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Minimum wall thickness for electrical

13K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  dc4nomore 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi,

I'm remodeling my kitchen right now and I have a question about a non load-bearing wall I'm modifying. Instead of being a straight wall, about 5 feet of it is in one place, and the next 5 feet are set back about 3 inches. So for the first part - the room is a certain width, and for the next part - the room is 3 inches wider. Space is really cramped in that corner so I've attemped to push back the first part of the wall as much as possible so that the two parts are more level, and also to gain a few inches.

The drywall and plaster (I have both!) is only removed from the kitchen side of the wall. Taking the wall out completely and building a new one, offset the 3" all the way across, is not an option. Doing that would screw up the symmetry of an archway in the opposite room. So instead, I basically ripped 2" off of the existing 2x4's in the wall that I want to set back. My thought process in this is that when I put new drywall up, I will have gained 2" in kitchen width. I am going to put in some new 2x4's going the "other" direction for framing purposes. The end result will be a wall that is 3" thick from paint to paint (0.5" new drywall + 1.5" for "sideways" 2x4's + 1" drywall/plaster combo on other side of wall.

The problem, however, is that there needs to be one dedicated outlet in this new "thin" wall for the fridge. There will be one 12/2 romex wire coming up from the floor. I use metal boxes, and I was going to use some 1/2" EMT conduit in there to protect the wire in case for some reason some future owner decides to drive a nail in the bottom 12" of the wall in the opposite room.

Should I go with rigid conduit instead? I'd rather not because of the apprx. $17 price difference for a 10' piece, but if necessary, I will. Or how about some sort of metal protector plate nailed to both sides of the adjacent 2x4?

I'm sure this probably is against code, and if so, please tell me just so I know 100%. But I'm still going to do it, unless someone of course provides a very good argument convincing me not to. I just want to do it in the safest manner possible. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

Sorry for the long post!

Thanks!
Dave

*Mod, please move to Electrical if it should go there. Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
I think that EMT is a best-effort means of protecting the romex in this case, and I'd have no problem with it. If you can, my suggestion would be to run the entire wall in conduit to protect the wire where it penetrates the plates and the studs, since the application of nailguards isn't practical on the side you're not finishing.

Also, be sure to use plastic bushings at the ends of the EMT conduit. They're inexpensive and can be found wherever they sell conduit fittings.
 
#5 ·
In tight places I have always used metal to protect wiring and water. The way I figure is that somewhere down the road someone just might drill a hole there and I want to make is as difficult as I can for them to drill the hole. Just maybe they might look in and see the metal and stop drilling.
 
#6 ·
Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.:thumbup:

KC, the wire is going to come straight up from the basement below and the outlet will be at the end of the run, so there will only be about 12" or so of wiring that needs to be protected. I was planning on having the conduit extend through the base plate and floor and slightly into the basement. I think you were talking about if I was going to run the wire horizontally through studs?...Oh and I did pick up some little bushings the other day at the Depot...thanks :thumbsup: Oh and thanks for moving this to electrical...I was thinking that right after I posted it but by then it was too late...

Marvin - same exact thing I was thinking. I mean I'll always know the wiring is there, but I'm just thinking about any possible future owner. I think I'm even going to try and find some thin metal sheet and nail it to the 2x4, so that it extends over the edge to give a second layer of protection for the wire.
 
#11 ·
And...........you are overthinking this thing.:wink:

For a drywall screw to penetrate EMT, the conditions have to be perfect.
Yeah you're probably right. I just know that wire is supposed to be set back at least an inch and a quarter and since that obviously won't be the case here, I just wanted to be certain it would never cause an issue. But the EMT is enough. I already bought the stuff anyway. I'm gonna put it in tomorrow :yes:

Thanks.
 
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