Extending Electrical Outlets for Dummies

Electric box extender

We looked over the recent posts and decided it had been a while since we published a post for that we could tag with "dangerous stupidity," but not any more: today's the day. Sit back in your comfy chairs, dear readers, and join us as we have a look at the sort of dumbassery a journalist with what appears to be absolutely no DIY electrical training can dump out on the web. Here, for your amusement, is eHow.com contributor Shala Munroe and her take on "How to Extend Electrical Outlets."

Given Munroe's J-school background and her vocation of florist, we probably shouldn't be surprised that she didn't quite know what to make of the question. Did the OQ want to know how to extend a circuit? Or did the OQ want to know how to get an outlet out to the surface after adding new wall covering (e.g., tile backsplash) in a remodel? Unfortunately for her readers, Shala attempted to cover both options simultaneously. The result was not pretty.

Shala's introduction went in the "extend a circuit" direction:

"If you need extra electrical outlets, or need them located in a different place on your wall, extending the wall outlet is a fairly simple process. Although you can purchase extension cords and power strips; they leave loose cords lying around that pose a tripping hazard. Install a new outlet without making any new holes in your wall."

That looks to us like she would be discussing surface-mount wiring. Industrial, to be sure, but probably doable. That's why we were a bit taken aback when Munroe told her readers to buy an outlet extension kit and then (after monkeying with the wiring),

• "Install the new faceplate over the existing outlet. This looks like a standard faceplate, but it has a notch on the side or the bottom, to allow a wire to exit. Screw it in place."
• "Run the jacketed set of wires [we assume here that she meant Romex® or similar cable] straight down to the top of the baseboard... Lay the wire along the baseboard to the location of the new outlet... Make sure to leave enough wire to run up to the outlet in its new position."
• "Attach the three wires to the new outlet extension, by passing them through the hole in the bottom. Connect them exactly like the original outlet..."
• "Attach the metal rear plate of the outlet extension kit to the wall, using the included screws. Connect the metal outlet box to this plate. Screw the outlet portion – the two three-prong receptacles – into the metal box. Screw on the faceplate."

Munroe's approach is a bizarre conflation of the two possible interpretations of "extend": she found a YouTube video about adding an electrical box extension when remodeling and performed a mashup with instructions for adding a new outlet to an electrical circuit. Where she got the ludicrous notion that that it would be safe to run Romex® along the baseboard, naked, we have no idea.
That's dangerous, which is why wiring like that would never meet code. If you want to run surface-mounted wiring, it has to be protected by a cable race (and in individual wires, not cable). If you want to extend an electrical box that's been "buried" by new construction, that's easy: you buy a box extender. But Shala's instructions? Those are pure Dumbass of the Day.

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