Markup is a part of life desert dance ! Why are you so averse to paying it? What you should focus on is are you getting fair value for the price you are being charged on the product or service you are buying. BTW - all retail IS NOT marked up 3 times. Sometimes its only once depending on the distribution channel, and if you are talking about percentages , some things are only marked up 10-20% like appliances ! Also consider that " markup"allows you to walk into the Depot and browse their selection on tile, cabinet doors, countertops, and appliances for free. All those displays , lighting, brochures, rent, costs $$$. Now , you can easily find an outfit with lower overhead which might translate into lower markup, and it might not. You'll drive yourself crazy trying sort out all the costs that go into a renovation budget on top of the design decisions that need to be made. Do you question your mechanic's markup on oil or bolts when you get an oil change? You could save a lot of money if he bought all his oil when it was on closeout or March Madness sale at walmart instead of his regular supplier. How about the fees your broker/ IRA/ 401k charge to administer your retirement plan. And other accounts? Ever hire an attorney and seen what you are charged for a copy or a postage stamp? It's easy to nitpick pricing - there IS ALWAYS someone/where with a lower price. Why dont you tell us what business / industry company you or your spouse work in and let us compared its pricing with the rest of the market.

I can't imagine a future electrician looking for a failing splice thinking to look there. I realize that I am not an electrician, but when I toned out the circuit, I found a tee at this location. My assumption was that the circuit went down the wall to a switch and outlet, back up to this location, and then across the room to the light and places beyond. Little did I expect to find a flying splice there. In the future, assuming my circuit diagram on the panel has been lost, a "real" electrician toning the circuit will see a tee right at the recessed can. I would expect that he or she would consider the fact that there might be a junction in the box that is required to be there by code for the recessed can, especially if they see only a single wire going to outlet (the switch has been removed). While the circuit will not use the can's box, it will be enough to get someone to look there, where they will see the wiring and the other junction box.

If logic were the only driver of human activity, we'd miss out on Jerry Lee Lewis, Pinky Lee; and the Third Reich would still be in bidness. The junction box will live behind an easily removable panel. Whereas the interior of the breaker box can't normally be seen by others, I know what's in it. And that's the dude I always try to make happy. Pretty much done with the breaker box, save for a new service entrance (The one in the pictures dates from 1952, or so I hear) and a handful of 15 amp breakers. Also thinking of including an AFCI for at least one circuit. If I've made any grave errors here -- other than a bit of a kow-tow to aesthetics -- pls let me know. This post was edited by halmc on Wed, Mar 26, 14 at 21:17

"The inspector's rationale is that an attic junction box does not qualify as readily accessible because the box may not be readily seen, because it may be in a tight location, and/or it may be buried under insulation." Inspectors seem to like to make up their own definitions, even when the NEC definitions are perfectly clear. 'Accessible' means you can obtain access without damaging the finished surface. 'Readily accessible' means you do not lead ladders, etc. You can walk up to the item and access it. A box does not have to be "readily seen" to be accessible. Insulation is not a 'finished surface' so digging to find the box is not prohibited. And "tight location" are a matter of convenience. You are not working on a box that may still contain some live equipment (like a panel fed by a meter). I have worked in plenty of cramped, hot, and wet locations (crawl spaces being one contender for lousy places to work). Is there a higher state authority to complain to? This guy sounds like a petty tyrant.