John Grabowski wrote:

I'm not sure why you need to sleeve the wire down the wall. You
could just mount a 1"x4" piece of wood down the wall and staple the
wire to it as well as screw the box to it.

Thanks. I think the code now says that the wire running down the
wall needs to be protected and that the old way of stapling the NM
to a 1x4 on the wall is no longer considered acceptable. But I
don't know that for sure -- it's just something I think I picked up
somewhere along the way.

*The conduit sleeve is not required unless you anticipate possible
physical damage to the wire if it is not protected. You can use the
PVC and a metal box together. You just ground the box. If you have
a code book read article 334.15.

Thanks. I did just read 334.15 online at
http://nfpaweb3.gvpi.net/rrserver/br...NFPASTD/7008SB .

There seems to be a gray area in there somewhere in terms of the "protection
from physical damage" issue. It doesn't seem to be clear. Apparently, it
is specifically okay to staple NM cable along running boards that go across
the ceiling joists in an unfinished basement.

But, there is nothing specific about the stapling of NM cable to a running
board that goes vertically down the wall to an outlet or switch. I guess
that means it is allowed unless there is some reason to believe that the NM
cable there needs to be protected from physical damage.