The junction box does not have to be centred for the fixture to be centred on the wall.

If the fixture is a strip type, the feed electrical cable can usually come in from several locations at the back of the box. In any case, the electrical box is not secured to piping.

2nd bathroom:

The white wire is from the previous light fixture. Doesn't it need the caps twisted on the wires? The new light will be centered on this wall above a mirror. No box installed.

I assume he will connect the new yellow wire to the old white wire, that will connect to another old white wire on the adjacent wall. That old white wire does have the caps twisted on the wiring.

Houzz keeps deleting what I am trying to post. So, I am trying to post 1 picture at a time so I don't have to keep retyping over and over...

The yellow wire runs from one wall through the studs to the other wall and it is not connected yet.

In the last picture, you can see the old white wiring is up high and the new yellow wiring is down lower, but they are on two different sections of the studs.

There is also horizontal bracing in the way. No holes were drilled. No boxes there. This light will be 48"-52" wide, but I don't know how much it will weigh. Doesn't it need a box that can support however much it weighs?

The center of the light will be between two studs where the yellow wire is located , not where the white wire is.

How will he connect the two wires once the drywall is up?

I am just missing something, I guess.

Thanks.

Is he saying that you can just drywall the one wall? Because in that last picture, if you were to drywall the wall with the insulation, what would you do with the big roll of yellow cable? That is definitely not finished.

And what's that box that is just hanging by the white pipe? How can you drywall with that just hanging there?

How close to the surface is this cable (circled in blue)? That looks like a violation.

Do you have a permit and are you getting this inspected?

Worthy, but doesn't it need a box before the drywall is installed? I assumed electrical next to a metal pole would be bad. How will the box be installed? I have only seen boxes installed before the drywall.

Greg_2015, I did not know that about the color of wiring. When he first uninstalled the lights, he had the caps on so I assumed it was still a hot wire. Around here, people just leave old wiring in the walls. We found that out in the first bathroom.

Both of the old white wires go up into the ceiling. Since the one wire that does not have caps goes up, where does it go? To the breaker box? It was originally connected to the other vanity light on the same switch.

He did not run a new yellow wire to the light switch. The white wire that DOES have caps on it, is still connected to the light switch. That breaker is split into 2. The top 20 Amp breaker controls the ceiling fan & light, two vanity lights, and the heater/vent/light. I couldn't see any gauge numbers on the old wire.

This light will be 48"-52" wide, but I don't know how much it will weigh. Doesn't it need a box that can support however much it weighs?

Not necessarily. The fixture may be attached directly to the wall. I've put up wide light strips siliconed directly to 10 ft of a mirrored wall.

In any case, without explanations from your sparky, I'd forego the drywalling.

Is this guy really an electrician? Or just a handy man who plays with wires?

Do you have a permit and is this going to be inspected? If not, don't pay this guy a cent and insist that a permit gets pulled.

Houzz is driving me crazy. I have answered the questions five times, then I click submit and it takes a long time to accept. Then, nothing was actually posted. I will try again.

Yes, he said we were ready to drywall both walls.

The upper "old white" wire is actually faded yellow wire. Too dark in there with two lights gone.

This time the picture did not show up.

Trying again...

The box by the white pipe is an old phone jack. We replaced all phone wiring in 2011 and it is no longer connected. I have no idea why the previous owners wanted a phone in the bathroom!

Houzz did it again. Driving me nuts...

There is 1" from center of drilled hole to the edge of the stud. All of them are 1". Whole house had this problem. The hall bathroom had studs with notches cut out, and no way to keep someone from drilling into the wiring. We put metal plates on the studs.

Yes, he has an active license according to the Oklahoma Contractor's Board. Electrical Contractor license expires in July 2021.

A cabin was built in 1966 (800 s.f.) then added to over the years. The last addition was in the mid 1990s. I am pretty sure an electrician was never involved before we bought it. It should be illegal for homeowners to do their own wiring....or any other contractor unless they have licenses. We have been remodeling since 2011.

