plugging away.

Yesterday I mentioned that I had to relocate an outlet so it would sit above the 84" high refrigerator. As usual, this was WAY harder than I expected, because there was a horizontal 2x4 crossbeam in the worst place possible. As you can see in the pics, there's a big mounting rail going across the top that I used to secure the tall cabs to. Because of its location, there wasn't enough room to install the outlet above 84" but below the metal rail without hitting the 2x4 behind  it. Same problem above the rail (due to horizontal 2x4's at the top). So I swallowed hard and cut the rail. This was no small task because it's pretty stout- there's no way you could use a hand saw. I ended up using a combination of John's Harbor Freight oscillating tool (this thing) and my little Craftsman rotary tool (like a Dremel). I think I broke five cutting discs in the process, but it worked. After that, you just make a bunch of little holes in the wall and guide the Romex 120v wire through the wall. Since there was a horizontal 2x4 in the way near the top, I had to make a big hole and notch it out so the wire could pass across the front of it (again using John's oscillating tool). That's where the wire is sticking out of the wall below, but I shoved it into the wall so it would pop out where the outlet would be.

Below is the installed outlet. I didn't cut enough of the rails, so I cut little notches in the corners of the plastic cover plate, but that was easy with a cutting disc on my rotary tool. I also drywall patched, mesh taped and mudded all the holes. I probably won't bother making them super perfect smooth because they'll never be seen. You can't see in the pic on the bottom, but I just removed the bottom outlet and covered its location with a blank white plate.

While we're talking about wiring, I discovered a helpful thing in Family Handyman magazine- push-in wire connectors. Instead of wire caps, you just strip the wires back 1/2", shove 'em in and they grab. MUCH easier than trying to twist wires into wire caps! Wish I would've known about these when I started rewiring stuff around here.

Finally, here we have the Lester who has decided that the pile of lumber that shall soon be my island framing is really comfy to nap on. I don't understand that cat sometimes.