"John Grabowski" 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.

*There are metal electrical boxes made for masonry which you should
be able to get at an electrical supply house. Raco has the #690 one
gang which is 2.5" deep or the 695 which is 3.5" deep. Steel City
numbers are
GW-125-G for the one gang 2.5" and GW-135-G for the 3.5" depth. The
masonry boxes are also available in multiple gangs. Don't use
plastic boxes for this. I am not sure they are approved for this
type of installation.

Thanks. I just did a search for them online and that looks like exactly
what I should be using. I didn't know that there was something called a
masonry box -- duh, I guess I could have tried a Google search for that.
But, again, thank you.

It sounds as though you have terracotta block. You can fish wires
through that if there isn't too much residual cement and debris
inside. You would have to cut holes for the boxes and then cement
them in place. The terracotta block can be hard. You may need an
angle grinder with a diamond blade to cut through it neatly. Instead
of cable, you could use flexible conduit to feed the box so that you
can add or replace wires down the road without having to remove the
box.

It does look like terracotta blocks to me. If I get a chance, I'll try
to get a good picture of it and post it. It is very easy to cut and/or
break out, partly because the blocks are hollow. I already had to do
that in a few areas for other work I was doing

You are also required to have an outlet outside in the front and in
the back.

I do know about that code requirement, so that will be part of the plan.
I will also be adding and outside outlet on the side wall next to a
driveway.

If there is an outside air conditioning condenser you will
also need an outlet for servicing purposes near that unless the front
or back outlets are close.

There is no central air at this point -- just hot water cast iron
radiator heat. That may mean that I'll want to include lines to each
bedroom that can accomodate window AC units.


*Since it is going to be a rental unit you should expect the worst from
your tenants. You don't want them running extension cords or blowing
breakers from electric heaters or air conditioners. Put each bedroom's
outlets on a separate 20 amp circuit and make some of them double duplexes
(Quads). You can go the extra mile and install one quad on a separate 20
amp circuit near a window for an A/C, but the one 20 amp circuit for all
of the outlets will probably suffice with today's energy efficient air
conditioners unless they are very large rooms. Pigtail the receptacles
instead of feeding through each device for less maintenance down the road.

Current code calls for all bedroom outlets (As well as other areas) to be
tamper resistant. Even if they are not required in your area I would
still put them in.

They prevent children from sticking things into the outlets.

I don't know John, when I was around eight, I stuck a cut off lamp cord into
an outlet. Flames shot out of the cut off end and scared the snot out of me,
so I yanked the plug out. Couple of seconds later, I plugged that sucker
right back in again, although this time nothing happened. Then I grew up and
became an electrician... go figure