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We had a phone jack in kitchen that we removed. We first cut the line then taped it individually. We noticed the phone line in the basement stopped working afterwards. I'm assuming the basement line is looped through the kitchen line. Is there a way for me to get the basement line restored without having run another wire through another port or putting the box back in the kitchen?

Wire picture 1

Wire picture 2

Longroadahead
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    Did kitchen jack have one line or two lines/wire to it? If only one line/wire then should not cut out basement. – crip659 Aug 13 '21 at 14:29
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    To clarify crip659's comment, a phone line (standard US/Canada) uses two *wires* that are normally in one *cable*. So if you have 4 *wires* or 2 *cables* (each cable could have anywhere from 2 to 50 wires, but typically between 2 and 8 wires) then it is a splice/daisy-chain and you need to get them back together properly. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact Aug 13 '21 at 14:56
  • There are 2 cables, I'm assuming I need to get them together somehow, can I just electrical tape them based on colour? – Longroadahead Aug 13 '21 at 15:23
  • There are telephone/low voltage wire connectors you can get. Usually just place wire into them and crimp. If friendly with local phone people, they probably will just give you a handful for asking. Tape might give a poor connection. – crip659 Aug 13 '21 at 15:35
  • knowing there are many wires, do I need a connector for each, or can I push all in one and crimp? Thanks – Longroadahead Aug 13 '21 at 15:47
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    You only need to crimp two *sets* of wires - in one cable it is real obvious which wires. The other one it isn't clear in the picture. Likely, but not guaranteed that it is the same pair, solid to solid and striped to striped. The typical professional way is not tape but [these connectors](https://amzn.to/3AIjpLQ). – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact Aug 13 '21 at 15:54
  • Got it, so blue and white need to be connected. – Longroadahead Aug 13 '21 at 16:17
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    Not just any white, (you'll find you have 4 of those) but the white with the blue bands that's twisted to the blue. – Ecnerwal Aug 13 '21 at 16:19
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    Well, there's a lesson here: don't go cutting **any** wires unless you truly know their function. – Carl Witthoft Aug 13 '21 at 16:32
  • @Carl it's a home phone line not a james bond bomb. – Jason C Aug 13 '21 at 16:37
  • This maybe a stupid question, but white to white and blue to blue right? – Longroadahead Aug 13 '21 at 16:54
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    Yes, same to same, and 99.99% of the time for a home phone, just the blue/white-blue pair. Other pairs only come into play if there are extra phone lines, or for uses other than phone service. – Ecnerwal Aug 14 '21 at 14:31

1 Answers1

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It is very common for phone lines to be installed in a daisy-chain manner. The wires might only be stripped a bit in the middle and continue on to the next jack. By cutting the wires at any point you could potentially turn off every phone in the house.

Optimistically, the kitchen wires just need to be spliced. Did you take a photo of the kitchen wires?

Edit: The photos look good. Go to the nearest hardware store and ask for telephone splices. No special tools needed. For example:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/100192058

Put each same-colored wire from each cable into a separate splice and squish it with any plyers. No need to strip.

Robert Chapin
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