- 1). Determine the location of the wall where you wish to add an outlet. Screw a surface-mount electrical outlet box onto the wall following the same distance from the floor to the outlet as the other existing outlets inside your home. Punch a knockout on top of the box to serve as an opening where the cable passes through.
- 2). Turn off the main circuit breaker inside the electrical panel. The main breaker has the highest ampere rating amongst all the breakers. Check lights and appliances to make sure that there is no more power inside your home. Do not proceed with any electrical task unless you are absolutely sure there is no more power in the circuits that you will be working on. Unscrew the cover of the electrical panel.
- 3). Climb up to the attic or crawl space above your ceiling and drill a hole through the ceiling at the edge of the wall directly on top of the outlet box. The hole should be large enough to for the cable to slip through. Insert the tip of an electrical cable through the knockout on top of the surface-mount electrical outlet box and run the cable up the wall into the ceiling via the hole that you drilled. Pull the cable from inside the ceiling or attic, but leave an extra foot of cable dangling from the outlet box.
- 4). Run the cable across the ceiling up to a spot directly above the electrical panel. Fasten the cable onto surfaces, using cable staples. Drop the cable down to the electrical panel through an available conduit or through a knockout on top of the panel. Pull down the cable from inside the panel by about two feet using needle-nose pliers, but be careful not to touch the wires and other conductors inside the panel. Remove the cable sheathing all the way from the top of the circuit breaker to the end of the cable, using diagonal pliers.
- 5). Plug a 120-volt circuit breaker into an available slot in the electrical panel. Route the green or bare wire to the grounding bar. Route the white wire to the neutral bar and route the black wire to the end of the 110-volt circuit breaker that you just installed. Cut any excess wires, using diagonal pliers. Strip off 1/2 inch from the tip of each wire, using a wire stripper.
- 6). Plug the tip of the green or bare wire to an available slot in the grounding bar, plug the tip of the white wire to an available slot in the neutral bar and plug the tip of the black wire to the terminal screw at the end of the circuit breaker. Tighten each terminal screw to secure all connections. Replace the cover of the electrical panel.
- 7). Remove two inches of sheathing from the end of the electrical cable dangling out of the outlet box, using diagonal pliers. Remove 1/2 inch of insulation from the tip of each exposed wire (black, green and white), using a wire stripper. Hook the tip of the black wire clockwise around the brass colored terminal screw on the outlet, hook the white wire around the silver terminal screw. Tighten each screw firmly.
- 8). Cut about eight inches of electrical cable and remove the entire sheathing to access the inner wires. Get the green or bare wire and strip off 1/2 inch of insulation from both ends of the wire. Hook one end of the wire around the green grounding screw on the 110-volt outlet and tighten the terminal screw.
- 9). Hold the bare end of the green wire connected to the outlet alongside the bare end of the wire running from the circuit breaker and twist both wires by around three or four turns to splice them. Insert the tip of the spliced wires into a green wire nut and twist the wire nut clockwise to secure the connection.
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Fold the wires in a zigzag manner and tuck them carefully into the outlet box. Push the outlet against the outlet box and fasten the outlet to the box, using screws supplied with the box. Replace the outlet faceplate. Turn on the main circuit breaker and plug a 110-volt appliance into the outlet to test the connection.
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