So, rewiring the porch light for a new light pointing at the shed, I came across this, redid it with tape, and loosely put the insulation back in, but I don't like it. Seems like a fire waiting to happen. No room in the housing for the wiring, so I thought maybe a box outside to run the wiring into, then mount the light on the box. That will look tacky, unless there's a mounting box out there that isn't. Suggestions?
yes there are octagon boxes that will mount flush behind the light. It's just as easy to use a standard sized receptacle box and mount the adjustable light fixture bracket to the box. Use an "old work" single gang box like this The box will insert from a new cutout you make on the outside use the ear flanges to secure with short wood/deck screws The adjustable bracket that hangs the light will mount to the two center holes like a normal receptacle would. light fixture bracket should have center hole to route the wires through make up the connections and screw on the beauty caps they have similar metal style boxes without the old work grabber ear that will work easier - just make sure to get something with ear flange to screw from the outside
Here's the rest of it. Thanks for the suggestion. I don't know why I didn't think of putting a box in the wall, and mounting the plate to that. DOH! Easy is gooder. I can take care of that tomorrow.
Need to clarify after re-reading my OP. When I redid the wiring, it was wire nutted, then taped. I didn't just tape over the bare connections. I'm not a complete idiot, ......just a partial one.
Dave use an octagon or pancake box on the surface then add a wood plate to go around the box and secure the Romex to the box with a Romex connector. I will add a pic later if this doesn't make sense.. It's illegal and unkosher to have exposed wiring plus it could pose a shock/fire hazard if something goes wrong.. Ray
Dave, we had two Doxys. Our last one passed last year at 16 1/2 years old. They are great dogs and don't think they are small at all. Have the heart of a Doberman when another dog threatens them. Never seen one back down.
"It's illegal and unkosher to have exposed wiring plus it could pose a shock/fire hazard if something goes wrong. " Yeah Ray, which is why I didn't like the way it was. I took the insulation out of that stud bay after asking the question and sealed the joints with caulk, then didn't put the insulation back. I cleaned it up when I found it, but it's still a wire junction in the wall w/o a junction box.......bad juju. It's one of many problems with the way things were done here. I like basod's idea of an in wall flush mount box, instead of surface mount where I then would need to cover it. I think I'll do a round/octagonal box if I can find one to match the light base diameter. Shouldn't be a problem. Whoever did the insulation, added a 1x piece of stock to fill the stud bay, so they could still use 15" wide insulation. I plan to pull that out and reframe for a wider front door (the one we have is only 30"), which will make the bay narrower, so I'll cut down a piece of 15" to fit. I'm far from perfect, but I at least make an attempt to do things correctly. I forgot to mention an outlet I found under one of the windows. The room had/has cedar t/g paneling on the walls. While removing some under one of the windows, I found that the outlet box had been nailed into the edge of the paneling. Must have been a reason, but for the life of me, I can't think of a real good one. Air coming in through EVERY outside wall outlet, cold drafts coming from corners on outside walls........the list goes on and on.
I suggested surface mount as it requires a smaller easily made hole for the cable to enter the box plus less likely to have water/draft issues.. Pay no attention to the sloppy paint lol.. Ray
Al, my wife was a breeder of Doxies for a few years....we had 22 at one point. Walled off a section of the pole barn for a kennel. Made sure the HE furnace was up and running before the cold hit. We have only one right now. The rest either got sold, or given away to good families. She's a very strong and strong-willed person, but we lost more than a couple even though they were extremely well cared for, and she got to the point where it was just too much. I think the last straw was when we lost one that was very close to having her pups, but got sick and died in my wife's arms on the way out the door to the vet. Died within 2 hours of us noticing something wasn't quite right.
Ah, I see Ray. I plan to change the one over my service door for the shop just like that, except it'll just be a wooden plate. The light out there has room inside the base to hold the wiring. Is that a metal box with the empty side facing the wall? The more I think about this, the less I like the idea of cutting a hole big enough to flush mount a box in the wall. Hmmmm I'll need to ponder on this a while.
Nope the wire enters the box from the back. I used a 1" thick piece of rough sawn sanded smooth with a hole cut with a jigsaw to surround the pancake box. The fixture screws into the pancake box and secures against the wooden plate. I used siliconized acrylic clear caulk to seal the wooden plate to the house. Pretty easy and cheap to do. Ray
Found this...... Which will be temporary, since I'll need to move that r/h stud over when I reframe for the new door (don't know when that'll happen). The bracket slides, and I'll need to snip the "ears" off or reverse the rod. I can use the existing hole, etc........Gooder to go.
You mean that not correct? Wow!!!!! I guess the previous owner of my house must have missed that day in wiring 101 class. So that would make him a complete idiot. That I'll too. Cause those aren't the only things that I've found a little shady here. Also nice sign....
Good catch. Bad wiring = fire hazard, All avoidable, and some very cheap to correct. All connection need to be in a closed box. I have seen some situation where zip cord was run in the walls. Horror stories waiting to happen. You are making things right. That will help you sleep better.
So, got that mounted and the light wired into it. I also drilled the top wall plates and ran wire for an outlet under the front window to the right of the hearth. Just need to get up in the attic and finalize the new junction box wiring and do the cover plate. This is getting pulled from the switched light, so the outlet will be switched also. No problem, really, since the switch stays on most of the time for the porch motion light. I'll be running another outlet on the opposite side of the hearth as well whenever I get over there. I'm finding more interesting stuff in the walls every time I go a little further.
The best thing I found was a paper back copy of "Everything you ever wanted to know about sex" - yep When the GF was giving the dogs a bath in the upstairs bedroom so not to disturb me while sleeping on a stretch of nighshifts - I awake to water running out our closet ceiling. As I removed the sheetrock to find the leak point out comes this book laid right under the tub pea trap - somebody knew that space would be opened someday. She threw it away on me - I wanted it as a keepsake
Finally got in the attic again and finalized the wiring for that outlet and got the other motion light put up and wired. Everything works. It's a bit higher than I expected and I need different bulbs, but now I can see when I go out to the shed at night.
