More Light Housekeeping
Mar. 7th, 2020 03:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeAfter installing the new light fixture in the master bathroom, Lisa undertook a long-anticipated project to bring the wiring in the garage up to the minimal electrical code recommendations we got from the inspector we hired before we bought the house in 2011.
After turning off the circuit breaker from the house to the garage, Lisa took the plate off the garage panel to sort out the wires. She was not especially impressed with how whoever wired the garage worked. She likes tidy wires.
Note the wires leading directly out of the electrical box. The inspector told us that current electrical code requires wires 8 feet or lower above floor level to be in conduits. Lisa had intended to deal with those loose wires for a while, and now was the time.
Lisa moved the power outlet down and installed a switch, not for the outlet, but for a new light she mounted higher up. She also installed conduit you see coming out the box here. All of this conduit is stuff she salvaged from Mehama and brought with us. Waste not, want not.
Here's the new light and new conduit. This new light and switch means there is a switched light right inside the door to the garage, which is very handy.
Lisa used the work light you see clipped to the conduit to illuminate the area while she worked on it, running an extension cord over to the pedestal that powers the travel trailer.
The wires still exposed here are technically high enough to meet any code requirements, but Lisa does intend to eventually put them into flexible conduit for additional safety.
Lots of the wiring in this house appears to have been done by people not especially concerned with code requirements or tidiness. (Fernley was not an incorporated city when the house was expanded, and it isn't clear what the construction history is.) The wiring works, and Lisa doesn't think that it is actively unsafe, but she considers it less than ideal. Over the years we have been here, Lisa has been slowly fixing wiring when she gets an opportunity to do so. This latest round not only checks off one of the home-inspector's boxes, but also makes the garage more usable because you can turn on some lights as soon as you open the door instead of having to putter around for a couple of meters looking for the light switches in the dark.
After turning off the circuit breaker from the house to the garage, Lisa took the plate off the garage panel to sort out the wires. She was not especially impressed with how whoever wired the garage worked. She likes tidy wires.
Note the wires leading directly out of the electrical box. The inspector told us that current electrical code requires wires 8 feet or lower above floor level to be in conduits. Lisa had intended to deal with those loose wires for a while, and now was the time.
Lisa moved the power outlet down and installed a switch, not for the outlet, but for a new light she mounted higher up. She also installed conduit you see coming out the box here. All of this conduit is stuff she salvaged from Mehama and brought with us. Waste not, want not.
Here's the new light and new conduit. This new light and switch means there is a switched light right inside the door to the garage, which is very handy.
Lisa used the work light you see clipped to the conduit to illuminate the area while she worked on it, running an extension cord over to the pedestal that powers the travel trailer.
The wires still exposed here are technically high enough to meet any code requirements, but Lisa does intend to eventually put them into flexible conduit for additional safety.
Lots of the wiring in this house appears to have been done by people not especially concerned with code requirements or tidiness. (Fernley was not an incorporated city when the house was expanded, and it isn't clear what the construction history is.) The wiring works, and Lisa doesn't think that it is actively unsafe, but she considers it less than ideal. Over the years we have been here, Lisa has been slowly fixing wiring when she gets an opportunity to do so. This latest round not only checks off one of the home-inspector's boxes, but also makes the garage more usable because you can turn on some lights as soon as you open the door instead of having to putter around for a couple of meters looking for the light switches in the dark.
