Cut Wire In Attic We Covered Is That Safe

If you run wires through the attic you won t have to uncover the walls.

Cut wire in attic we covered is that safe.

That latter gets especially tricky if you are tapping into a circuit in the attic where the wires are covered by. You cannot just wire nut two wires together and leave them dangling in the attic. Wires should be placed inside a covered box because if the connecting wires become overloaded or loose they can get heated and cause sparks. Avoid potential fire hazard and future problems from damaged electrical wires.

All your junction boxes must be visible and accessible. No boxes hidden in wall and no boxes covered by insulation in the attic. Comstock comstock getty images if you own an older model house upgrading outdated wiring will not only make it safer for you and your family but it also might make your appliances work more efficiently. If the wiring is covered by conduit and not exposed it is fine to cover it with insulation.

A safe way to get rid of all those old cable and phone wires. Strip the plastic coating off the ends of the wires. If the terminated wires are part of a working circuit it is now safe to restore power to the circuit. If you allow these wires to stay in the open the sparks could cause a fire.

The outside protective covering of a multi wire cable is called the sheath. Make sure that you have about 1 2 inch of clean straight wire at the end. There are some wires that are just nicked in the sheathing some that are nicked into the copper wire and one that s cut nearly in half. If the cable is inside a wall and sheath has been nicked then carefully wrap the outside with electrical tape is ok.

Even if it were exposed as long as it is the plastic coated romex style wiring it should be fine also. If the sites that you want to run wire to are on the outside of the house you should not need to drill a new hole. When cutting through drywall from the interior of a room use a utility knife and cut carefully you don t want to drill through a hidden wire or the paper backing of the attic insulation. As per the national electrical codes these splices should be placed inside a covered electric box made of plastic or metal.