Attic vs wall

[ballhog24]

I'm moving a couple of light switches and outlets in my laundry room. Instead of tearing out wallboard, can I cap off the wiring and run new wiring up the wall where the breaker box is, into the attic, along a joist, and back down through the wall where the new light switch and outlets will be set?

[K2eoj]

What you described sounds to code. You can't bury the old wires if they are still live but you can put a blank cover on the old boxes and leave the wires in them. I assume your going to put in a new breaker and run a whole new circuit. I think I would run a 20 amp circuit for the outlets and another 15 amp for the lights. You might be able to run it all on one circuit but I'm not 100% sure on that. I'm a licensed electrican but I'm not totally up on the residential codes, (or the commercial codes for that matter). If nobody jumps in on this thread you can try posting over on contractor talk. They usually don't mind answering diy and there is a really good master electrician that can get you the straight scoop from.

[Teetorbilt]

As hammerslammer said, dead wires can be left in the wall. Live boxes cannot be covered with anything other than a removable plate. To fill in or cover the box, you have to kill the power to it.
It sounds like you're going to be spending some time in the attic anyway, figure on installing some J-boxes and redirecting some stuff.

[ballhog24]

Originally Posted by Teetorbilt

As hammerslammer said, dead wires can be left in the wall. Live boxes cannot be covered with anything other than a removable plate. To fill in or cover the box, you have to kill the power to it.
It sounds like you're going to be spending some time in the attic anyway, figure on installing some J-boxes and redirecting some stuff.

Thanks for the help guys; yes I'm going to be spending some time in the attic (not good cause it was 158 degrees in there at 6:30pm last night...lol)

Anyway, I'm assuming J-boxes stands for junction boxes...?
Ok, I just did a quick search on junction boxes, and I've never seen those before...someone is going to have to point me to a learning tutorial, or if you can give me a quick synopsis of their purpose. Thanks.

Another question for you electricians...

I'm going to install two light switches; one at the entry to the pantry, one at the entry to the bedroom...I want both switches to turn on and turn off the two lights that are in the pantry/laundry room.

I was able to switch out switches in my hallway that have that setup, but I'm not sure how to run them new between the breaker box, the switches, and the lights...if someone could point me in the right direction please?

[K2eoj]

An example of where I might use a j-box is if your existing wiring was fed from the attic and say you wanted to move an outlet over 4 ft. I could pull the existing wire up into the attic but if it was to short to go to the new location I could put it in a j-box and connect a new piece of wire long enough to go back down the wall to the new location. The j-box could be any of the plastic blue exectrical boxes that they sell at hd but you need to be able to fit a blank cover on it. Some electricians like to use metal boxes in the attic for a j-box but I'm not sure of the reason. The box must be secured and be sure to mount it above insulation line and allow for some future added insullation. (I learned that lesson the hard way a couple of times). If I'm doing j-boxes in the attic I usually wire a few lights and an outlet and maybe even a smoke detector if the attic is big enough for storage. > You should be able to find a diagram on your 3-way switch on the net somwhere or maybe someone will post it here. They used to have the instructions on box that the switch came in but I'm not sure of that anymore. Basically for running the wires you need an extra wire called the traveller between the 2 switches so if you ran a hot and nuetral to one fixture and a 3 wire from the fix to each switch and a 2 wire to the other fix that should get you roughed in. > If it is really 150+ degrees in your attic you might need some more venting. Where i live I can keep an attic below 130 with good ventillation.

[ballhog24]

Thanks Hammer,

I use the attic for minimal storage...mostly Christmas decorations. It's not tall enough to stand in, so I have to crawl around wherever I go in the attic, so I purposely don't put too much up there.

I'll do some more research on the j-box and see if that might be a help.

I'm assuming you put the lights in your attic on a switch. Do you put the switch in the attic, or on the wall next to your attic entry?

[Teetorbilt]

I can hump it through my attic, not crawl. I have a switch near the fold-down stairs that turn on a battery of flourescent 'shop lights'.

I did that years ago when the small flourescents were not available. I spend about as much time up there as you do, Holidays. Cheap incandesents would be fine considering the time spent there, just remember to turn the lights off. Ol'#2 forgets a lot and I wired another light into our utility room to let me know if she forgot the attic lights. I'll confess to missing it once or twice. I have already bought the switchs that will allow me to turn them on of off from inside the house.

[K2eoj]

Originally Posted by ballhog24

Thanks Hammer,

I use the attic for minimal storage...mostly Christmas decorations. It's not tall enough to stand in, so I have to crawl around wherever I go in the attic, so I purposely don't put too much up there.

I'll do some more research on the j-box and see if that might be a help.

I'm assuming you put the lights in your attic on a switch. Do you put the switch in the attic, or on the wall next to your attic entry?

Yea don't put the switch in the hallway, everybody will be flipping it on and off wondering what it is for. >I'd go for the $2 porcelin holder and a $2 screw in compact fluorescent bulb. The cf's have come along way, use less watts, last forever, and can stand being bumped into a little. >I'm a lighting guy so I'd have to make it more complicated than that but I won't even start. HS