Moving Wires

I'm finally getting around to posting about this. We moved these wires the weekend before last, and I just couldn't get motivated enough to download the pics!

Anyway, let me explain it from the top. So we installed new french doors in the mudroom, but the light switches, 4 of them to be precise, were still located next to the old door! And really it would be silly to leave them there after we removed the old door. They had to be moved to next to the new door.

And although 4 switches does not seem like a lot, boy did they have a lot of wires going to them! Lights from the kitchen, lights from the mudroom, two exterior lights.... With two or three wires plus grounds for all, and then the feed and all its wires - that's a lot.

The first step was to label the wires as to which slot (1-6) they each went into. For two wires in one slot, we labeled #3.1 and #3.2. Then we drew a diagram to show which wires were connected to the switches and which were connected together.

Then came the fun part. Mike knew that we had slack in the wires in the small space above the mudroom. So he cut a trap door through our attic to access the space.


As you can tell, the space is very small and full of insulation dust - which made it difficult to breath in there. Mike and I both had turns pulling wires up the wall, through the ceiling, over to the opposite wall, and down from the ceiling. It was so uncomfortable, but we were able to get everything through.

Then we just followed our diagram and rewired everything. And although it sounds easy, with just a few steps - it took forever. Probably just because of the number of wires.

And even now there's more wiring related work to do. We have to hook up an additional exterior light outside the new door, move the doorbell, and wire for new exterior outlets to go on the farmer's porch.

At least now we can move onto the next step - preparing to repair the mudroom drywall - which has been torn apart during all these renovations plus cracks from the house lifting.