Now I am questioning everything...

The bathroom had three recepts, but he removed one on the right wall since it would be behind the new sink. We can see an old wire coming up from the inside of the wall. That wire goes into the blue box. That box has wires capped and taped. Shouldn't that box have a blank plate on it since it goes behind the drywall?

He added a new yellow wire from that box to the 1st receptacle. Then he added a new white wire from the 1 st receptacle to the 2nd one. GFCI.

The original two lights were together on 1 switch. I know he had caps and tape on the wires when he removed the old lights. Then, the caps were gone. Where does this wire go? The receptacle that was below had wiring that came from the side, so it wasn't that.

Very rural area on a lake. We only have so many licensed contractors here to choose from. No permits. No inspections, but I want everything to code. I can't trust anyone to do it right. We have gone through every electrician within 75 mile radius.

He took three hours off his bill because his helper removed some light switches without marking which ones went where. There were 7 switches on one wall, and we only knew what 3 of them went to. The other 4 were not connected at all. Anyway, once all were opened up, they got mixed up. He had to try to figure out what was what. Because of this, he attached a wire to two breakers and said they go together. I have never seen this before.

Is this to code? Is that a copper wire?

I have never had a problem with contractors until we moved here. I can't wait to finish remodeling, sell this place, and move back to civilization.

Shouldn't that box have a blank plate on it since it goes behind the drywall?

You can't bury boxes behind drywall. They need to be accessible.

The new remodel cans are the best. You run wire, drywall, cut drywall for the cans exactly where you want them, fish for the wire, and connect. There isn't an electrician on earth that can get cans placed as accurately ahead of drywall as one utilizing this method. Maybe he's planning something similar.

By cans, do you mean boxes? I thought the boxes were mounted first, then wired, then holes in the drywall carefully cut, then the drywall mounted.

I have no idea why the previous owners wanted a phone in the bathroom!

Could be a safety thing. Lots of medical issues happen while people are on the toilet. Having a phone to call for help isn't a bad idea if you are generally unhealthy.

There is 1" from center of drilled hole to the edge of the stud. All of them are 1".

Then they need metal plates. 1.25" is the minimum depth to the outside of the hole, not the center.

Because of this, he attached a wire to two breakers and said they go together. I have never seen this before.

While there are some situations where breakers might be 'tied together' (for example in a shared neutral situation or a 240V circuit) it isn't done with a random piece of copper wire. There are official breaker ties that you'd buy for that situation.

Re: the white vs yellow cable.

The wire gauge difference that I mentioned might just be a normal convention as opposed to a rule. It's possible that it's all the same size wire. It's better to look at the actual stamps on the cable to see what the wire gauge is. If he's mixing gauges, the circuit has to be sized for the smallest cable.

By cans, do you mean boxes? I thought the boxes were mounted first, then wired, then holes in the drywall carefully cut, then the drywall mounted.

I think he's referring to recessed lighting cans. That's common practice to add after the drywall is up.

In this case, it's possible that the light boxes that are going above vanities will be added afterwards too, so that they can be perfectly centered once the vanity is in place. But it would just be the drywall holding the box and fixture, so they'd have to be really small fixtures. (Or the fixtures would have to be solidly attached to the studs somehow).

But seeing all of the rest of the things that are obviously not ready for drywall, I doubt this is the case. I think he's just not done (and doesn't really know or care what he's doing).

The wire that had faded does say 12/2 so I assume that means 12 gauge.

Well, he has at least three boxes that go behind the drywall. Two others just have blank plates on them because we did not remove the drywall. He had to change the receptacles from beige to white. I don't know why he said the other three will be behind the drywall.

Can I find breaker ties at Lowe's or on Amazon? Is that what they are called? I assume I can untwist the copper wire and use the breaker tie.

Thanks, Joseph.

