How do they do it?

[Steve Gibbs]

I'm looking to move a badly located light switch to another place in the room. I'm trying to work out how an electrician can get a new wire from the new switch location to the light without having access under the house. What makes it worse is that the room concerned is a ground floor, so there is limited ceiling access. (We have a wooden home with plasterboard). I'm sure eleciritcans do it all the timel, but how?

[Joseph Meehan]

There is not any one magic trick. They have a bag of tricks learned over time. Experience is the key word here. Some of the tricks call for skills learned over time or tools most people will not have. When you are up against this kind of problem, it is often best to call the pro.

[John Grabowski]

Steve, many factors come into play here. Access above through an attic or below from a basement or crawl space would make the task easier and less noticeable. Since you have neither your choices are limited to some sort of surface mounting of wire, wiremold, or conduit. The other choice is to cut some holes in your walls and ceilings and snake the wire through. Cutting holes would also mean patching holes and refinishing the walls and ceiling. I developed a technique years ago for cutting holes in drywall that makes them easy to repair. You can see it here at the WD-40 website:

If you provide more information as to where you want to move the switch to, perhaps one of us can give you more insight. There is also another option. You could install an X-10 type system in which you would not need to relocate the current switch, but only change it to an X-10 module. You would then install another module (Which requires power) in a location more convenient for you. I think that there are also wireless remote controls that you could connect to the X-10 system.

Do a search of Smart Homes, X-10, Decora Home Controls, and Advanced Control Technologies for info on X-10 type systems.

John Grabowski

[JerryMouse]

For a single switch, Radio Shack has wireless controllers that you can mount anywhere.

Screw the receiving gizmo between the socket and bulb. Mount the on/off sending unit anwhere within reason. Ten bucks. No drilling.

[Steve Gibbs]

Have you got a hyperlink for such a device?

[Joseph Meehan]

[Bruce E. Harang II]

You could remove the base molding and cut the drywall just below where the top of the molding is. Then you have access to the studs and can drill holes through them and run the wire to the new location from the bottom up to the new box and switch. Then cut a new piece of drywall to cover the studs back up and reinstall the molding.

It's the best trick I know if you can't get into the attic or the basement to do it.

Good luck, Bruce