Tripod member RichRoc asks:
Since you mentioned adding that phone jack in the closet... how exactly is that done? I've got the little modular extra jack thingy, but looking at all those colored wires makes me think of bomb squads (cut the BLUE one... I think...), so I'd much rather have someone with a clue tell me how to attach everything before I sever my phone service completely, or that of the neighbors downstairs.

Handy Girl Jennifer suggests:
I never mentioned a phone jack in the closet. This is a bad idea and I unequivocally do not recommend the closet for a phone jack.

The first thing you must remember when messing with your phone wiring is that you cannot hurt yourself or blow up your home, no matter what you do. This alleviates a lot of the tension you are bound to develop while wiring your home. I pin up my hair and take off a layer of clothes before I even get out my tools. The task is not hard — just tension producing.

There are four wires when dealing with a telephone: black, yellow, red, and green. They are in the phone, in the jack, and in the wiring. If you live in a normal residence you only need two wires to make your phone work. In my house it's green and red, but if you don't know which ones, just match all four colors. No harm done.

To add a jack, you will need a good wire stripper, a pair of needle nose pliers, a standard and Philips head screw driver, an extra jack, and enough phone wire to get you where you want to go. Open the existing, functioning jack and connect, color for color, the new wires to the old jack. When you strip the wires, try to keep the lengths of exposed wire equal and leave some of the color coding visible. Neatness counts. Extend the wire along the wall to where you want the new jack. Be very careful how you attach the wire to the wall. For a long time I used a staplegun and I think the resulting static on our phone line contributed to my boyfriend leaving me.

Screw the base of the new jack low to the wall and connect the stripped wires, again, color for color. Plug in a new phone to the new jack and listen for the beautiful sound of a dial tone. You can now breath easy and congratulate yourself on the $150 you just saved.

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