A plumber is finally coming tomorrow, but I am not holding my breath. We have been calling plumbers and electricians since April. They come out, then say they will get back to me, and I never see them again. Either they don't want to do hard jobs like digging in concrete, or they have no idea how to do the job.

Carte blanche! No estimates or bids....they can name their price, but still don't show up. It is frustrating!

I don't know why he said the other three will be behind the drywall.

Because he's a hack who doesn't know or care what he's doing and doesn't have to worry about anything he does getting inspected. So he'll do whatever is quickest and easiest to get the pay check and leave, no matter how wrong it is.

The three boxes which will remain behind the drywall have to be accessible with blank plates on them. And, they can't be hidden (behind cabinets, etc.). Of course, you could put receptacles in them since they already have power!

I guess hacks are all that are here where I live, so I don't have much of a choice. I check to make sure they have licenses, but there is not much else I can do. My plumber is here right now, and he works in the half-million to million dollar housing addition going in close to me. I call it the commune. He said the inspectors never show up even though they are paid $350.00 for each inspection. He said in the three years he has been working out there, no one has ever inspected his work. He used to be a plumber in California, and he was surprised at what goes on around here.

Mtvhike, we had receptacles there originally because the previous owners had an enormous L-shaped vanity there with a cultured "marble" top. Too big for the room. We thought it looked weird to have a double receptacle in the middle of the wall. It was above countertop height instead of down low on the wall.

I guess we will have the electrician reinstall it. He did not tell us that it would cause a problem if we removed it. He just said he had to cap and tape the wires, then add a blank cover before we had drywall installed.

It seems like around here, there is what is "to code and legal", and then there is "what is actually done". Not to code.

Where can I find the breaker ties? Is that something I can install myself?

Thanks.

Well, the "good news" just keeps on coming.

The plumber started redoing plumbing in the master bath. There is a hot water tank behind that wall in the master closet. The water heater vent pipe that goes from the top of the water heater through to the roof IS NOT connected. It has been like that since 1985 when the closet was built.

And...

The white vent pipe in the master bathroom wall vents INTO the attic. Not through the roof. That vertical pipe was a little over 8 ft long. It stuck up about 2" into the attic. A "pretend" vent? It has been like that since 1985 when previous owners added the bedroom and bathroom.

I feel like singing "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me." If you know that song you are as old as I am!

I don't know if we will sell the house for what we have put into it.

I don't know what happened to my post, but let me tell you that you need to fire the GC. Electrical work is a disaster and it is illegal, unsafe, and unworkmanlike.

The basic premise: that you can install the boxes after the drywall, is absurd. Yes, you can and they do make that for retrofits when the drywall is already up, but it's far from the preferred method for a number of reasons.

There are countless things wrong with this wiring that I can see and it is scary what other bad stuff he's done I can't.

Mr Corlett, LLC is full of crap too. There's no problem placing boxes accurately without the drywall and a competent drywall contractor has no problem installing drywall after the light fixtures are placed.

The first problem all over the place is the wiring is NOT secured. That is absolutely basic first day of electrical apprenticeship stuff. This guy has no clue what he is doing. It is also difficult to secure it properly without placing the boxes. The reason this works in retrofit stuff is that you're allowed to skip the supports when fishing the wiring into already finished walls, but it is illegal and dangerous to not secure it when the walls are open.

The wire on the breakers is complete drivel.

Without a picture of the water heater, I can only say this. There are gas heaters where the exhaust pipe is NOT connected (sealed) to the WH. There is a cone or funnel shaped piece over the heater and the exhaust pipe connects to that. It allows convection of the fumes. The newer higher efficiency units have a fan and are sealed for the most part.

