Running a wire for a new fixture

I would like to install a light fixture on a ceiling with no pre-wiring. The room has a switched receptacle and I would like to know if and how I could tap into the wall switch to run a wire from the switch up the wall and over the ceiling (via the attic). what I really need to know is how to connect the white, black, red, and grounding wires.

I have done a similar job before where I tapped power from the switched receptacle instead; however, this time the receptacle is on an outside wall and in a corner. Therefore, the insulation and the location make it extremely difficult to fish the wire.

Thank you for any help!

 

I'm afraid there is most likely no easy way to run the wire without doing some damage to the dryway so you can fish the wire. In order to give you some ideas it would be easier if we had some information. Is this in a area with an attic above you can get into?
If there is then there are ways to fish the wire from the attic using a piece of emt to force through the insulation down to the box. This however only works if you have a crawlspace or attic above the area.

you would find on the receptacle the white wire is the neutral to go to your fixture then use the red or the black dependent on which one is connected to the switched side of the receptacle this one would then go to the hot side of the fixture.

 

OK. here is more info. Yes, I am doing this on the second floor and I do have access through the attic. Actually, my question is not how to fish the wire; even though I would like to know what is an EMT? Anyway, the real question is, can I and how do I tap into a switch box instead of a receptacle box?

Thanks!

 

The first step is to determine if there is "feed-in" cable with 120 volts across the Black & White wires in the switch outlet-box. If there is only one 2-wire cable in the switch outlet-box you don't have Neutral connection for the liting fixture.As for the "mechanics" of fishing a cable from the attic down to the switch, you must drill a hole in the top of the partition directly over where the switch is located. Drop a lenth of small-gauge wire, such as #16 stranded fixture wire, into the hole, and using a coat-hanger wire with a hook bent on the end, grab the "pull"wire inside the partition by inserting the hanger wire thru a opening in the top of the switch-box.Hint-----Make a "feeler bit" from a coat hanger---snip a piece of straight wire off a coat-hanger, chuck the "bit" in a drill, and up thru the ceiling corner directly over the switch-box. Leave the "bit" inside the hole and in the attic you'll have a "marker" for the switch location.-----Good Luck

 

You would have to find out if the power goes to the switch first or to the receptacle. If it goes to the switch then the white wires that are tied together are the neutral and you'd connect one to the white you'd run from the ceiling. The black from the ceiling would then go to the switch. On ther receptacle then you just remove the wire that went previously to the swtich and replace the receptacle with a new one without the tabs broken.
If the power goes to the receptacle first then you would have to do the tie in at the receptacle. Either way pay close attention to not over filling the boxes with wire, there are limits to the number of wires allowed into a box.

EmT is conduit I have use in the past, by drilling a hole in the joist into the wall and pushing a piece of emt down the wall it will cut through the insulation. If you measure carefully you can send it down very close to the box. If you remove the box and see the conduit you can send a string down through it and then remove the conduit and pull the new wire up I've used this many times and it is alot easier then trying to get a fish tape to stay straight and go through the insulation.

 

First of all, this cannot be done if there is a white wire attached to the switch. So check that first.

Next, make sure we're dealing with a regular single-pole switch. If this is a 3-way switch, stop now and post back.

Now look at the switch carefully. How many wires are attached to it (not counting ground)? If the answer is more than two, stop and post back.

If no white wire is attached to the switch, but there are white wires in the box, then you're in good shape.

Run a new 12/2 (or 14/2 if you verify the breaker is 15 amps) cable from the ceiling into the switch box. Connect the new white wire to the other white wires in the box.

Remove one of the two wires connected to the switch (either one -- you're just guessing at this point). Connect that wire to your new black wire and a pigtail. Connect the other end of the pigtail back to the switch.

Install your light. If the light is correctly controlled by the switch, then you're done. But if the light stays on regardless of switch position, then you guessed wrong. So put the switch back the way it was, choose the other of the two switch wires, and do the pigtail thing with that one.