BobVila.com

Hi Mark,

I'm not THAT knowledgable but have done some work in this area. I like to buy the splicers at Home Depot; they come in a box of about 25 of 'em. You use more than you think, splicing multiple wires in several places. It's just not worth stripping and messing with these tiny wires; the splicers make it easy.

Yes, in my experience you can cut phone wires and just splice at will. I found that the color coding isn't all that consistent--but you can figure it out (usually there's a table of "new-to-old" when you buy your new wire). Try and buy wire that contains the right number of wires in it (for example, 3-line)....this helps keep things straight.

Hopefully a phone guru will write in....but I've had good luck doing phone work myself. And try to keep it somewhat distant from electrical cables...there can be interference.

good luck,
-k2