Electric in wrong stud bay.
I need a creative fix for this problem.
A lady wants a new light installed in her kitchen over the island. No big deal. The only problem is the electricians installed the box and line one stud bay away from were it needs to be in order to be centered over the island.
Since I can’t bury a splice behind the DW and the cable is stapled in the stud cavity, (and too short anyway)and the island can’t be moved (it’s tiled in) what are my options besides the ugly obvious fix of splicing in the new cable and covering the old box with a plate?
Anyone ever come across a job like this?
Dan
Replies
What about a track light?
JF
Is the HO in love with the light fixture that's picked....or could you use the existing box but change the fixture to a stylish fixture 3'-6' long (I'm envisioning a low voltage free-form curved style thing) which could be centered over the island but has the feed in the existing spot?
Or if you really want to be creative:
Can you turn the existing j-box into line voltage a carbon monoxide detector ("Yeah...I planned that....no extra charge...it's for your safety"). and then run a lead into the bay you need to a new J-box for the nicely centered light fixture?
Ya probably just need to bite the bullet and fish new wire.
Dan019,
1)Cut the DW out, move the box, patch and paint.
2)Bill the electrician.
Fashion a nice wood detail to span between the two boxes, and beyond as required to be symmetrical. Of course, make it removable to meet NEC requirements.
What's above? Keep in mind that if its an unfinished attic then you can have an upward-facing splice box.
Figure out where the cable comes from and see if enough can be freed to get it into the next stud bay.
(The sparky really should have just left the cable loose in the ceiling.)
He is saying "stud bay", but me thinks he means joist bay. There should be 6" of wire in the existing box. He needs to move the box 1 1/2" or 16" over to the next bay. No big deal if it is an inch and half but at 16" it becomes a PITA.
I have done a hanging fixture and a ceiling fan move of 14 1/2" by using a ceiling madelion to had the old box that contained the splice. Inspector approved it, to my surprise.
Dave
Yeah, I knew what he was meaning.My wood suggestion was similar to the medallion scheme.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
1970's style swag light?? Wire into the box and hang the light directly over the table by the chain??
If the wire comes in from the bottom of the wall, run a new one to the proper location and install the J-box, cut the one that is wrong, make sure it can't be reattached to any power source, and connect to the feed in the correct type of box. As long as the one that needs to be abandoned can be cut off, stuffed into the wall cavity and is attached to nothing else, you should be OK.
If you can get above it, add a junction box on the attic side and run the new wire.
Running a new wire should be pretty easy, at least to a point where a junction box can be installed out of the way.
You can also install a perfectly flat cover plate on the existing box flush with the ceiling and paint/texture to match. The plate has to be removeable so the screw heads need to stay accessible and the plate needs to stay free. Wax the sides of the plate and caulk up to it. Use well fitting flat head screws. The wax prevents a bond with the caulk. The downside to this is it's more time consuming and requires more touchup skills than running a new wire or patching drywall.
You can also remove the old box, cut out the new opening and carefully plan a new wire route that allows the same wire to be used. If you need to cross 10" over a ceiling joist it can't be done if the wire crosses near the box, but if done at least a few feet away the wire is spanning the distance as a diagnal, not right angle so requires much less wire. (what's a 10" move over 6' diagnal, 10-1/2"?)
Drill the hole that passes through the ceiling joist at an exagerated angle to preserve as much wire as possible.
Patching the ceiling is going to happen no matter what, so just do what it takes, patch, and be done with it.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
The electrician screwed up, whats your problem? Call him back and have him fix it.
Maybe he's the electrician.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin