Need to move electrical outlet

[tiktok420]

Are there any electricians hanging around here? I need to get electricity into my closet. I have an outlet in a bordering room that is not being used. I am wondering if it would be possible to move the outlet to the other side of the wall into my closet, or better yet just tie into the existing outlet. What would it take to do this? How much would it cost me to have an electrician do this?

What should I tell the electrician when he asks why I need electricity in my closet? It is a walk in closet so maybe the question wont even come up.

Thanks

 

[TheSource]

Cut a whole on the other side of the wall and install and hook up your outlet. You can buy blank covers for the old outlet if you cant patch sheetrock.


edit: shut off the breaker first

 

[MTF-Sandman]

Tell the electrician you're gonna put a gun safe in there and you need a plug for the dehumidifier rod in it. Of course this won't be enough juice to run anything bigger than 1K, but it'll be fine for a small setup.

They do sell outlet boxes for existing structures that snug up to the sheetrock (instead of being nailed to the stud) so that would probably be the easiest route. Just turn off the juice to the circuit that the outlet is on (make sure to test it before doing any electrical work!) and then just remove the outlet so that you've got bare wires exposed and push them back into the wall. After that, but your hole for the new box, pull the wires through the hole and insert them into the new box and attach the new box through the hole. Attach the outlet to the wires (black is hot, white is common, bare is ground) and you're set. An electrician will probably charge around $50 to do this if you don't feel comfy doing it yourself.

 

[tiktok420]

Tell the electrician you're gonna put a gun safe in there and you need a plug for the dehumidifier rod in it.

awsome idea : )

So you are saying I only need to purchase 1 part for this entire project right, just the outlet box correct? I have never seen this type of outlet box you are refering to. Do you have an exact name, part number or link you can throw at me?

After that, but your hole for the new box, pull the wires through the hole and insert them into the new box and attach the new box through the hole.

What do you mean by "but your hole for the new box", I am confused?


Sorry to be so ignorant I have never worked on electrical stuff before. However I am confident I can do it myself with a little guidence : )

Thanks for your kind help : )

 

[MTF-Sandman]

Yup...should only need a new outlet box and a cover for the old one. Should run about $3 at your local home improvement store and look like this:

It's known as a "single gang old work box" (old work denotes that it's going into an existing wall as opposed to a wall with no sheetrock - note the tabs at opposite corners that will pull the box up tight against the sheetrock).

Sorry for the typo...I was a little buzzed at that moment It should have read : "cut your hole for the new box"

So the basic rundown is this:
1. Turn off juice to that circuit
2. Remove the outlet cover and outlet
3. Disconnect the wires from the old outlet
4. Push wires through the back of the box into the wall
5. Cut new hole on other side of wall (check to make sure that you're not on top of a stud by pushing a finishing nail or ice pick through the perimeter of the desired location)
6. Pull wires through this new hole and insert them through the new single gang old work box
7. Insert single gang old work box into hole and tighten screws to suck it up tight against the wall
8. Attach wires to the outlet you removed from the other side of the wall
9. Screw in outlet into gang box
10. Attach cover plate that came from other side of wall
11. Test
12. After it works, cover the hole on the other side of the wall with a cover plate.

Ideally you'll want the new hole a couple of inches away from the gang box on the other side of the wall since electricians usually don't leave alot of slack wire in the walls. You'll be able to see how much extra wire there is once you remove the outlet from the existing box which may give you more lead way.

Lemme know if ya need any more details or other info...

 

[tiktok420]

Awsome Awsome Awsome. Thanks you very much. So I guess I don't need a metal gang box to meet code, I thought I did. I will be working on this project this weekend. I don't think I will have enough wire to move it to the new gang box away from the back of the existing gang box. Hopefully the wall will be thick enough and the gang boxes shallow enough to make a fit if I haft to go back to back. Is it possbile to splice electrical wires to give me another foot or so?

Thanks again for your kindness : )

 

[MTF-Sandman]

Yeah, you can add an "extension" to the wire. Just make sure that it's the same size wire (white jacketed is 14 gauge, yellow jacketed is 12 gauge) and use some wire nuts to connect it to the existing wires and wrap the wires and wire nuts in electrical tape (not a code requirement, but a good safety thing IMO) to prevent anything from getting inside the wirenut that shouldn't be. These wirenutted connections NEED to be made inside the existing gang box to meet code since NEC code requires that all connections/splits take place in a gang box...so you won't be pushing the wire out the back of the box as stated in step 4 above.