Not Replacing Light Fixtures - What To Do With Wires

[karenk30]

Hi,

I'm a homeowner doing some bathroom improvement. In the bathroom, we have two wall sconces that we would like to remove and NOT replace. Once we disconnect them we'll just patch the walls. My question is: when we disconnect, what do we do with the wires? I'm afraid it's dangerous to just let them sit in the walls and perhaps cause a fire.

Please give your expert advice to a non-pro!

Thanks!

 

[roger]

Re: Not Replacing Light Fixtures - What To Do With Wires

Spend a few dollars for your families safety and have an electrician disconect them at their source.

I'm afraid it's dangerous to just let them sit in the walls and perhaps cause a fire.

You can not leave them hot and just bury them in the wall.

Roger

 

[charlie b]

Re: Not Replacing Light Fixtures - What To Do With Wires

Let me add a note on why this is not as easy as it might seem. I am sure you plan on turning off the power at the main circuit breaker panel, before you remove the lights. The way most people figure out which breaker is the one that feeds the lights is to turn each breaker off, then on, one at a time, until the light goes out. With that one breaker off, look to see what else has lost power. It might be other lights in the same bathroom, or the receptacles, or the exhaust fan, and it might also be stuff in another bathroom, or even in another room. There are rules about what stuff can share a circuit with a bathroom light, but we can?t say what rules were in effect at the time your house was built.

The way these circuits are commonly run is that power comes from the main breaker panel to one load, and from there to the next, and from there to the next, and so on. So the two questions of interest are, (1) Where along the circuit is power taken to feed the lights? and (2) What, if anything, gets its power downstream from that point? You will want to have power disconnected to the wires just inside the wall from where the lights are now, but you don?t want to disconnect power to the items downstream of that point.

This sort of problem is generally beyond the comfort level, if not the actual skill level, of most home owners. That is why the best advice you are likely to get from members of this forum is the advice that Roger has already given.

 

[charlie]

Re: Not Replacing Light Fixtures - What To Do With Wires

Normally we would move this topic to a location that only moderators have access to; however, this information is critical to this homeowner.

Karen, please get an electrician to do your work.

Thank you