Putting electrical outlets in stone/masonry walls
"RogerT" wrote in message
...
I am planning a complete rewiring of a house that I own,. and I am trying
to figure out how to place the new interior outlets in the existing
exterior walls that are made of stone/masonry. I previously posted about
this property regarding sheetrocking, electrical subpanels, etc. The house
will end up being a rental property.
The property is a 3-story side-by-side "semi-detached" twin home with a
full unfinished basement. I own one side of the twin and someone else
owns the other half next door. All of the lath and plaster has been
removed from the interior walls and ceilings down to the studs and joists.
However, all 4 of the outside walls (front, back, and two sides) are
stone. I say "stone", but it's some kind of red clay-looking blocks that
are stacked on top of each other. Those 4 exterior walls then have a
rough coat and a finish coat of plaster applied right on the stone to
create the interior side of each of those 4 exterior walls of the home --
no lath, just stone and two types of plaster on top of the stone.
My question is about how to place outlets in those stone/masonry walls. I
don't want to do surface mounted outlets and wiring if I can avoid that.
I can easily notch out the openings for the outlets, and notch out a path
up from the floor to each outlet to get the wire to the outlet. The
wiring will come in from underneath via the now-open ceilings from the
floor below.
But, how do I actually mount the electrical boxes in place? Would I just
place the boxes, run the wires to them, and then just mortar the boxes in
place? If so, is there any particular type of box that would be good to
use -- metal, plastic, old work, new work, etc? I will be getting a
permit, and this will end up being inspected before the walls are closed
up, so whatever work I have done will need to meet the applicable code
requirements.
Or, is there another way that electrical outlets are typically wired,
mounted, and secured within masonry/stone walls of a home?
I think that John is correct in the block being teracotta. I don't know
that I'd be too quick to chase that stuff. It can be hard and it can be
soft and wet. Considering the number of chases you'll have to make, you
may seriously compromise the integrity of the masonry. I have to agree
with Haller, (first time for everything) you may be required to insulate
the walls now that the place is gutted. Even if it's not required, you
might want to consider installing 2x4's on the flat. This way it won't eat
up too much space, you can install some insulation, and you have something
to mount boxes to without destroying the block
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