If there aren't individual wire runs for each doorbell back to the transformer, then it is entirely possible they were wired in such a way that disconnecting yours interrupted the next one in line...his. Your hot wire has been disconnected and it probably ran on to his doorbell next. They would have saved wire that way when they were originally installed.

This post was edited by kudzu9 on Wed, Oct 29, 14 at 3:22

Does this mean that if I reconnect my doorbell my neighbor's doorbell might start to work?

Also, can I connect the wires to the doorbell without being electrocuted since it's low voltage? There are only 2 wires and I know where they go in the doorbell.

You might get a slight jolt if you complete the circuit with your fingers while someone presses the doorbell button, but that would be about all.
Just don't touch the bare wires while you are making the connections.

Thanks for the advice.

However, how can I make the connections without touching the bare wires? :)

Modern chimes (if that is what you have) are powered at 16 volts. Really old chimes are powered at 10 volts. It is extremely rare that a human would sense any electrical power at such low voltages.
If it is truly a bell, the voltages could be different, perhaps significantly different. It is helpful to use precise terminology when discussing technical subjects.

stripedbass- Just hook each of the wires around its terminal and screw them down. If you're still concerned, let me point out that the wires are insulated, the screwdriver handle is insulated, and grips on needlenose pliers are insulated. And even if someone pressed the button during the 30 seconds it should take to do this, and you were touching the bare wires, you would be unlikely to feel anything anyway.

bus_driver & kudzu9,

Thank you very much for your feedback.

I'm going to try to connect my doorbell tomorrow and see what happens.

Good luck. Please report back afterwards, or if you have any problems.

My doorbell works.

There are only two wires: a black one and a red one.

Since the plaster guy simply cut the wires rather than unscrew them, I could see where the wires went since one end of the wires was still screwed on.

When I connected the wires from the wall to the doorbell and rang the button on the ground floor the doorbell worked.

I pressed my downstairs' neighbor's doorbell button but it did not ring, as far as I could tell. He's not home so I could not confirm. But if I can hear mine from the ground floor, and I'm on the 3rd floor, I'd think that I can hear his. Anyway, I'll know for sure when I test it while he's at home.

Assuming that his doorbell is not working, I'm puzzled as to how my doorbell being disconnected has affected his. The wires do run along the same wall and I'm sure are all connected somehow.

Very curious.

In the meantime, my neighbor downstairs has just informed me that his doorbell is not working. He's not sure when it stopped working

Could be totally unrelated if he can't confirm that his stopped working when modifications were done to yours.

Glad to hear you got yours working. The neighbor's problem could be a coincidence...or is it possible there is another snipped wire tucked into the hole where your two wires come out of the wall?

This post was edited by kudzu9 on Thu, Oct 30, 14 at 17:22

I think the "plaster guy" was irresponsible to cut the wires without asking you.

Since you only have one Red and one Black wire at your switch cutting them should not affect the other door bells. The Red wire is âÂÂhotâ and the Black wire is âÂÂgroundâ . When your button is pressed voltage is applied to your chime only because the circuit is completed. Now if you have two red and two black wires connected to the switch then cutting them could stop power from continuing to other door bells. All that happened when your two wires were cut is an open switch in the line was created.