Hello AT,
Our apartment recently underwent extensive renovations, and there's one minor problem for which need a solution. The electrical sockets in our bedroom are, for some reason, quite... high. Vertically speaking. That is to say, the are, respectively, 2.5' and 3' from the floor. Which, as you can imagine, creates an odd situation: when you plug something in, either (a) if the cable's really short, you get a cable stretched across the room's airspace like a hooked chain from Hellraiser, or (b) if the cable's long enough, you still see it drooping out of the wall waist- or chest-high. more......
(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.)
Link To All Good Questions
Link To All Good Questions
i may be completely wrong here, but isn't there some new(ish) code regarding the height of electrical outlets and the american's with disabilities act? and maybe renovations of a certain scope fall under this?
http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p16674679?sourceid=3
Here you go
these plugs are simply too high. the american's with disabilities act design guidelines only dictate that plugs be 15" or higher on the wall. seems to me that 30" and 36" are an excessive reaction to the guidelines.
as for an answer to your question...i don't have one.
I have some of those in my place, and I have absolutely idea why. It's not New Code for ADA at my place.
Most of mine are 4' off the ground.
I use several flat socket extension cords and channel conduit to hide the things. Available at hardware stores everywhere.
The extension cords come in both directions (ground up, ground down) so get the kind that works with your socket to get the cord going in the right direction . . .
I got some flat extensions at Home Depot, they even have 3-pronged ones which is nice.
I am not sure about the height of the outlets...I moved into new construction here in Chicago two years ago and the outlets seemed to be at a normal height. There are these adhesive cord covers that you can use to hide the cord along the base boards...we have painted them the wall color and used everywhere to hide the cords. (check your hardware store)
Here's an idea: http://www.shopgetorganized.com/prodetail.asp?itemNo=23890&ID=HO
If you take a look at the following site:
http://www.bitsltd.net/smartstrip/buycordscables.htm
You'll find 3' "Power Strip Liberators" which can drop three prong outlets to the floor level.
Take a look at the Power Strips they have for sale, as well--they have ones which can turn power on for multiple devices based on the on/off status of a single device--handy for saving on power.
An extension cord, possibly painted the color of your wall and tacked flat with a staple gun could do the trick.
I have the same problem. Every socket in this apt. is 30" off the ground. The socket next to my bed is the same height as my night table. If I have the table reasonably close the bed it covers access to the socket, which I need for the lamp so I have to really reach to get to anything on that table. It sucks to have every cord in the apt. snaking down the walls.
Sorry to always come out with left field ideas but outlets are pretty easy to move. They are screwed to the vertical studs through one side of the outlet box so you could open up the dry wall vertically below the outlets, unscrew the box and rescrew lower down the stud. Repatch the dry wall by screwing short lengths of 1X2 wood behind the intact part of the dy wall and screwing your patch priece onto the wood, spackle and paint.
Of course, turn off the power before you do this. NYC code prolly mandates an electrician doing this but you are not re-wiring so it is safe to do and you'll save about $300 per outlet if you do it yourself.
Bit more detail:
You unscrew the face plate first which will expose the socket assembly. You need to unscrew that also to get to the box and the screws of the box holding it to the stud.
The space will be tight so it might be worth investing in a righ angled power screw driver otherwise your screws will go in at an angle and may not secure the box properly.
the firs picture shows an electrical box screwed through its side to a wooden stud. In NYC you will have metal sheathed BX cable and a metal box so the look will the different but the way it si screwed to the stud will not.
Sorry - forgot the link
http://www.swhowto.com/RoughIn_Ch1.htm
Jamie pup is a breath of fresh air! Why cover up and live with a bad contracting job?
Does anyone know a good electrician?
jamie pup,
my walls are made out of plaster, lathe, horsehair and mouse skeletons! why did the original electrifiers of this place go for 4' high outlets? Protecting children?
Perhaps I'll never know....
guido -
There really is no substitute for the luscious cocktail of contracting materials in old Brooklyn, is there? The mouse skeletons sound like a gas-gas-gas.
After we started putting magazines, etc., onto the shelves of the pantry space in Brooklyn Brownstone Bibliophilic Balletomane, some of the shelf standards started to come from the wall, so I re-installed them, by putting up a huge 4' x 8' sheet of plywood where some of the plaster & lathe had kind of failed. This time I screwed a HUGE number of screws into THAT so it could bite as much of the lathe as possible. I also had the bottom edge of it sitting onto the floor, basically, for extra support.
THEN, after painting the plywood out in white paint, THEN screwed the standards into that. Anyway ... your mouse skeletons brought back that little memory.
High outlets...my be from a light switch. In old construction...often people cover over the ceiling lights in favor of lamps..then turn the light switch into an outlet. Also if its near a window...it could be for the airconditioner.
http://www.decorp.com/decord.htm
it's not in the shops yet but hopefully will be soon.
I have one of those (prewar building). It was the newest one when I moved in. I assumed it had to do with some accomodation for older people, since that's who was here before me. I put things in front of it.
A couple of years ago I rewired the apartment-- upgraded ye olde fuse boxe to a breaker box, boosted the potential power into the apartment by a factor of 3, installed a slew of new outlets, put different things on dedicated breakers: ACs in every room, microwave, bathroom, computers, etc. I never thought at that time to ask the electrician why one outlet would have been installed so far off the ground.
But one of you can. I can give you his name and number. He's in Brooklyn but of course goes anywhere.
trinity (d0t) madai (at) gmail dot com
[make it look like an email address....]
I have a flat extension cord for behind my bed very similar to the one linked to by clutterfreemiss. You'd still see it running down your wall but at least it wouldn't be dangling out there. Unfortunately, I 'acquired' it at the Nat'l Hardware Show a few years back so I don't have a source for you.