Is this wiring dangerous

House Repair Talk

Help Support House Repair Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MikeIsMad

Active Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2017
Messages
28
Reaction score
1
This weekend while in the attic replacing my attic ladder, I found something that I thought could be dangerous.
There is an outlet box for 4 outlets. 3 of these outlets are being used, but 2 actually power other outlets and the 3rd powers my driveway light. It seems these should definitely be hardwired, but I'm not sure if it could just be hardwired and enclosed into a box or if it would cause breaker load issues.

Thanks in advance for your response.

IMG_4931.jpg
 
Yup that should be fixed up a little. Post some photos of the other stuff there. May as well look at all the adjustments at the same time.
 
Yeah this setup is a bit of a head scratcher. At the very least, the 2 that are feeding other outlets should be hard wired. I also believe receptacles in unfinished areas like attics need to be GFCI protected.
 
Cord cap on NM cable is not permitted.

Was lookng at this and for the life of me, could not come up with any code violations. Yes it seems wrong but, could really find a show stopper.
Not sure why they would do this but, one outlet feeding another? Why?
 
You can hardwire the other outlets, follow and conform to stapling and attachment requirements, but what have you gained, other than another place to plug an extension cord into.

Other than being stiff and unmanageable, there is nothing wrong with using romex for an extension cord.
 
Aside from "Code" and legality issues, the safety of this depends on the gauge wire powering this outlet, the amperage of the breaker, and how many amps are drawn.

If that's 14/2 running to the box I'd definitely do something about it. If it were my home I'd join these wires in a junction box and add an outlet nearby (if needed).

I've seen some pretty bad wiring jobs and this doesn't appear nearly as bad. I've got a buddy that nearly put a 100 amp sub panel in his garage with 30 amp breakers powered by an existing 14/2 [emoji43] .
 
Hey guys I'll get up there and snap a few more photos this evening. I was actually hoping to find an outlet up there, so I could connect my sawzall and lamp, but wasn't expecting to see this. My first line of business was to replace this ladder that was barely being hung on. Then I wanted to start cleaning up the attic. We moved I to this house 1 month ago and it appears they used the attic for a dumpster during a remodel.
 
That box has knock out holes and you can buy some clamps that fit there, a few mar connectors (nuts) and some wire staples.
 
ok, heres a few photos.

This shows the other side of the truss where the box is currently located. Appears to be plenty of extra wire.

IMG_4944.jpg

This one shows one outlet box in the ceiling of the garage.
IMG_4942.jpg

And this shows the wire to the driveway light. Disregard the box you see there, that is another outlet that is not connected to these.
IMG_4943.jpg

I didn't get a picture of the 3rd wire today, but it doesnt appear to be running to a box, but directly down through the wall, powering a wall outlet.

So after reading all these posts, it sounds like I am fine connecting these with wire nuts inside the box. Would it be ok to attach inside this same box and leave the outlets?
 
You may want to wait until you have that cleaned up a bit so you can tidy up the wire a little when you can see better where it is going.
Yes you can leave the outlets there or put a blank lid on it and run another outlet box.
 
ok, heres a few photos.

This shows the other side of the truss where the box is currently located. Appears to be plenty of extra wire.

View attachment 13693

This one shows one outlet box in the ceiling of the garage.
View attachment 13691

And this shows the wire to the driveway light. Disregard the box you see there, that is another outlet that is not connected to these.
View attachment 13692

I didn't get a picture of the 3rd wire today, but it doesnt appear to be running to a box, but directly down through the wall, powering a wall outlet.

So after reading all these posts, it sounds like I am fine connecting these with wire nuts inside the box. Would it be ok to attach inside this same box and leave the outlets?

Yes you can connect those individual romex in that box, however, it appears you may exceed the max. conductor count allowed for that size of enclosure.

You'll also need to staple each romex within 9" of the box.
 
Last edited:
Can you please elaborate on your comments of how my roof is framed?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top