Hi there. Great site.

I am rewiring my 1950's house with plaster walls, older wiring had no ground. Because it is one story, and extremely tight in the attic on the outer walls, I ran a 12/2 home run for the outlets, to a big (1900?) junction box, then "spidered" out to each individual outlet, rather than go outlet to outlet. It is a block house, with 3/4" furring strips so there is little room to go outlet to outlet.

Also, the I re-utilized the metal conduit and outlet boxes running to the outlets. I beginning to think this was a bad move, however, I did ground all metal boxes.

When re-wiring, how neat do you all staple wire in the attic? It's so hot (Florida), dirty and tight in the attic that I haven't been meticulous in getting my wire straight stapled against the running boards.

Lastly, it looks like there is one outdoor light which I will not be able to reach to rewire, it runs under stone and concrete patio. What other options are there to ground this exterior post light? Can I ground it separately with it's own rod?


Thanks to all.

Feeding the outlets from a central junction box is fine, just need to be sure the box is not overcrowded. I believe a 1900 box is a 4" x4" square x 1.5" deep box. Some parts of the country use the nickname "1900 box" for this typical box.

This box will have 21 cubic inch of space, per NEC table 314.16A, unless the box is marked with the total quantity of wires, can hold a maximum of 13- #12 and each #12 wire needs 2.25 CI of space.

You need to count each wire in and out that is spliced, but only count all the ground wires as one. This is all based on each wire being a minimum of 6" long. If the wires are too long, this adds space taken up unnecessarily.

If you discover the box is overcrowded, then an extension ring can be added.

Using all the existing conduit is fine, as long as it is all in good condition, I would do the same thing. How did you "ground all metal boxes"? Did you pull a green wire through all the conduit, or are you relying on the conduit as an equipment ground? Using the conduit as an equipment ground is allowed as long as all the set screws and locknuts are tight.

As far as how neat to staple cables in an attic, per the NEC and every local and state code, "Electrical equipment shall be installed in a neat and workmanship like manner". If you were to hire an electrician to do your work, what would you expect of him? Every electrician has to work in these nasty conditions every day, and are still expected to install cables and equipment properly. This is your house and I am assuming working under a homeowner permit, so do the installation in as neat and workmanship like manner to suit yourself.

Do not drive a ground rod for this light to "ground" the light for the purpose of safety. You may drive a ground rod for lightning protection of the pole light, but best to protect this light and circuit with a GFI device.

Thank you so much. What I meant by grounding the boxes is that I tied the bare copper ground on the 12/2 to the outlet boxes, then to the outlet.

When you say 13, #12 wires, do you mean each individual wire, the black and white? So I I could have 6, 12/2 in the box? What exactly is an extension ring? The box I used measures 4x4x2.5" Thanks again.

One thing that concerns me is that, the conduit just runs up the wall, then terminates in the attic. Is there some type of gromet or something I could put on top of the conduit so that my wire doesn't just rest on conduit? I left some slack as the wires entered the conduit so that it wasn't a sharp bend, but it still has me a bit uneasy. Thanks again!

OK the grounding using the bare of the cable to the box and the outlets is perfect.

Correct, a 4x4x1.5 in box can handle 6-12-2 cables, 6 blacks,6 whites, and all the ground wires count as one, for a total of 13.

An extension ring looks just like a 1900 box, except there is no bottom, and it will mount onto the top of the 1900 box, to add another 1.5 in to the height.

Allowing Romex cable to just enter the conduit without any bushing is not allowed. The proper method, assuming EMT (thinwall) conduit, is they sell a cable to EMT coupling, has one set screw to connect to the EMT on one end, and a 2 screw cable connector on the other end.

Thank you so much. My box measures over 2" high, and I have 7 wires, so I think I'm OK there.

As far as the romex coming out of the conduit, can you think of any type of coupling, bushing, that can be installed, after the wire has been run through the conduit, such as plastic anti-short bushings? That would save me a lot of trouble of having to rewire about 8 outlets. Thanks!

Sounds good on the junction box. But unfortunately, there is no shortcut on the conduit sleeving the cable that I am aware of.

Out of desperation, I'm going to use the blue Halex emt bushings, cut them the longway, slip it around the emt with a dap of liquid nail, and hope for the best. I think this will be sufficient to protect against shorting. That's what the blue emt bushings are for anyway no? What do you think?

I suppose you will be fine, I like your inventive thinking. I would rather you do something than nothing, so go for it.

Thank you so much for your help!