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Posted by aemeijers on August 14, 2008, 9:15 pm
RBM wrote:
>> wrote:
>>>> In the course of remodeling my bathroom, I just discovered that the
>>>> knucklehead who remodeled it the last time, some 25 or 30 years ago,
>>>> made
>>>> a splice inside the wall, behind the sink backsplash -- but not,
>>>> unfortunately, in a junction box.
>>>>
>>>> In the wall behind the sink cabinet are two stick-built medicine
>>>> cabinets with
>>>> mirrored doors that slide in tracks. Between the two is another large
>>>> mirror,
>>>> that also slides (although with some difficulty). There's sufficient
>>>> space
>>>> behind the central mirror to mount a proper junction box: see photo at
>>>> http://www.milmac.com/bathroom.jpg
>>>> showing what it looks like with the central mirror slid all the way to
>>>> the
>>>> left.
>>>>
>>>> And it seems to me that doing so *does* comply with at least the
>>>> *letter*
>>>> of the NEC requirements for accessibility, if not the spirit:
>>>>
>>>> "Boxes ... shall be installed so that the wiring contained in them can
>>>> be
>>>> rendered accessible without REMOVING any part of the building ..." [2005
>>>> and 2008 NEC, Art. 314.29 (emphasis added)]
>>>>
>>>> Comments, please.
>>> Looks easy to access to me. Certainly more easily accessible than the
>>> junction boxes of some recessed fixtures
>>>
>> LOL - hadn't thought about it that way, but you're quite right. Thanks. I
>> think that's probably the route I'll go, then, as the only other
>> reasonable
>> alternative I've come up with is to cut a hole in the new backsplash and
>> mount
>> a GFCI receptacle there... bleah.
>
> Don't muck up your bathroom. Go with the hidden box. Terms like "accessible"
> crack me up. Every time I have to force my hand through a Lightolier 2002
> razor sharp recessed frame to access the "accessible" junction box, to
> replace a defective thermal cutout, I question that definition.
>
>
I had the same situation as OP, a floating butt splice in the wall,
feeding the counter convenience outlet, behind a replacement medicine
cabinet. Abandon the run and fish a new wire to an accessible location,
preferably directly from the power source to a GFCI outlet, or if it is
a switched feed, to the load fixtures. From his description, I bet the
existing run fed the original medicine cabinet light/outlet.
Is this above a basement? Would a new junction in basement ceiling work
to feed the runs? Or maybe a box in the dry side of the vanity? I don't
understand the current cabinet setup- sliding glass panels over a wall
cavity? Did he recycle some old store display case bits? Seems like that
would be drafty, or invite condensation in the wall space, and paint
problems over that cavity in the room behind it. As long as bathroom is
messed up anyway, I would spend the bucks to change that situation.
Those wires that drop down behind the vanity- do they feed lights in the
2 cabinets on either side, or what? They don't look real legal either.
--
aem sends...
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