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Electrical Wiring

wiring lights in floating shelves

14 years ago

Hi there,

For my kitchen remodel, the electrician (presumably as instructed by the contractor) has set up all the under-cabinet lighting to be hard-wired. The problem is that in two sections there are floating shelves, which means that the underside is exposed fully. I'd like to recess lights into the shelves, or surface-mount them. In either case, the wires need to be buried, and I don't know how they can do that. The contractor has never done this before.

Can it be done? Are there issues with burying wires into shelves (1.5" deep, with two dowels to attach them to the studs in the wall), and/or recessing lights directly into shelves? We're at a standstill with this, so any counsel is appreciated.

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Comments (5)

terribletom
14 years ago
It stands to reason that Venice would have floating shelves. :-)

I'm not sure I fully understand the question. Is the primary concern a matter of attaching wiring/fixtures to a shelf that is free to move? And that dowelling the bottom shelf (or otherwise making it a fixed mounting surface) might be the solution?

Or maybe it's the term "burying" that has me confused. What exactly would be buried? Help!
gardurnit
14 years ago
If you have room and the lighting is a separate piece then I personally would only add a 2 prong plug to them.
And put a 2 prong socket on the power to them. If the
lights have 3 wires then , of course, use a 3 prong plug with ground on both sides.

My idea was that if you pull on them when removing the
shelf you'll have a chance to disconnect them and thus
allow them to be removed for cleaning or replacement.

IF they are low voltage then the problem becomes a big
sticky due to non standard connectors used in low voltage
connections. But the idea is the same.

Leave enough wire rolled up so it will unroll if someone
should pull out the shelf and want to move it.

When you reply with clarification your answers will be
better I'm sure.
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venice_2008
Original Author
14 years ago
terribletom, the issue is running the wires to the lights without revealing them, that is, buying/hiding them in the thick shelves themselves. I was told that they could be dowelled in, if that makes sense, but I'm now fairly certain they cannot be. It may be that they had to be hollow to begin with.

Sigh.

gardunit, I'm not sure I understand the solution (and I think there was some sort of connection issue, apart from the aesthetic one, but in any event, after much agonizing over this issue, I've decided to abandon the quest ...

And now, one of my floating shelves is sinking. This sort of honour to my screen name, I could have done without ...
gardurnit
14 years ago
Please accept my apoligy. I totally didn't read your
original post thoroughly.

Yes you can bury them easily. Assuming they are
just wood running them through a table saw will
cut a kerf (the blade's slot) in the wood. You can
make the kerf as wide as you desire by using more than
one blade at a time set side by side. I should think
a 1/4" kerf is enough to put a normal 16ga wire into.

Then you 'll fill any space with a caulking and paint it
or not.

You can glue or press fit the wire into the kerf.
pjb999
14 years ago
If I understand what you're doing, why not double the shelves, ie, screw two together, so the wiring etc can be put between them, with appropriate recesses?

If they are shelves that can be moved, then you should use low-voltage lighting with some sort of connector/disconnect so that you can move or remove the shelves?

If there's no official connector for domestic use, you could probably use automotive ones that are insulated, they should be standards-certified etc but technically I guess it won't comply with the rules, although if it's low-voltage, I'm not sure whether the electrical code applies all the way through? I suppose it does. YMMV.

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