Dryer Outlet Upgrade

As you can see from this pic during the water damage, the outlet for the dryer plug was installed on the ground. In a wet room, this is a really bad idea since the possibility of flooding (and this is the room that started the flooding that caused all our water damage) is high.

Plug is black thing to right of dryer vent near floor

Since we were having drywall replaced on the backside of this wall (in the adjoining bathroom), I decided to move the dryer outlet up to meet code and I wanted a flush mounted one rather than the old style that sticks out from the wall.

Backside of laundry room with box installed but wire still out

Electrical box from laundry room side with no wire in

I managed to get the electrical box put into the wall from the backside and the wire run into it before our drywall in that bathroom was repaired but since our dryer is not here, I hadn't gotten around to putting the plug completely in. I needed to cut the wire down quite a bit and the gauge was just not something I was looking forward to messing with, so I stalled out on it. I have had the plug and plate cover for some time, just not the desire to finish it.

Box with extra long wire sticking out

New cover plate and plug

Well today was the day, so first thing I did was cut the long wire's casing back to where I needed it to be so I could separate out the two hots and the strands of ground. I then clipped all three back to where they needed to be with a little bit of play for attaching the plug and pushing it back into place.

I then twisted the loose strands of ground wire together to make one wire, and cut back the insulation to where I needed it on the two hots. I also applied Ox-gard anti-oxidant to the exposed pieces of aluminum wire to prevent oxidation.

Wires ready for lubricant

I then fed in each wire to the right spot on the plug and clamped them down with the screws.

New plug with all three wires attached

Next came the manipulating of wires into the electrical box to get the plug to sit flush. I screwed in the four screws to hold the plug in place.

New plug in place in new higher location

Then I put the cover plate on and screwed it in with the four screws it came with and turned on the power and used my electrical circuit tester to make sure the right voltage came up. I then turned the circuit breaker back off since our dryer isn't here to plug in, figured it might save some electricity.

Finished plug and cover plate

And this is what it looks like now!! Still need to paint this room (not to mention put in floors and baseboards, but at least we are one step closer).

Light Upgrades At The Bamboo Lagoon

 I have been wanting to change out these light fixtures for ages. I have had the lights sitting in our garage for ages. I finally got my butt in gear. These were the lights in our two downstairs bedrooms.

So first step was to make sure the light switch was off. Brought in the painting ladder and set it up under the light. Removed the cover, and the bulb. Then loosened the screws holding the base of the light onto the ceiling.Then I pulled down the fixture so I could disconnect the wires to the light. While I had the wires exposed, I tested them to double check that there was no power to them.

I pulled the wires out of the box because the new lights needed to be grounded so I needed to find the grounds. I also found that both of the old light fixtures had insulation between them and the ceiling and I am not sure why. I connected all the new wires including the ground, pushed them up into the box and secured the new fixture base.

This light takes a self balasted CFL bulb, which I put in, and then tested the switch to make sure that everything was hooked up correctly. Then I put the cover on, and moved to the other bedroom and repeated the process.

Final look. I didn't want a light with the button in the middle because it looks like a nipple so the cover on this one is plastic to make it lighter and closer to the simple lines I am looking for in our decor.