Adding a switch to an outdoor GFI outlet

[Jason Carlton]

I have a GFI outlet on an external wall, next to an outside door. On the inside wall of that door, I have a switch for the outside light, and that switch is a little over 3' from the GFI outlet (at an angle).

How difficult would it be to install a second switch at this location for the GFI outlet? Am I going to have to remove a portion of the interior drywall to get to the existing wires, or is there an easier way?

For anyone that's kept up with my earlier posts, this is NOT the same GFI outlet that the contractor poured gasoline into! LOL This one is on the other side of the house.

[RBM]

If it's not in the same bay as the switches, you'll either have to cut drywall, or snake from the outlet into the basement, if possible, then back up into the switches. The first thing I would do, is check to see if the cable in the gfci box is coming from the switch box already

[clare]

It is POSSIBLE to add circuits in a house without removing drywall or plaster in many cases. My dad wired a lot of older houses (rural electrification) several decades ago and often only had to knock a couple small holes in the wall to get the wiring in. Upstairs floorboards were often removed to gain access, and his drill bits were as long as six feet to reach from either the upstairs or the basement.

I'd investigate the feasibility of dropping the wire down from the GFCI and across the basement that 3 frrt, then back up to the switch.

I just put ceiling lights (and also wired for ceiling fans) in 3 bedrooms of my daughter's house without making a single hole in the drywall. Took better than 4 hours per room, working in th "attic" between trusses on 2 foot wide sheets of plywood that I skidded around over the joists to keep from going through the ceiling. Needed 42 inch long drill bits to get through the "fire stops" between the switch box and the upper sills, and a fish tape with a red LED on the tip to find the holes in the box. An in-the-wall camera would have helped, but I didn't have one then.

[Mike rock]

Alternatively, you could have a 3 wire from the switchbox to the light, with the feed continuing to the outlet. Or you could have the feed going to the light first. You will not know until you look in the switchbox and see. As far as replacing the single switch with a double switch, the 2 side rocker switch is probably the best solution.