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Outlets in Backsplash

FrankR | Posted in Construction Techniques on September 22, 2005 03:44am

Everyone,

Does anyone know whether there are hard wired outlet strips you can attach to the underside of the upper kitchen cabinets so there will be no visible outlets in the backsplash?  As an alternative, could you just to move the outlets to the very top of the backsplash and notch the bottom lip of the upper cabinets to expose the outlet box?    We’re installing undercabinet lighting so there will be a valance attached to the bottom of the cabinets.

I’m trying to get a handle on my options before I put together a proposed plan (and suggest something that can’t be done).   Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Frank R.

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Replies

  1. wivell | Sep 22, 2005 04:15pm | #1

    I'm tackling a similar problem.  I need to install outlets in a 4" backsplash on a masonry wall.  I'll have to rout the backsplash for a wire chase and probably end up chiseling some of the plaster off the brick to accommodate the shallow metal receptacle boxes.  This isn't going to be fun...

  2. BryanSayer | Sep 22, 2005 04:28pm | #2

    There used to be (and I think there still is) this strip with outlets in it. It looks a bit like large wiremold, with a simplex every 18" or so. It is about the size of a single outlet in both height and depth. I think you can get varying lengths or cut to size. I don't recall the details of connecting the strip, but I imagine that something like a wiremold box as the junction box. Depending on where the power comes in, maybe this could be tucked under the cabinet and the power enter from the wall directly behind it. Or maybe there is an el connector of some type.

    In a kitchen this would need to be on a GFCI protection of some type, like a breaker. And you are supposed to have two convenience circuits. I think it can be wired with two circuits, but I'm not positive of the space requirements. Don't know if it is 15 or 20 amp either.

    1. Bruce | Sep 22, 2005 07:17pm | #8

      I believe the electrical code says they have to be within 3' of the nearest part of the sink bowl, but being a nailbender, I could be wrong ....

      1. User avater
        BillHartmann | Sep 22, 2005 08:23pm | #10

        "I believe the electrical code says they have to be within 3' of the nearest part of the sink bowl, but being a nailbender, I could be wrong ...."That is for older versions and I think that it was 6ft.But the current code is that ALL receptacles that serve the counter top area (that includes those that are mounted on the side of penisula's and under upper cabinets) be GFCI protected.But it really depends on which version you local has adopted and any modifications.

        1. BryanSayer | Sep 23, 2005 11:08pm | #19

          Just out of curiosity, does the GFCI requirement apply if the countertop does not have a sink? That is, say a penisula or say a counter across the room (not connected) that does not have a sink, do those outlets have to be GFCI?I think we should start a pool on when the whole house will have to be GFCI.2009.

          1. User avater
            BillHartmann | Sep 23, 2005 11:56pm | #20

            Yes, ALL recetpacle that serve the counter top.When you think about it you are just as close to grounded metal at the refigerator and stove."I think we should start a pool on when the whole house will have to be GFCI."I don't think that it will ever happen.They would have very, very, very limited chance of preventing an electrocution in a LV or BR.Now, me I would be putting some money on that happening with AFCI's.

  3. User avater
    BossHog | Sep 22, 2005 04:51pm | #3

    I would be concerned about getting them TOO high.

    If they're way up under the cabintes, you would have to bend over to see the outlet to plug anything in. Seems like that would be an awful pain in the neck.

    Gentlemen, I am now your Commanding Officer. Those who support me I will look after. Those who go against me I will break. Good afternoon, gentlemen. [Winston Churchill]
    1. Dave45 | Sep 22, 2005 05:13pm | #5

      A big Amen to that, BossHog!!

      A few weeks ago, I installed some undercabinet lighting in a customers home office using GE flourescent fixtures with a receptacle in them.  Customer loved them, but I sure hope they don't plan to use the plugs very frequently.............they're a PITA - lol.

  4. User avater
    JeffBuck | Sep 22, 2005 05:10pm | #4

    Does anyone know whether there are hard wired outlet strips you can attach to the underside of the upper kitchen cabinets so there will be no visible outlets in the backsplash? 

     

    yes there are.

    Jeff

        Buck Construction

     Artistry In Carpentry

         Pittsburgh Pa

  5. User avater
    BillHartmann | Sep 22, 2005 05:15pm | #6

    It is Plugmold. That is a brand name, but there are other versions.

    You can get it in all kinds of spacing and lengths.

    One thing to make it easier to plug into is to mount them in the corner between the backsplash and the cabinets on a cant strip.

  6. stinger | Sep 22, 2005 06:51pm | #7

    We install PlugMold strips on a continuous wood backer block that has its front face beveled 30 degrees, so the face of the outlets tilts down toward the counter.  It is easier to plug and unplug when you do this.

