Thanks so much for the replies - I figured that was probably the way it should work, but I wanted to make darn sure. Also, I did a ton of research and I am aware of (but thanks for the cautions!): *adequate psi *adequate hot water *adequate drainage This is one of the reasons I went with the Hansgrohe diverter, which restricts usage to only 2 functions at one time. (I could have used the Danze diverter which can run all 3 at the same time, or gone with volume controls for each function.) I also went with the 1gpm body sprays for that reason as well. Hansgrohe even makes one that has a 0.8gpm mode, but it stuck out from the wall too far for our purpose. Also, inadequate hot water can be solved with $$$ - replacing with a tankless heater is one option. And I've even seen add-on pumps to up PSI :) But the drain is a killer for sure. Anyway hope all my calculations are correct. If not, we'll just run one function at a time & call it good. I am looking forward to those massaging body sprays after a long hike :) Thanks again for the input both of you!

I am just borrowing terms from them Please don't; it confuses things when you use nonstandard terms. What you mean by breaker handles tied That means the handles are mechanically joined, so they can't operate separately. If one trips, the other opens. If one is shut off, the other is too. Thus, they work like a double-pole breaker, which may also be used. I have kept his weird labelling scheme for now. What you did was OK except that the ground should be connected to the box (if it's metallic). You also could have fitted a properly sized double pole breaker to the panel, and connected the hots to it. You'd also have needed to pigtail the neutrals so removing one of the recepts wouldn't break it. Am I going to find other surprises in my wiring Probably. Almost every house I've ever lived in has had some (usually unpleasant) wiring surprises. Sometimes it's pros, but I suspect that more often it's DIYs. DIY wiring has been around for a long time, and too many DIYers don't learn code or proper techniques before plowing ahead.

Terribletom, I appreciate your caution in responding, and I thank you for your diplomatic concern for my feelings. I certainly can understand your fear that I might rip haphazardly into wiring I don't fully comprehend, then go about my business till the house burns down. But I've come here to learn, and my skin is thick, so forgive me if I press ahead. "I (or others) could shoot from the hip about some of your specific questions." And I thank you for your interpretation of the cut red wire. You apparently are right about the PO using a piece of 14-3 when he actually needed 14-2; had I noticed that the red wire was clipped on the switch box side as well, I would have realized the red was just a short span of dead wire--and that would have answered my question about why it was cut short instead of being capped off like the white wire. And I suspect at some point somebody would have suggested that my confusion about why the PO used a single-pole switch (note my question mark in my initial description) might be because it isn't a single-pole, that perhaps 3-way switches in the 1980s looked like single-pole switches with a wire coming out of their backsides. So that clears up THAT question. "Without fully mapping out the circuitry and assessing the whole situation, any answer or set of answers would be pure conjecture--potentially dangerous guesswork." I understand that. And I realize that by describing the circuitry rather than posting my diagram of it I managed to scare and confuse people, possibly making my wiring project sound more complicated than it is. I HAVE mapped out the circuitry and have presented it all here as concisely as I could so that more knowledgeable heads than mine could assess it. The only piece I've left out is the origin of the 12-2 from Junction box 2. I know the wire to the basement has to connect back to the circuit box, but I assume that it also connects to the switch by the front doorway (the one inside the wall that I'm leaving alone)--because it HAS to. For one thing, in order for all 3 switches to work together, that front switch cannot be an island; for another, that switch has to connect to the second light source (whether it be the overhead or the side lights), because I only have 1 set of K&T wiring exposed, and clearly the overhead functions independently from the side lights. I can (and should) go down to the basement and trace that connection. But it has to be there. Otherwise, why involve junction box 2 in this at all? "Moreover, your description of the problem(s) betrays a lack of understanding of the basics of house wiring." Could you please elaborate? If it is because I used the terms "positive" and "negative" instead of hot and neutral, I apologize. I'm also aware that I used "beam" instead of "stud" at one point. And, having had my "eureka" moment, I am relieved to realize there are no single-pole switches involved here. I've tried very hard to be clear but know that precise vocabulary is important in technical explanations. I need to know what I'm missing, because I'm obviously not explaining myself adequately. "you're planning to move some switch boxes and rework what they control. That raises the issue of 'abandonment'." I am planning to move 2 switches, but I'm not sure I have the wherewithal to rework what they control, nor is that my goal. There will be no abandonment here. I'm not moving either junction box 1 or 2 (nor do I really want to fiddle with their contents)--just including them in my explanation in order to present "the whole situation." I need to place a switch by the door to the outside, connect it to another switch 3 feet away on the same wall (by the door to the back hall), move the 14-3 coming thru the floor from its current location to the new wall, extend the new wiring around the corner back to the 2 junction boxes, insulate the wall with the new switches before the carpenter (he didn't get to that wall last Sunday) drywalls that short section. No drywalling is being done at this time on the wall with the junction boxes. "And make no mistake about it: that's exactly what is at issue--a rewiring of the room and, perhaps, adjacent dependencies." But if I don't alter the contents of the junction boxes, I can't affect dependencies, right? The only function coming thru junction box 1 is some of the overhead lighting. I don't believe any of the outlets or the back hall light would be affected by moving the 12-2 out of junction box 2 (which might well be the most sensible thing to do, given how crammed that box is), but right now we intend to leave that box alone--just lengthen the run of 12-2 so it can reach the new switch. "But re-routing and re-working K&T is a perilous business at best." I've noticed that mentioning K&T does seem to make folks nervous. I would LOVE to get rid of the K&T in this room, but that's a much bigger project than we can manage at this time. All I want to do is to confine the K&T in junction box 1. And in order to do that, I have to understand what's going on with the "white wire" leg of this circuit. What I want more than anything is to replace the existing mess coming out of the bottom of junction box 1 with a single 14-2 (or 12-2, if that is the better option) and feed it, along with the 12-2 from junction box 2 thru the holes in my studs over to the new switch box locations. But I can't do that until I make sense of the current configuration. I don't own a camera. My DS took the pictures of the existing wiring. Would it help if I asked him to take a picture of the diagram I made in order to explain all this? Would you feel more comfortable if I went down into the basement and traced the path of the 12-2 back to the switch by the front doorway (yes, I know I need to do this anyway--and yes, I KNOW it would make you most comfortable if I said "I'm hiring a licensed electrician")?

