that is, instead of wiring a plug to a switch, and then plugging the lights
into that plug, is it possible to just wire the lights to the switch?

The reason I ask is, we are putting lights on both sides of our kitchen (the
kitchen is vertical), and there really is no way to connect the lights from
one side to the lights on the other without going though the attic. The guys
at HD said that if I go through the attic, I should be using 14 or 12/2
wire. Can I do this, and if so, since the undercabinet lights use I'm
assuming 18 gauge wire, do I just wire one to the black, and one to the
white? And since I have to use the 12/2 wire, I was just going to hardwire
it to a plug, instead of an outlet (since it's going to be a real pain to
wire the outlet to the plug now).

The short answer is, yes, you can wire under-counter lights into a wall
switch. That's what we did in our recent kitchen renovation, and the
results are very pleasant. We used halogens, and the installation also
included a transformer.

But I got lost in the rest of your description. Your phrasing suggests you
may not be an experienced electrician, so my advice is not to try and be
creative -- it may be worthwhile to have a licensed electrician do this job
for you. At least in this area (Central Florida) it would be an inexpensive
bit of repair work, and I'd be tempted to bundle up all the electrical jobs
I could think of (e.g., repair a bad switch, replace a failed GFCI, and run
power to a new outdoor storage shed) and have a licensed electrician come in
and tackle them all at once, while I spent my time on other "honey-do"
items. -- In fact, once the local electrical contractor finishes his backlog
of hurricane-related repairs, that's exactly what I plan on doing.
Regards --

"JK" wrote in message
news:hUX5e.3242$%c1.1225@fed1read05...
that is, instead of wiring a plug to a switch, and then plugging the
lights into that plug, is it possible to just wire the lights to the
switch?

The reason I ask is, we are putting lights on both sides of our kitchen
(the kitchen is vertical), and there really is no way to connect the
lights from one side to the lights on the other without going though the
attic. The guys at HD said that if I go through the attic, I should be
using 14 or 12/2 wire. Can I do this, and if so, since the undercabinet
lights use I'm assuming 18 gauge wire, do I just wire one to the black,
and one to the white? And since I have to use the 12/2 wire, I was just
going to hardwire it to a plug, instead of an outlet (since it's going to
be a real pain to wire the outlet to the plug now).