My father recently purchased a new dishwasher and ran into a problem during installation. Electrical service to the dishwasher comes through the floor in the center of the dishwasher cabinet opening. The old dishwasher had an electrical box integrated into the bottom of the dishwasher, and the electrical cable reached this box. The new dishwasher is a Bosch, which has its own electrical box that needs to be mounted in a cabinet next to the dishwasher (usually the under-sink cabinet). The existing electrical cable does not have enough slack to reach the next cabinet.
The kitchen in this house is on the ground floor. The portion of the kitchen containing the dishwasher and under-sink cabinet is cantilevered about 3 feet past the foundation edge. This means that if you travel down through the floor under the dishwasher or sink, you would be outside (under a deck, an accessible but not pleasant-to-access area). Electrical wiring (and formerly plumbing, now relocated) are contained in a plywood enclosure underneath the deck.The interior of the enclosure can be accessed through the basement ceiling below.
Some questions regarding this uncommon situation:
1. Wiring to reach the under-sink cabinet needs to be extended or a new longer cable needs to be run from somewhere accessible to the under-sink cabinet. Existing wiring is NM. The NM is run inside the plywood enclosure. This is fine if the enclosure is considered the interior of the house. I believe this is not OK if the enclosure would be considered the exterior of the house. Is there anything in the NEC that addresses and clarifies whether such an enclosure is interior or exterior?
2. Since the plywood enclosure can be accessed from the basement ceiling below, is putting a junction box inside this enclosure with access from below permissible? There is a hole in the drywall basement ceiling serving as the access to the enclosure from the interior. Normally this hole is covered with a small HVAC register (not connected to ductwork). Whether or not this is permissible, I'm not sure this hole is large enough to work with to secure a new junction box, connect the wiring inside, and then close the box. If the plywood enclosure is partially disassembled, a junction box is installed in the enclosure, and then the enclosure is reassembled, is the junction box considered accessible then?
3. If the plywood enclosure is not considered accessible from below but we need to put a junction box in the enclosure, is there an acceptable method of creating an access panel in the plywood enclosure that would be accessed from under the deck (similar to an access panel that can be installed in drywall)?
4. If my dad takes apart the plywood enclosure and it turns out a workable course of action is to install a junction box outside of the plywood enclosure (e.g. attached to a floor joist supporting the deck), now we are definitely outside. Can NM be run outside in this situation? If so, what sort of box would he need? If NM is not permissible in this situation, I know it's possible to switch to some other cable for exterior use (or maybe use wires in conduit), but either solution would need a junction between the interior and exterior, so that doesn't help this situation.
FYI, this kitchen was gut-renovated in the early 2000s, with permits, and the township building inspector presumably new NM was in the plywood enclosure and passed the work.
The kitchen in this house is on the ground floor. The portion of the kitchen containing the dishwasher and under-sink cabinet is cantilevered about 3 feet past the foundation edge. This means that if you travel down through the floor under the dishwasher or sink, you would be outside (under a deck, an accessible but not pleasant-to-access area). Electrical wiring (and formerly plumbing, now relocated) are contained in a plywood enclosure underneath the deck.The interior of the enclosure can be accessed through the basement ceiling below.
Some questions regarding this uncommon situation:
1. Wiring to reach the under-sink cabinet needs to be extended or a new longer cable needs to be run from somewhere accessible to the under-sink cabinet. Existing wiring is NM. The NM is run inside the plywood enclosure. This is fine if the enclosure is considered the interior of the house. I believe this is not OK if the enclosure would be considered the exterior of the house. Is there anything in the NEC that addresses and clarifies whether such an enclosure is interior or exterior?
2. Since the plywood enclosure can be accessed from the basement ceiling below, is putting a junction box inside this enclosure with access from below permissible? There is a hole in the drywall basement ceiling serving as the access to the enclosure from the interior. Normally this hole is covered with a small HVAC register (not connected to ductwork). Whether or not this is permissible, I'm not sure this hole is large enough to work with to secure a new junction box, connect the wiring inside, and then close the box. If the plywood enclosure is partially disassembled, a junction box is installed in the enclosure, and then the enclosure is reassembled, is the junction box considered accessible then?
3. If the plywood enclosure is not considered accessible from below but we need to put a junction box in the enclosure, is there an acceptable method of creating an access panel in the plywood enclosure that would be accessed from under the deck (similar to an access panel that can be installed in drywall)?
4. If my dad takes apart the plywood enclosure and it turns out a workable course of action is to install a junction box outside of the plywood enclosure (e.g. attached to a floor joist supporting the deck), now we are definitely outside. Can NM be run outside in this situation? If so, what sort of box would he need? If NM is not permissible in this situation, I know it's possible to switch to some other cable for exterior use (or maybe use wires in conduit), but either solution would need a junction between the interior and exterior, so that doesn't help this situation.
FYI, this kitchen was gut-renovated in the early 2000s, with permits, and the township building inspector presumably new NM was in the plywood enclosure and passed the work.
