For 3 years now, we've lived with a very mediocre electrical system in the basement. It went a bit like this: 1 electrical box (2 outlets), used for water heater and washing machine (over a very long heavy duty extension cord) 3 single light bulbs - one switched, and two with pull chains. That's not an adequate system to support 2 basement rooms. One half of each room was impossible to light without a supplementary floor lamp plugged into a very long extension cord. The basement has always looked dark and gloomy. So today, I set out to change all this. I'm installing 6 single bulb light fixtures and 5 outlet boxes (10 additional outlets) The switch at the top of the basement stairs will light 3 bulbs in the first basement room, and an additional switch in the doorway to the second room will light 3 more bulbs. For outlets, I'll have a GFCI in each room, feeding another set of outlets. For the first time, the washing machine will have ITS' OWN outlet! Almost all the existing wiring in the basement is affixed to the lower surface of the joists, and most of them run diagonally in a straight shot to where the power is needed. Running wires this way makes for a really ugly electrical system. All of my new work is bored through the joists with small (1/4 inch) holes, and only at right angles. Wherever I could, I've run multiple lines in the same joist bay and usually on the side of the bay most visible when walking through the basement. Once the wiring is complete and tested, I'll pull out our dryer circuit breaker (our old dryer hasn't worked for years). Tossing the 220V circuit will free up two slots for 110V circuits - a breaker each for lighting and outlets. As a side benefit, I discovered why we had power running through the ORIGINAL fuse box. The only purpose for running power to the box was simply to connect the light switch to it's bulb. It was fed by ancient knob & tube wiring and the fuse was still installed but bypassed. I've disconnected the box entirely, which removes yet another legacy device from the system - eventually the house will be knob & tube free!