I Need To Add A Ceiling Light To A Switch That Activates An Outlet

I have an outlet that has constant power going to the top half of the outlet. The bottom half of the outlet only turns on by turning on the light switch.

This switch only activates the bottom half of this outlet. There are no ceiling lights. The light switch gang box has 12-3 wire coming from the outlet. The hot wire is going in one side of the switch and the neutral (used as a hot) is connected to the other side of the switch, going back down to the outlet.

This 12-2 is the only wire in the box. I already ran 14-2 from the center of the ceiling to the light switch, but haven't connected anything.

I thought about leaving the hot wire connected to the switch as is, and cutting an extra 6" wire and connecting that to the neutral (to/from the outlet) and to the ceiling light lead. But then I have an extra white wire from my ceiling light. Do I replace the original 12-2 from the outlet to the switch with 14-3 or 12-3? and connect the extra wire to the white at the switch, and back again to whites at the outlet?

What size is the circuit fuse or breaker?

It is 12-2 or 12-3 between the outlet and switch?

I did not wire this. This outlet and switch is one of three. There are three bedrooms. This switch and outlet is connected to a 30 amp cuz the guy had cabinet making tools in his garage. That is why there is 12 gauge wire, unless its 10 gauge. But whoever wired it has mixed 12 and 14 all over the place.

The other two bedrooms are connected to 15 amp breakers.
And between the outlet and switch is just 12-2, black, white and ground.

Oh yeah and between the outlet and switch it is just 12-2, black, white and ground

So it's on a 30amp breaker?

none of this is good. you call a white wire neutral, even though it's not in this case. you're hooking up 14/2 where there is already 12 gauge wire, but it may actually be 10 gauge....my instincts say you should hire a professional.

ya its 30 amp

Quit and call an electrician. You have more issues than just not having a light in the ceiling. And these issues are fire hazards, not just convenience ones.

not hiring a pro, that what forums are for. i know its a white wire from the switch to outlet. from the switch to light its needs to be neutral.

Forums are not about walking the uneducated through something they're not qualified to do just so they can hack something in on top of already hack work.

STOP AND CALL A PRO.

ok now both of you guys think i should quit. whats wrong with adding an extra wire? you are saying that this deal is as messed up as i thought. at least adding an extra wire makes most sense to me. What is wrong with that?

It's messed up FAR MORE than you think.

480sparky, this is on my buddy's house, he has about $100 to spend. I'm not sure if or how hacked the job already is. How serious is the 30 amp breaker? The first thing is I told my buddy to swap it for a 15, but he said his dad said it was fine. Don't really want to change out the 12 guage anyways.

and its definitely 12 guage, not 10

if its far more messed up, i don't think he can afford it

Anyone who puts resi lights and outlets on a 30a circuit has NO CLUE about wiring. That alone raises an entire field of red flags. I would suspect there's a lot more issues that need to be addressed at this point.

He would best spend his $100 on hiring a pro to lay a pair of qualified, trained eyes on all that.

K, thanks, I told him the same thing, pay 50 or 100 bucks just to get it figured out. do you think a pro would come out here just to figure it out and then let me do the rest.

With the 30 amp breaker, like I was saying, that was the first thing I wanted to switch out. Why don't I just switch that to 15, and swap the 14-3 in for the 12-2?? No?

I'm also agreeing with you that they had no clue what they were doing.

If your buddy's dad knows so much, then he should do it.
You're on the right track with swapping it out for a 15A. Electrical isn't something you want to mess around with unless you're trained by a competent professional. "Penny wise" can turn into "pound foolish" real fast if a fire breaks out.
Good luck.

So in theory, my proposal works though, right? You're just saying not to do it, cuz you can't see it.