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I took out a chimney, and this is what I'm left with. I'm considering putting a junction box in the attic, splicing in new wires to come down to the switch on the far right (I need it moved about a foot) and running a hot wire down to the replace the wire going between switch boxes.

Is this to code? Everything would be in junction boxes, but it wouldn't be new cable all the way to box. If I do it myself any considerations? I'm guessing it would be a single wire in between, as it's only hot (or neutral)

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Front right is 1 light switch, lower middle is 2 light switchs, all for different lights

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  • Why not run two cables down or a complete 14-2 cable between the boxes? – isherwood Mar 31 '16 at 21:00
  • Thanks. I had another electrician come. He put a new homerun to the breaker box, replaced the wires to the lights, and a few other wires. Basically, as much as possible without opening up more walls. – user20127 Apr 1 '16 at 19:02
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No, it's not to code to run a single insulated hot wire. It's also weird and confusing.

Instead, replace as much of this as you can. If you must keep some K&T, run it to a new junction box and change it over to NM-B (aka Romex) cable. Rewire these fixtures with NM-B. Looks like if you can do a new run from the attic for the switch box, you should be able to do the same for the other boxes nearby.

P.S. Removing a chimney gives you a great opportunity to change out a bunch of wiring throughout your house. Future you will likely appreciate it if you can modernize your wiring now.

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    Starting to mess with K+T can be addictive and troublesome. Soon, you'll have most of the house rewired. If you're not up to that right now, how about running new circuits for whatever you want in the chimney and abandoning / clipping back that K+T as possible? – Aloysius Defenestrate Apr 1 '16 at 3:53

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