Ron, I know, but there is nothing I can do. No GC, because plumbers and electricians do not work for GCs where I live. In fact, both my plumber and electrician told me they were branching out to install drywall, texturize, paint, and do construction work. No dedicated drywallers here either. I will ask the electrician about what you mentioned. I have to be careful so I don't run him off. He is the newest electrician in my area. I have gone through all the others. GCs around here hire freshly trained people to work for them, then when the new people get a license, they work for themselves, and the GC hires new people again. The GC uses his electrical or plumbing license for his new people, but he never comes to check their work. I run them off when I ask about their license. I don't want apprentices and journeymen working without a licensed contractor. My new guy has his license.

Weedmeister, I don't know what parts of the tank you need to see, but here are some pictures.

I think I'd trust an apprentice who is doing it for the first time over this 'electrician'. :)

My pictures disappeared when I hit submit. Trying again.

This must be the funnel.

I can see paint on the metal ring, and we have never painted this closet. I am guessing they reused the old pipe. How do we seal this? I also see a gap between the metal ring and the pipe.

Your contractor is operating illegally (I DON'T CARE WHAT HE SAYS THEY DO IN THAT COUNTY), I know of no municipality that allows a licensed electrician to allow other employees to do unworkmanlike work like that (in fact, it's illegal and imcompetent even if he did it himself).

GET THIS FIXED before the place burns down or someone gets killed and your insurance company weasels out of the claim because of the known illegality.

JuneKnow, you do not know what you are talking about. The contractors are NOT talking to each other about how they can fleece me. That is absurd. The problem is that I don't know what are the correct installation methods. Most homeowners don't! We have to trust people because they are the pros. AND... I am not looking for CHEAP contractors. My roofers drove over two hours away because they were the ONLY licensed roofers I found. Oklahoma did not require roofers to have a license until 2011 or 2012. BUT, no one in Oklahoma does anything about the illegal contractors out there. I have complained and called the Oklahoma licensing board. This is a Good-Old Boy state. Drywall contractors drove from the metro area and screwed up my drywall seams. Appliance repairman drove from the metro area and my oven needs repaired again. He also scratched up my cabinets. Pool repair guy came from metro area and screwed up my pool liner. The list goes on...

JuneKnow, you have NEVER been helpful with your comments. Many people have posted to ignore your comments. You seem to have no purpose except to degrade homeowners who are doing the best they can with limited knowledge. I don't know why you like doing this, but, please don't bother answering my posts. I can live without your unhelpful and asinine comments. I don't accept incompetence...and I don't know people are incompetent until they have done the work incorrectly. I don't know that the work WAS done incorrectly because I am not an "expert" like you. You seem to believe that HOUZZ is only for "pros" to get jobs and resent anyone who does DIY. It is also for homeowners to ask questions. That is why Garden Web forum was added to HOUZZ.

For everyone else, I am beyond frustrated right now and beyond pissed at JuneKnow, but I apologize to anyone else.

Weedmeister, did you have a chance to look at the pictures of the hot water tank?

Ron, thanks. I had the electrician back out to question him. He says the boxes with blanks inside the wall are legal and that any inspector would approve them. I called another electrician and paid him to come out. He said they are legal because the house is "grandfathered in". His exact words. A third electrician said "because the work was minor and no walls were moved or added that the work is grandfathered in." His exact words. I don't trust anyone now.

I will call the electrician that I used before he moved two hours away and beg him to drive down here. I hope he will. He fixed a lot of illegal electrical work in 2012 before he moved away. I think we spent over $42,000.00 just for the electrical work that he did.

Part of the problem is that apprentices learn "on the job" here, so they think they are experts. If the licensed contractor that they learn from is incompetent, then the student will be too, but they don't know they are incompetent. The homeowner doesn't know either.

As I'm sure you're aware, "grandfathered in" does not mean that anything that was done a long time ago is fine. It means anything that was done to code at the time it was installed is fine to leave even if it doesn't conform to today's code.

Buried junction boxes were never to code.

Whether an inspector will care about all of these violations is a separate question from whether the work is to code. If the electrician's are all this incompetent, then there's a good chance the inspector is too. Because if the inspector cared, the electrician's would learn the codes when they keep failing the inspections.