I’m framing a back porch on a concrete slab and want to install electrical outlets. Normally the outlets are wired from underneath the floor, which for obvious reasons is not feasible here. I assume that if I want to put multiple outlets on the same wall, that I need to run from above and down the side of the studs to each outlet (as opposed to drilling holes in the studs and going horizontal from one outlet to the next). Is that the correct assumption? I guess you could run it through the studs if it was in conduit. I suppose another option would be not to run the outlets in a series, but instead to use a junction box in the ceiling which would feed each outlet individually. That would use less wire than running them in a series going down the stud to each outlet, then back up and over and down again to feed the next.
Thanks,
Jon
Replies
How thick are the walls? If it is framed with 2x4s and you drill right down the center you can go horizontal or you can use protective "kick plates" at each stud where the RX is less than 1.25" back.
You still have the problem coming down from the top unless you use stand offs that hold the wire 1.25" away from the stud.
I did a retro fit in a "Florida room" with an aluminum pan roof and no attic space. I ended up going around the outside in RNC and using an LB in and out at each outlet point on the outside wall, right at the top of the sole plate. It didn't turn out that bad. They planted flower along the outside wall that hid the LBs.
Outlets
How many circuits?
Depending on the expected load you are only talking about one, or at most two circuits. Just drop in through the top plates and run down the side of a stud, then through each stud to each box. You are just daisey chaining the wire from box to box and parraleling the connection in each box(not series wireing). If you are in the chigago area make your runs with armor cable if allowed by your local code.
As pointed out, keep the wire in the center of the studs and it meets the requirement that it be no closer the 1 1/4" from the face of the stud. Colser than that and you protect it by putin nailing plates over the studs where the wire is to close to the face of the stud. NEC also requires that no point on any of the walls be less than 6' from any receptical. That includes measuring around any inside corners, so the spacing between outlet boxes is less than 12'.
Running through stud walls is the most common way of wireing, because it uses less wire.
Thanks for the input.
The room is 9 x 12. The 12' section has double windows in it and I was going to put an outlet on each side of them.
The 9' wall has a door flanked by two windows on each side and I was going to put two outlets inside, and one outside on that wall.
The other 12' wall is an interior wall, and it's going to have a lot of plumbing / wire in it, in fact, I'm still trying to decide how it will work. On the 'porch' side of the wall, I'm planning a washer and dryer, so there will be a 220 connection for the dryer as well as waste and supply lines for the washer and a 110 connection. On the opposite side of that wall is going to be a bathroom with a shower, toilet, and lav. The supply lines for all will go through the wall. The waste for the lav will also go inside the wall and I'll need to run a drain waste vent pipe up through the wall as well.
Does this sound like too much to put on one wall? I'm not planning to sheetrock over it on the porch side, I'll have access panels for easy maintenance.
I suppose I need to sketch it out to see how it will all lay out.
Thanks,
Jon
A few more notes:
On the interior wall, I can go underneath, there is about a 1 foot crawlspace under that floor for the waste pipe / electrical wire. Those could be run underneath the floor joists. I'll probably need to find a skinny electrician to do the work, or take up the floor to work from above.
The roof is a low slope, it rises about 3 feet in the center of the back wall of the house, then slopes in all three directions to the 3 exterior walls, which include the porch and back bedroom.
I'm hesitant to run a waste vent pipe up through the low pitch roof for leakage reasons. I thought of running the vent pipe through the attic of the low roof into the main house and up through that roof which is a 6/12 pitch. But the main house has 9 foot ceilings, so probably the only point where I can enter from the back room to the main house is right at the apex of the back room, which means I would run the vent pipe up through the wet wall, then about 10 feet diagonally across the attic, then through the wall to the main house, then kick it left or right a foot or two, then up through the roof.
The attached photo will show the roof situation. In it, you can see where they ran the gas vent pipe up through the flat roof under the overhang of the main roof, then kicked it out and attached it to the trim board. I think it would have been better going through the overhang as water would just drip down the pipe the way it is there. I suppose that would also be a possibility for the new dwv and gas vent pipes. At least being under the overhang, it would have less exposure to water and I could flash around it to the sidewall.
Thanks