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skopper · 07-20-2006, 12:24 PM

I have demolished the interior of part of my house, removing many walls. What I have left are some wires hanging from the ceiling and coming through the floor. Most of them are in the wrong places for the new walls or are just not needed (a 50 amp circuit for instance). What can I do to get rid of them? I know they're supposed to go into boxes with covers that remain accessible, but I don't want them where they are and they may not be long enough to move them anywhere suitable for boxes. It might be nearly impossible to remove the wires back to the next box (or all the way back to the main panel - especially that 50A one). What to do? There is an 18" space below the subfloor where the floor trusses are. Can't I just put boxes in there that aren't accissible? How about in the attic? Can I just solder and shrinkwrap extension wires on to get them to where I need them?

Square Eye · 07-20-2006, 01:26 PM

Junction boxes are acceptable in an attic or a crawl space as long as the attic or crawl space is accessible. I'd recommend wirenuts for the splices. NEVER splice a wire without a Junction box in your home. You can mount J boxes and "cap" the un-needed wires with wire nuts. Mark them at the panel and at the J box so the next sucker will know what's going on.

Welcome to the forum!
Tom

skopper · 07-20-2006, 02:09 PM

An additonal note: the problem with the floor is that although there is an 18" cavity below it, it's not a crawl space since it's over a finished garage (double 5/8 drywall under the trusses). If I put an access panel into the garage ceiling, would that work? I'm thinking there's no way to make it legal since it's a fire barrier, but I've still got to do something with that giant 50A cable.

Thanks for the quick initial response and welcome.

Square Eye · 07-20-2006, 03:40 PM

A garage ceiling!!??

Just mount the boxes under the ceiling and paint them to match the wall or ceiling. Outdoor boxes mounted tight to the ceiling may work better. Light fixtures mounted on the garage ceiling are acceptable, so a J box here and there should be OK. Unless you're one of those guys with crown moulding at the garage ceiling. A 50 amp 240Volt circuit would be a golden find in a garage for some people with welding equipment or it could be a good place for a sub-panel. You may be better off than you think. A couple of dedicated circuits in your home for electronic equipment can possibly save that equipment from being damaged in the case of an appliance failure.

Consider your options, you could cap the circuits and they'd be there for use later.

petey_racer · 07-20-2006, 04:33 PM

From the sound of it I think your best solution is to have a qualified electrician come in to trace, splice and re-route these wires.

skopper · 07-20-2006, 04:58 PM

No crown molding in the garage - probably should do that in the house first. My last resort will be the garage ceiling (hadn't though of that and that's why I'm here). I have to rip out the subfloor to stiffen the bouncy trusses and reroute plumbing, so if I can't find something better to do, I will stick them in the garage (which doesn't need a 4th 50A circuit, by the way). The original owner/builder put 400A in this house (in addtion to the 400A of automatic switching equipment for future generators) and there are extra circuits everywhere. Figuring out why and the nonsensical routing of lots of it is the hard part. For instance, there's 3 different circuits running through a single light fixture box in one place. This is a permitted job, so the inspector will let me know if I've screwed something up, I'm sure. Who knows, maybe I'll get an electrician too. I've got to deal with plumbing first though...right after I get the wires temporarily out of my way.