats on Will, by the way. I had a baby girl in May, so it’s been fun to see Clara and Will’s pictures, since Lilah’s the same age.) Oh, and I love, LOVE Will’s woodsy accent wall. Wow. Good work, you two.
Ok, here’s my question (‘cuz I could go on with the compliments for awhile)… I’m sure if I searched long enough, I’d find this answer… but could you tell me about the wall hooks in your entry? I’m sure it was another DIY project, but I’m dying to do it in my laundry room. And speaking of laundry rooms, I found your tiling post, but have you done a reveal?
And last thing… glad to see you put the bamboo shades OVER white blinds. I have white faux wood blinds everywhere, but want to add the bamboo shades. Yay for a plethora of blinds!
Kristen says
Your new doorbell looks great! My recent electrical encounter included removing our outdoor light fixtures. I was too scared to do it and waited for my hubby to help out! 🙂
Lindsay says
Love the new doorbell! That is one of the things on our to-do….not a broken buzzer, just an ugly 80’s one…that looks grimy and won’t come clean. We are getting pretty good at DIY minor electrical, including changing several light fixtures and changing all our almond light switches and plugs to crisp, clean white.
PS I love your blog and your writting style – you make me laugh on daily basis!
candace - thecandace.com says
I love myself a good tutorial. And this one hits the spot. I haven’t yet gotten up the courage to do any DIY that involve turning off the electricity but I feel more prepared now when I do decide to tackle it!
LOVE.YOUR.BLOG.
Anna Kintigh says
This was so funny. I’m laughing especially because we lived in our house for 3 years without a doorbell because it didn’t work when we bought our house. We had a few instances where people came and left because they only rang the doorbell. Since we didn’t hear them and they didn’t knock, we’ve missed a few people 🙂 Oops!
When we put our house on the market we decided it was time for a doorbell. that. actually. worked. When my husband was installing it, he realized the former one was not just broken. It had actually never worked. Apparently they staged the doorbell too! So, now everything is working. It has a normal ring but there have been a few times where it’s gotten bumped and turned to a Christmas ring, which is really cool in June!
I absolutely love your blog and adore what you’ve done with your house. Thanks for all the work you put into sharing!
Anna
Lindsey says
Oh How I wished I had a front door bell. When we built our house three years ago the electrician put door bells on our back door and our side door that goes out to our screened in porch, but not on the front door. The hubs hasn’t wanted to try that project yet so I had to get a door knocker to put in my solid wood door.
mary says
Great article.. but doorbells are low voltage items. You really can’t electrocute yourself on those wires even when they are live….maybe short them out but I doubt it. Same rules apply for your home phone, but maybe it is best to disconnect that too when working on the wires and outlets.
Amy says
We just replaced our doorbell last week! By we, I mean my husband’s uncle who was helping us install a storm door (which involved re-doing all the trim around the door)….anyway, ours was plastic and broken, much like yours and it’s amazing how simple a transformation it really was! Yours looks great!
JenM says
Oh my WORD!! I thought you hadn’t updated your blog in forever (I read through Google Reader) but then when Sherry linked to your blog today I hopped on over and realised my Google Reader had dropped your RSS feeds even though I’d updated then when you switched the site. Doh!! I have a gazillion entries to catch up on now, starting with this one. Guess what I’ll be doing all evening …