BIOSMonkey wrote in
:

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 21:44:48 GMT, "Colbyt"
wrote:


Save yourself at lot of worry. Formalize your intentions and
try to meet with the inspector at his office before you start
work. Explain what you plan to do and ask if that is correct for
your area. I have never found any inspector unwilling to work
with a homeowner who cares enough to want to do it right.

Why do you want to drop the ceiling?

Because I have to. Duct work, gas lines, water lines etc run
all across under the joists.


Now to try and answer a few of your questions. These answers are
based on this locale. Each area has their own little quirks
even though they all use the same code.

1. There can be no junction boxes concealed above a drywall
ceiling. All junction boxes must be accessible. I don't know
about armored for the one foot drop. I do know that nm can not
run across a metal grid for a dropped ceiling. In a normal
situation without the drop NM is run to each can light.

I had thought about this because I knew junction boxes could not
be enclosed. I guess the only way to do this correctly (ie
dropped drywall) is to run armored cable everywhere? I don't
know how I could do that logistically, and it would require
significant rework.




Most drop-in fixtures (cans, flourescents, etc.) have a builtin box
or box-like connectors so that the junction is made inside the
fixture (i.e. armored to first can - wired to first can and armored
to second can. Armored to second can wired to second can and
armored to third can.) You would just run NMB to each light
locations and leave an extra two or three feet of wire in a loop
there. Then when installing the fixture, cut the loop, make the
connections inside the fixture, finish the install, and go to the
next. If you are not sure about wanting a light at a specific
location, leave a loop anyway. Too many DYIers worry about
'wasting' wire and wind up not leaving enough to make a proper
connection. In the total cost of the project, NMB is cheap.