uma306•2mo ago

Can we talk about the weirdest junction box you've ever found in an attic?

I opened one up in a 1920s Seattle bungalow last month and it had cloth wire spliced with Romex using twist caps and electrical tape. What's the proper fix for something like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_mia2mo ago

Disagree with emmafisher, that combo is weird and a real red flag. Cloth wire insulation crumbles over time, so a simple junction box fix is just a band-aid. You need to replace that whole run back to where the wiring is still good, not just trust old twist caps.

river_bailey22d ago

Ugh yeah tell me about it. My buddy Mike thought he could just tuck some crumbling cloth wire back into a box with a new connector and call it good. Three weeks later his wife smelled something burning, turns out the heat had cooked the insulation right off where it entered the box. They had to tear out half the ceiling to replace the whole run. He said he'd never cheap out on that again.

emmafisher2mo ago

That's actually a pretty common find in old houses, not that weird. The proper fix is a junction box rated for the wires, but you have to check local codes. Some places let you keep the cloth wire if it's in good shape, you just need proper connectors. A full rewire is the best long term fix but it's expensive and messy.