I tend to attempt to find all the pitfalls possible in a project. This could, in fact, be pretty easy. There are just too many unknowns to say at this point. "Little town" means different things to different people. A city slicker might feel that a city of 20,000 is a little town. I grew up in a village of 2,000 embedded in a township of double that population so I feel differently. I envision your two buildings each having a residential-size, 200 amp 120/240 service. That would probably be good. If there is one service to both buildings, terrific. What are the real power needs? on line with a typical suburban residence, or is a well pump involved? How about microwave transmitters? Then there is the genset. Is it a portable model on a trailer or meant to be permanently installed? Can the output be switched to different voltages? If the latter, transformers are in place and might be useful for you. It may already have the capability built in to power two or more structures. The instigators of this project appear to be anxious to do it on a low budget. That's great unless they spent too much money on an unsuitable genset already. Maybe you are thinking that you'd be better off buying a couple of inexpensive residential type generators. That could be so. What I do know is this might involve more creativity or experience than a typical residential backup genset installation. If manual transfer is OK you can probably do it for a lot less money. Automatic is always more costly, but it might be just a little more or it could be a lot. That is especially true if you can train the people involved to shed loads manually if they exceed what is available from the genset. Are these buildings close together if on separate services (meters)? That would be positive. If separate services note that I am not a pro, but if the loads are significant, I'd be looking to move all essential circuits to one leg in one service and use one generator leg to power that building provided that only 120 is needed. The other two can be used to power the larger load building. One thing that has to be taken into consideration is exercising the genset. Unlike nat gas powered residential backup gensets, a diesel engine running on conventional liquid fuel needs to be brought up to operating temperature and run for some time to avoid sludge buildup. You probably need a signifiant load to do that. I can't say if you have those conditions with a 100 kVA genset and your buildings.