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Electrical Box near Shower Valve

17K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  dasajame 
#1 ·
I'm in the process of re-doing a shower due to previous leak, termite damage, subfloor replacement, etc. I had to rebuild the wall that contains the water lines to the shower head and valve. On the backside of the wall that contains the showerhead and valve, I want to locate a switch for the canlight in the shower. This is similar to the previous wiring in the wall that I had to demolish and rebuild. The existing hot wire runs from a GFI outlet to the electrical box where the previous wiring had a switch loop to the canlight and a continuing circuit on to the exhaust fan in the bathroom. It's been several months since I tore out the previous wall and I can't remember how close the electrical box for the switch and the shower valve were. With the new framing and plumbing, the electrical box will be in the same wall cavity (between the studs) approx 4 to 5 inches from the shower valve. Is this a problem? Something about electricity and water concerns me. Incidently, I asked the guys in the electrical departments at both Lowes and Home Depot this weekend and I got two conflicting answers. One said never put an electrical box in the same wall cavity as a shower valve and the other said it was OK as long as the circuit was GFI protected. Help!

David
 
#3 ·
No problem having the box in the same wall as the valve, provided the box doesn't open to the shower side of the wall. The guy at Lowes/HD is right in part...Any receptacle in a bathroom must be GFCI protected. But, if the shower wall backs up to another room and the electrical is for that room (not the bath), then there's no requirement for GFCI protection.

In your application, the switch box in the shower wall is just fine. The switch can't be in the shower, but can be outside it. If you're concerned, GFCI protect the entire circuit.
 
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