I think I already know the answer to this (and it's not pretty), but I'll ask the group for advice anyway...
A homeowner wants to move one electrical outlet and two wall sconces. The outlet is used to backlight a piece of hanging decor, and she wants the outlet moved up and over about 6 or 8 inches so that the outlet (and plug) is hidden behind the hanging decor. The sconces are in the bathroom on each side of a mirror and she wants them lowered about 3" so the tops of the fixtures align with the top of the mirror.
I popped off one of the sconces and took a look behind it: there's a 4" round, shallow ceiling pan with a 2" short stub of romex protruding from a knockout at the top.
Clearly there is no way to lower the junction box by 3" without somehow extending the romex. I'll wager there's no excess slack romex behind that box.
I haven't opened the outlet yet, but odds are there is not enough slack wire to move that outlet to where she wants it without again extending the romex.
The only code-compliant solution I can think of is getting to some accessible crawl space under the house or in the attic (depending on the existing runs), installing a junction box there, cutting the old romex, splicing new romex inside that junction box, and then running the new romex to the desired locations. Twice (once for the outlet, once for the bathroom sconces).
Please someone tell me there's an easier way!
A homeowner wants to move one electrical outlet and two wall sconces. The outlet is used to backlight a piece of hanging decor, and she wants the outlet moved up and over about 6 or 8 inches so that the outlet (and plug) is hidden behind the hanging decor. The sconces are in the bathroom on each side of a mirror and she wants them lowered about 3" so the tops of the fixtures align with the top of the mirror.
I popped off one of the sconces and took a look behind it: there's a 4" round, shallow ceiling pan with a 2" short stub of romex protruding from a knockout at the top.
Clearly there is no way to lower the junction box by 3" without somehow extending the romex. I'll wager there's no excess slack romex behind that box.
I haven't opened the outlet yet, but odds are there is not enough slack wire to move that outlet to where she wants it without again extending the romex.
The only code-compliant solution I can think of is getting to some accessible crawl space under the house or in the attic (depending on the existing runs), installing a junction box there, cutting the old romex, splicing new romex inside that junction box, and then running the new romex to the desired locations. Twice (once for the outlet, once for the bathroom sconces).
Please someone tell me there's an easier way!