Outlets in Cabinets for Dummies

recessed medicine cabinet

A lot of strange things happen when amateurs attempt to remodel their homes. Some of the ideas people come up with are, to be blunt, rather weird (we were going to say "stupid," but stupid is in the eye of the beholder). The weird idea for today is that someone Googled (or Binged, whatever) "How to Install an Outlet Inside a Medicine Cabinet." The concept alone would be bad enough, but then Cameron Easey went out and attempted to answer the poor schmuck for eHow.com.

The idea of an outlet inside a cabinet isn't all that strange. After all, many a kitchen features an outlet in a cabinet above an over-the-stove microwave. The kitchen at AN headquarters has an outlet inside a cabinet because, in a remodeling job, the cabinet would have covered an existing outlet, and just ignoring the outlet would have been a fire hazard. But an outlet inside a medicine cabinet? Why not just install a light designed for a bathroom, one with a built-in outlet, next to the medicine cabinet? We have no idea...
Easey, however, pretended that he did. And, to his credit, Cameron kinda got it right: we suspect it was only because he copied the instructions for a microwave cabinet, since he's not exactly qualified to be giving instructions. Here are some places where where the young customer service rep's instructions were... wonky:

• "Cut a hole in the drywall using a drywall saw." —  That's gonna be hard if there's anything on the other side of the wall, a whole 3½" away.
• "Run electrical wire from the circuit box to the location for the outlet. Use a fish wire to run electrical wire up through the floor to the hole in the wall." —  Gotta love the assumption that you have access through the floor, not to mention the whole notion of running an entire new circuit (in which case you didn't need to turn off the power to the bathroom, didja).
• "Insert the electrical wire through the electrical box and set it in the wall. Attach it with screws using the power drill." —  Attach it to what? Cameron should have noted that you want an "old work" or "remodel" box. Apparently his reference didn't say so...
• "TIP: Secure the electrical outlet to a wall stud, if possible." —  Well, no, you secure the box to a stud; not the outlet.
• "TIP: Wall anchors can hold the electrical box firmly in place as you tighten the screws." —  We are almost certain that does not meet the electrical code, not to mention that there's no way to even use wall anchors, dumbass.

Easey's instructions leave a lot to be desired, and one of his most glaring omissions is that many medicine cabinets are set into the wall, not (as Cameron seems to think) mounted on the outside of the wall. We stand by our suggestion that the OQ should have bought a bathroom light instead of asking for help from our Dumbass of the Day.

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DDIY - CABINETS