    1. FrankR | Sep 22, 2005 08:09pm | #9

      Everyone,

      Just found the web-site for Wiremold.  Thanks for the suggestion about using a  beveled backer to keep the strip angled towards the front.   Thanks also for putting me on notice that these can be a PITA to install and wire up.    If I do use Wiremolds, I'll may try to install them before I put in the base cabinets.

      Thanks again.

      Frank R.

      1. AndyEngel | Sep 22, 2005 10:24pm | #11

        I've used Wiremold plugs as you suggest on two houses. They are a pita to install, but they're great to live with.

        BTW, code requires the outlets to be within 18 in. of the countertop, so watch your height.Andy Engel

        Senior editor, Fine Woodworking magazine

        An updated profile is a happy profile.

        Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value. --Robert M. Pirsig

        None of this matters in geological time.

        1. tea | Sep 22, 2005 10:36pm | #12

          Code issues are definitely something to watch out for, but as someone who leaves all appliances on the counter and keeps them plugged in, for some clients at least it shouldn't be a big problem to have them up as high as is allowed. I think tucking the plugmold between the cabinet and the top of the backsplash is fine - the cant strip sounds good too. International/NY code requires plugs every two feet, all GFCI and within 18" of the top of the counter.

        2. User avater
          BillHartmann | Sep 22, 2005 11:15pm | #13

          I believe that the 2005 NEC increased it ot 20" just because of the use of Plugmold.

        3. FrankR | Sep 23, 2005 01:20am | #15

          Sorry to come back to the well so quickly, but I just looked at the literature for Plugmold and I have another question.    How do you get power to the Plugmold strip from the wall?  I'm going to use the 30 degree beveled backer that Stinger suggested, so the Plugmold flat backer plate will not work.  Also,  the Plugmold end caps seem to be made to receive BX or conduit.  I have Romex cable in the wall.

          Thanks guys.

          Frank R.

          1. bigman | Sep 23, 2005 02:09am | #16

            Frank you can use a T&B plastic romex connector for 12/2 wire installed backwards (so that it takes up very little space in the plugmold) then to make the connections DO NOT USE wirenuts, use the Wiremold W30 wire connector, it makes it a breeze, a little money spent on the right parts saves a lot of cussing!!

          2. bosn | Sep 23, 2005 02:38am | #17

            We use Plugmold all the time here, the architects and designers love it.  It gets easier the more times you install it, but it is still a PITA, I mean neck....literally.

            Rough in a box for the GFCI somewhere in the kitchen or pantry, back of a closet works well.  This puts the GFCI conveniently in the kitchen if it trips.  You could use GFCI breakers, but then you would have to go to the panel to reset after a nuisance trip.  They make dead front GFCI's that look just like the regular ones, but with out the holes to insert a plug... in case you need them.

            Each unbroken run of Plugmold should have only one cable running to it.  There is not room in Plugmold for joints.   You may need a J-box some where.  Use the GFCI box if you install one.

            You still need two branch circuits in the kitchen to serve counter tops, don't forget that.  This means two breakers and two GFCI's, minimum.  And plan out your Plugmold runs so that you break up the kitchen load among your circuits.

            The NEC requires any kitchen countertop that is 12in or wider to have a receptacle.  And no point measured along the wall can be farther than 24in from a receptacle.  All receptacles that serve the kitchen counter must be GFCI protected.

             

            There are Plug mold fittings that will allow you to turn corners.

            I recommend the plastic Plugmold.  It is an almond color, has plenty of room to make your feed connections, is easy to cut, and there is a matching raceway that you can buy if you want to go a distance without installing a receptacle.  It is overall, far easier to work with than the metal stuff.

            Enter the Plugmold through the back with NM cable using a NM cable connector in a 7/8ths inch hole.

            If you turn a corner with the 30 degree backer you can cut miters in the plastic stuff. With a tight fit, you can have a good looking finish and the wires would not be in danger of being damaged as with the metal stuff.

            Also, on the rough in, I've found that you need to carfeully measure to find the hight your plugmold will be at, and where you will be near an end of the run.  Then turn your Nm cable in a gentle 90 and staple it right at the edge of the stud so that there is no question in the drywallers' minds that that wire has to stick out right there.  some of them still get buried.  It depends on the drywallers.

            If you haven't drawn blood today, you haven't done anything.

            Edited 9/22/2005 8:23 pm ET by bosn

          3. stinger | Sep 23, 2005 03:10am | #18

            I don't know what his secret is for doing the connection, but my sparkie sub just buries the cable (romex?) in the wall cavity where he knows the wallcabs will be, then before we install the wallcabs, he chops a hole in the rock and fishes it out, slotting the gypboard down so it is then poking out just under the cab bottom.

            Using the hardwired kind of PlugMold, with the self-junction box on the end, he wires us up, and voila! 

  7. doodabug | Sep 23, 2005 12:10am | #14

    I saw them on a This Old House rerun this weekend. Steve Thomas comment was, " Don't know about looking at the cords hanging down"

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