I'm attempting to add a recessed medicine cabinet. My understanding of the NEC code is that any splices must be in an approved box and accessible. The accessible part is what I'm having issue with. Look at the picture in the link below. I need to cut that wire and loop it below the (box) opening.
I've read some posts about pulling wires in the future and so on, but these wires are stapled in place. Not sure how you would "fish" them out without removing all the drywall. If I cut this wire in half, I'd have to have two accessible boxes. Seems kind of crazy. What if you accidently cut the wire? Would you have to "gut" your house to repair?
What are my options? I can surface mount this but I'd really like to used the unused space - it's a small bath.
*I would try and figure where that wire is going. It looks as though it is going down on the left side which may mean that it is coming from a receptacle possibly on the other side of the wall. If that is the case you should be able to reach down and loosen the staples, remove the receptacle (From the other side), undo the splices, loosen the clamp (If any) and pull it out. Then put a new wire in its place and find a spot for an accessible junction box.
Chuckle. BTDT, almost. Moved my medicine cabinet up about 8 inches, since previous owner's wife was around 5 foot. Found the opening for the old tiny in-wall cabinet behind it, with a floating butt splice hanging in the stud bay. Since I was fishing some new wires in attic anyway (to split the light and fan), I just clipped off the old wire and abandoned it, and fished a new one.
In your case, I don't think you have enough slack anyway. I'd take down the fixture, pull the staples, and check for sure. What is on the other side of the wall? A bedroom closet, by any chance? I don't think a junction box has to be in the same room. Attic above or basement below? You could break the wire there, and only have a little to fish.
-- aem sends (temporarily on Google while visiting relatives)....
You have an easily accessable junction box available just above your hole behind the light fixture. Is the wire running down to a box? Just reach down and pull any staples near the box, pull the wire out of the box and run it up to the light fixture. Then add a new wire from the light fixture down to the box. If the box is not easily accessable below your hole then add a new box either in the bathroom or in the room on the other side of the wall. Also you could add boxes on each side of your hole just under your new medicine cabinet and use them for new plugins as well as junction boxes.
Pat, thank you and everyone else! What seemed hopeless now seems possible and considerably easier than I was fearing. I can access the left side. It drops to an outlet in a bedroom.
Your picture doesn't show enough detail. Assuming that the cable going up the side of the stud to the light fixture is OK, the cable going horizontally, appears to be going through the stud then down. If this is the case, just cut out that stud and carefully cut the stud off of the cable, then push the cable down below the cabinet location
Chill Nate, the only requirement would be that it is GFCI protected. The NEC requires 20 amp receptacles to meet the requirement, but you can stick as many additional GFCI protected outlets as you like.
Hmmm. I'm not sure I follow. The line I want to move is going to be exactly the same, only longer. Why would I need a new GFCI? Or are you talking about if I added the access panels below the medicine cabinet instead of using the lighting fixture box?
if you added a receptacle, there are specific requirements for receps in a bathroom. if you just make it a junction box then you can do whatever you want
down the right side and acrodd below the new lower header you are going to have to install across the bottom. You'll need one across the top too, and the wire won;t need to be cut.
Is this a bearing wall being they are 2X6's? If not, and the medicine cabinet is only 3 1/2" deep, just notch out the holes that the cables go through and push the cable back towards the sheetrock. The cable will now be towards the rear of the opening, and your medicine cabinet will not intefere with the cable when you install it.
That is an excellent idea. He can notch the stud his required depth, and dig out the cable with a smaller notch. The wire could then be pushed below the cabinet.
If you have plaster, this can be a problem. If, as you say, you have drywall it is easy to cut openings and easy to patch and no-one will know what you did. Removing a little, or even a lot of drywall is not gutting a room. Too many people think that drywall is "sacred" not to be touched, but it is simple to work on and that makes repairing wires, pipes, etc. much easier.
Since it a non-load-bearing 2x6, couldn't you just cut back the stud on the left to make enough room for the medicine cabinet to go on top of it as you planned?
When you cut it back, you could notch it out a little where the horizontal wire is now and push that wire back so it will be behind the medicine. If pushing the wire back will make it too close to the wall on the other side, you could put in a nailing plate on the stud behind the wire before pushing the wire back. That will protect it from being hit by a nail in the stud from the other room.
Or, just cut back the stud as planned, free the horizontal wire, and then drop it down along the right stud and across below the medicine cabinet to where it now goes.
If you need the horizontal wire to be a little longer to be able to be pushed back and still make it to its destination, you could just run it across on a diagonal downward from the right stud and cross the stud on the left. You could notch the left stud about 2/3 down from where it is now to where the bottom of the medicne cabinet will be on that left stud. The diagaonal run will be shorter than the 90-degree angle run.
Also, double check the depth of the medicine cabinet from the wall surface to the bak of the cabinet. Keep in mind that the sheetrock will account for
1/2-inch of the depth, and the rest of the depth will be how much you have to cut back the 2x6. So, if the depth of the medicne cabinet is 3 1/2 inches, for example, you only need to cut back the 2x6 stud 3 inches -- the other 1/2 inch of the depth will be made up by the sheetrock.
And, depending on how the medicine cabinet is made, I don't know if you will even need a header across the bottom or the top. Maybe you could screw the cabinet through the back to the stud on the left, and through the right side to the stud on the right. Or screw it through the top and bottom to the cut out part of the stud on the left, and through the right side to the stud on the right.
Does the horizontal wire turn DOWN on the left and reappear below the picture frame where I can see a cutout below the main opening ? If so, is that lower cutout behind a vanity ? If thats the case, can you cut the wire in the (void)opening behind the vanity and install a box there and remake the connection in the box ? The new box would then be either covered with a plate or have a duplex outlet inside the cabinet
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