2

I have an older house with a mixture of grounded and ungrounded outlets. Every room has at least one grounded outlet in it, except one. I've long wanted to run a new cable to that room and at least put a single outlet in it, so that I can stop running an extension cord across the hall. There are no nearby grounded outlets, so I've never figured out a way to do it, until now.

There are three rooms in a row - the dining room, a bathroom, and my wife's office. The office is the room without the grounded outlet. There is a grouded outlet on the wall between the dining room and the bathroom.

Would it be legal / advisable to run a cable from the grounded outlet in the dining room into the hollow of the bathtub, and through the wall into the office? I assume that some sort of extra waterproofing would be necessary, and maybe even putting a GFI into the dining room outlet. The floor joists (inaccessible from below without ripping the drywall off the basement ceiling) run crossways to how I want to run the wire, so running under the floor is difficult, and I have a very short attic (maybe three feet tall), so running it up and over is also difficult. Going through the tub hollow is probably the best bet, if I can do so legally and safely.

I'm in the United States.

|improve this question
  • 1
    What type of tub is it? If it's cast iron, I might rethink the plan. I'm going to assume under the tub would normally be dry, since a leaking tub would not be considered normal. As long as the cable is not subject to physical damage and/or moisture, I can't think of a reason why you couldn't route the cable as described. However, it's difficult to answer definitively, without actually seeing the location. I'd say up and over would be my first choice, but straight through may be an option. – Tester101 Jun 21 '13 at 19:59
  • I'd like to see it in a steel conduit. I have no technical reason to say this, but it makes me feel better. – Chris Cudmore Jun 21 '13 at 20:01
  • My main thought for even thinking that this might be a good idea is that if I had a modern whirlpool tub, there'd definitely be electricity running through that same area. It's an ?acrylic? tub - plastic-y, maybe 15 years old. – Aric TenEyck Jun 21 '13 at 20:28
1

There is no code telling you that you cannot do this. Electric is ran under plumbing in walls all the time and that probably has a lot better chance of getting wet than under a tub. I personally would run it inside pvc under the tub but I don't think it matters. A GFCI outlet also sounds like a good idea.

|improve this answer
  • Thanks for the information. While working to remodel that room, I removed some wainscotting. And discovered that it's not the only room in the house without a grounded outlet. Instead, a former owner had decided to cover it up. So for me, this question is moot. – Aric TenEyck Jul 2 '13 at 19:06

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.