Your oldest child just hit her teens. It's time for a second phone line - that is, if you ever want to send or receive calls again. Here's how to do it.
It's not as complicated as you might think. Installing a second line is a simple matter of calling the telephone company, telling the representative what you want to do, and waiting for his or her instructions. The company has to program your new number into their systems, which can take a few hours or a few days depending on the company's workload and how many people were in line before you.
You can opt to have the company send a service person out to install the actual lines for you. This might cost a few dollars, but for many people the money is well spent. When you have the phone company do the work, it's guaranteed to function properly. If there's a problem, you can call them back out to fix it.
On the other hand, many people enjoy the satisfaction of saving a few dollars and doing the job on their own. If you have the patience - and the willingness to possibly get a little dirty - you can do it yourself.
There are a few tools required, including:
Wire strippers
A Phillips head screwdriver
A flathead screwdriver
A staple gun (an industrial one - not the ones you use to staple papers together)
You will also need plenty of outdoor telephone line - the stuff that runs from your junction box to the indoor phone jacks. This can be found at most home-improvement warehouses or hardware stores. If you're having trouble figuring out what this is, call the phone company and ask them to tell you what they use. Better yet, ask one of the experts in the hardware store: they've probably done this exact same job several times in the last few years alone, and are more than happy to help you succeed.
Now that you have the tools and equipment, you can get started on the actual project. It could take a few minutes or several hours, depending on how experienced you are with this sort of work, where you run the line, and unforeseen complications.
First, locate the junction box outside your home. It's the one with one large screw in the right-hand side. When you loosen that screw and open up the box, you should see several plugs, much like the ones into which you plug in the phones inside your house, and lots of wires to the right-hand side of at least one of these.
You'll probably run the new line in the first available space (from top to bottom), but conform this with the telephone company. They might have to send a service representative to check it out: ask him or her to label it for you, just to be sure that everybody knows exactly what's supposed to happen when the service is activated.
Be sure to UNPLUG THE WIRE before you begin any work on the box. There's a possibility of electrical shock involved in this project, so keep that in mind before you start playing with the screwdrivers.
Strip the last couple of inches of the new phone line, including the colored wires inside the outer sheath. You should have about half an inch of bare wire for each line - plenty of room to bend it around the screws and tighten it down.
There should be several screws in the box. They should also be color-coded so that you know exactly which wire to screw in.
Typical household lines only use two wires - red and green, more often than not - but do whatever the phone company did when they installed the first line in your home. You should be able to tell which wires they've run to each receptor (screw). This is the easiest way to do the job properly and avoid a) blowing up the box, or b) tearing out your hair and screaming for three hours as you try to figure out what you did wrong.
All you have to do is run the wire up into the box, following the same path that the first line's wire took when it was installed however long ago. Be careful not to tug on any of the wires, especially to the first line; they can be dislodged or broken, especially if they're old and getting brittle.
Now screw the wires into place, being mindful of the color coding. You don't want a yellow or black wire on the green receptor: you want them to match up for optimal performance and reduced safety hazard.
Once your wires are screwed into place, you can begin running your phone line to the room(s) in which you want it to go. To a certain extent, you can follow the path of the first line, and simply break away from that route when you come to the point where you need to change direction.
As you're going along, stringing the wire up, staple it into place. Be sure that you staple it in such a way that the metal does not penetrate your wire. If it does, your phone is much more likely to short out than if you're careful to keep the staple's prongs on either side of the wiring.
Depending on the path you've taken, you might have to drill a hole. Wear eye goggles and follow appropriate safety measures when doing this. You don't want to use your brand-new phone to call an ambulance.
When you get the line inside your house and to the place where you will install the jack, strip the ends of the wires and insert them into the jack. This too should be color-coded, so that you don't cross the wires. Tighten them down and screw the jack into the wall.
Now that you've run the wire and connected it to both ends, you can go back to the box and plug it back in. Depending on the telephone company, you should find out whether it works or not soon.
Whatever the case, enjoy the new phone line - and tell your daughter that e- mails are just as easy as dialing phone numbers.
