I have a lightswitch in a small bedroom that I am in the process of converting into a nursery that is causing me a lot of headache.
The door to enter the room is right near the closet door which leave only 4.3 inches of "wall" between the entry door and the closet door molding.
The issue is that essentially there is no "hollow" wall to run wire and/or install a switch as the builders simply put a bunch of 2x4 and a piece of plywood altogether to frame the doors. I have attached some pictures of the cutout.
Whoever installed the switch that is presently there currently has a situation of box overfill (by today's standard anyway and assuming my calculations are correct). Essentially they cut a square hole in the 2x4s 3x2x1.5 and put a 1.5 inch deep device box in there. Based on NEC 314.16(A), this has a capacity of 3 14 gauge conductors. Being a switch box, it presently has a switch loop running to it which means 2 conductors for the loop, 2 for the switch, 1 for the ground, and 1 for the device clamp in the box for a total of 6 conductors and a significant overfill.
As we are replacing the light in this room with a fan/light combination, the ideal situation would be to be able to install a new switch and fan controller. The issue is that I have no idea if behind the hole if there is a hole where I would be able to run new NM cable to pull through the drill hole. Additionally, with the need for a neutral at the box, I would need to pull 2 14/2 NM cables meaning I would need a larger hole. I am unsure if I can drill a larger hole through these studs and whether I can cut out the 2x4s even wider to put in a 4 x 1.5 square box in the hole. If so, I would be allowed 10 conductors which would mean that I should just make it box fill wise. 4 for the devices, 4 conductors, 1 ground, and 1 insulated ground (believe these are on the fan controller) for a total of 10. The clamp would be external to the box.
At the very least, I would like to replace the 14/2 that is currently running to the switch box because the cable is burnt up at the light fixture box (picture attached). The house wiring is old and I have been spending considerable time rewiring and running new circuits because the old wiring created situations of easy overload because multiple rooms were all on the same 15A circuit for both receptacles and lighting. If you put on the TV, and some lights and then used a vacuum, it was surely overloaded. I am unsure why the breakers never tripped, but they didn't, so I could be over paranoid, but something caused the cable to burn (this is the second burnt cable I have found on this particular circuit).
Even just replacing the 14/2 is an issue with the current wall situation as I do not know how to get a single gang box in there that is code compliant regarding fill. I do not think I can notch deeper because non-loading studs are not supposed to be notched more than 60% (if I recall correctly), so I am thinking the 4x1.5 box is the best way to go. With that solution, the issue is drilling back to what hopefully is a hollow to run the cable in. That drill hole is essentially PARALLEL to the studs and is therefore basically completely drilling the stud out. I have loosely considered using surface raceway and a surface box, however, I am trying to avoid that at all cost.
Anyway, I am rambling at this point as my head is filled with 8 million thoughts, ideas, and problems, so I am hoping for some constructive feedback from some experts as to what they would do in this situation.
The door to enter the room is right near the closet door which leave only 4.3 inches of "wall" between the entry door and the closet door molding.
The issue is that essentially there is no "hollow" wall to run wire and/or install a switch as the builders simply put a bunch of 2x4 and a piece of plywood altogether to frame the doors. I have attached some pictures of the cutout.
Whoever installed the switch that is presently there currently has a situation of box overfill (by today's standard anyway and assuming my calculations are correct). Essentially they cut a square hole in the 2x4s 3x2x1.5 and put a 1.5 inch deep device box in there. Based on NEC 314.16(A), this has a capacity of 3 14 gauge conductors. Being a switch box, it presently has a switch loop running to it which means 2 conductors for the loop, 2 for the switch, 1 for the ground, and 1 for the device clamp in the box for a total of 6 conductors and a significant overfill.
As we are replacing the light in this room with a fan/light combination, the ideal situation would be to be able to install a new switch and fan controller. The issue is that I have no idea if behind the hole if there is a hole where I would be able to run new NM cable to pull through the drill hole. Additionally, with the need for a neutral at the box, I would need to pull 2 14/2 NM cables meaning I would need a larger hole. I am unsure if I can drill a larger hole through these studs and whether I can cut out the 2x4s even wider to put in a 4 x 1.5 square box in the hole. If so, I would be allowed 10 conductors which would mean that I should just make it box fill wise. 4 for the devices, 4 conductors, 1 ground, and 1 insulated ground (believe these are on the fan controller) for a total of 10. The clamp would be external to the box.
At the very least, I would like to replace the 14/2 that is currently running to the switch box because the cable is burnt up at the light fixture box (picture attached). The house wiring is old and I have been spending considerable time rewiring and running new circuits because the old wiring created situations of easy overload because multiple rooms were all on the same 15A circuit for both receptacles and lighting. If you put on the TV, and some lights and then used a vacuum, it was surely overloaded. I am unsure why the breakers never tripped, but they didn't, so I could be over paranoid, but something caused the cable to burn (this is the second burnt cable I have found on this particular circuit).
Even just replacing the 14/2 is an issue with the current wall situation as I do not know how to get a single gang box in there that is code compliant regarding fill. I do not think I can notch deeper because non-loading studs are not supposed to be notched more than 60% (if I recall correctly), so I am thinking the 4x1.5 box is the best way to go. With that solution, the issue is drilling back to what hopefully is a hollow to run the cable in. That drill hole is essentially PARALLEL to the studs and is therefore basically completely drilling the stud out. I have loosely considered using surface raceway and a surface box, however, I am trying to avoid that at all cost.
Anyway, I am rambling at this point as my head is filled with 8 million thoughts, ideas, and problems, so I am hoping for some constructive feedback from some experts as to what they would do in this situation.