Absolutely. At the first switch, pigtail your incoming hot wire to the second switch. At the second switch, pigtail your incoming hot wire to the receptacle. Of course all neutrals will be pigtailed in both switches. You never switch a neutral wire.

Wait a minute! thing with wiring is ever simple. You must know what you want your circuit to do. Switches only supply Load voltages, that's why you only use black lead and mark the white lead with black tape to show that it is also a black lead (as in a ceiling light installation.

Source voltages come into the switch from the bottom and go out to through the top to load (e.g. Light, Ceiling Fan, Outlet). So it's very important to define how you want the outlet to function in the circuit. If you want the outlet to be controlled by a switch, you connect the output of the switch to feed the outlet. If you want the outlet to be hot or active all the time, you need to bypass the switch and run a separate line (Black/White and ground) down to the outlet.

To run the separate line, you need to "pigtail" or marry the source feed to both the switch and the outlet. This is done by tying the black wires together with the source, a pigtail. Lead one supplies the switch, lead two supplies the outlet.

I hope I'm clear enough with my explanation.

Don

Never work on "Live lines" make sure the correct breaker is turned off. GET A PERMIT!!!

Source voltages come into the switch from the bottom and go out to through the top to load

This is incorrect. Single-pole switches are not directional. It matters not which terminal you use for line and which for load.

Eddie, get thee to your bookstore or local Home Depot and buy a copy of the book Wiring Simplified. Read it all, and don't skip the chapter on basic circuits. (OK, you can probably skip the chapter on farm wiring.) Then you will be ready to tackle this job.

"Wait a minute! thing with wiring is ever simple."
Huh?

"GET A PERMIT!!!"
This may not be necessary for a homeowner doing his own electrical. In my neck of the woods no permit is needed for work having a value of under $200.

"This is incorrect. Single-pole switches are not directional. It matters not which terminal you use for line and which for load."
This is true.
Although, it is common practice throughout the industry to line into the top and load out of the bottom. Bigger disconnect switches and many other switches must be wired this way by code.
A basic wall switch it really does not matter.

"[ISingle-pole switches are not directional. It matters not which terminal you use for line and which for load./I]"

Now this I find interesting and taking out of context is exactly correct. I realize that on SPST switches, it does not matter where you put which wire, however, in this venue when you are working with novices and it's easier, for me anyway, to provide specific directions that are known to work. This way I know exactly where I had the wires placed.

WRT "Get a permit" In this area, a homeowner will pay approximately $15. to obtain a an electrical permit. For licensed contractors it does mandate a fixed base amount. But that is for a licensed electrician, not a homeowner. For that money you also get a post installation inspection. Which has been known to correct bonehead mistakes because not everyone has a current of the NEC codes handy in their home.

Did the wringing out of the wires pass muster or do I need to change my procedures? BTY, that is an actual question, not a rebuke.

when you are working with novices and it's easier, for me anyway, to provide specific directions that are known to work.

<Shrug> I guess that's a judgement call. I'd rather take the time to explain how switches work, instead of giving someone misinformation because I didn't think he was bright enough to understand. But maybe in your situation, with the people you work with, that's the easier answer.

Did the wringing out of the wires pass muster or do I need to change my procedures?

Sorry, I don't know what "wringing out" of wires means. In my end of the world, that's what you would be doing with a rag to get the water out of it. ;-)

Get a permit

That's good advice. Regrettably, this is a DIY forum and I doubt that even 5% of them follow it. I know lots of people who've done their own wiring, and not a one of them has EVER pulled a permit, regardless of the size of the job.

When wiring 2 way switches I always line in at the bottom (off) and load out at the top (on). It made more sense when I started wiring 30 years ago that the flow of electricity would be like the flow of water. In the "off" or down position, the hot wire would be ready with potential to the off or bottom screw. That seemed the same as a faucet being pressurized in the off position and opening the faucet allowed the water to flow "out". Closing the switch would allow the current to flow from the off screw through the switch and out to the load. Having the potential at the "on " side still seems backwards to me. Perhaps the contacts of switches are not manufactured equally robustly. Perhaps the closing and opening of the switch and the associated arcing are designed to occur on one specific pole. Anyone know about switch construction? I can't recall the last time I examined the contacts of a switch to see if the contacts were identical at both poles.

"Which has been known to correct bonehead mistakes because not everyone has a current of the NEC codes handy in their home."

An inspection is NOT intended to show you how to do something. You should know the codes BEFORE you start.
It is not the inspector's job to teach/show you things you should have known in the first place.

Permits in our area are $56 plus a circuit charge plus # of device charge plus special wiring charges (dryers, air conditioners, stoves, etc.)

To wire one room could cost more on permits than materials would cost.

If you have a fire and the insurnace investigator finds that you have added wiring that doesn't meet code, and without a permit, and without the supervision of a licensed electrican, they may walk away and claim no responsibility.

BS. They cannot legally deny your claim if you did work on your own property. A) they would have to prove the work was not done to code. B) they may drop you afterwards but they would still pay.

Agree BS! This is a long perpetuated MYTH!

Re: Insurance companys - This is not a myth.

My wife is a legal assistant here and one of the first things they try to do is get out of the loop. The firm my wife works with handles cases from insurance companies. If there is a way to get out of paying a claim, they will do it.

If the insurance company could deny a claim because of cleint error/stupidity then they would almost never have to pay. How many fires are caused by careless smoking, pots on stove, etc. They pay those. Unless they can proove arson they pay.

i know for a fact that State Farm will pay a claim, and THEN go after whoever was at fault. my grandmother's house caught fire several years ago and it was determined tha ta certain idiot wired an outlet off a dimmer switch for "mood" lighting when the carport was enclosed back in the early '80's. well, 15 years later she plugs a 1500 watt heater in this outlet and dimmer caught fire. this ran up the interior of the wall and did major damage in the attic. SF paid the claim and fixed the house. once everythign was done they sued the electrician's that FIXED the house, thinking they were the ones who wired it like tha tin teh first place. since my grandmother could not remember who actually did the original work, but knew it was not this company, they dropped it. they never once balked at her, they just took care of her and then tried to recoup the money from the party at fault.

BTW, the idiot was my cousin. i have tons of horror stories on his wiring. heck, most every circuit in our office has 2 black wires, one is hot and the other is neutral, but good luck figuring out which is which at a glance! he even put in a 16 guage jumper between 2 outlets on a 20 amp circuit. luckily for us no one had every used the 2 outlet since it had been installed, or it would have been a quick fire.

Bird, it doesn't matter how the switch is configured. Any arc won't be affected by which terminal is source and which is load.

The things that really matter in switching an AC circuit are the material and size of the contacts, how far they separate when opened, how solidly the connection is made when they're closed, and how quickly the contacts make and break when the switch is operated.

AC is relatively easy to switch because the voltage goes to zero 120 times per second. That really helps extinguish breaking arcs. There are other considerations and tricks for switching a DC circuit - for example, using a magnetic field to bend and thus stretch out the breaking arc - but they don't apply to most situations we'll encounter. Most of us work only with AC.

The water analogy helps beginners understand some gross characteristics of electricity, but it has its limitations and, as I'm sure you realize, this is one of them.

David,

If all you have are black wires and you have the time to correct the problem, determine which black lead is actual a "Source line". Then find its paired neutral line. As you identify each neutral or return line use a small piece of white tape to mark it. This way you will you will know the Load from return lines.