Move outlet-can I just splice?

If I want to move a switch or outlet ever a foot or 2, can I just remove the old box, splice, cap and tape the wires to a new length of wire going to the new box placement?

thanks
Frank

 

No, any splice has to be made inside a box. You can leave the box, splice it, and then cover the box with a blank cover, but you cannot leave the splice unprotected.

 

Don't know why you'd want to move a receptacle only a foot or two; you may as well just install a new one. If you remove a receptacle box, you will have sheetrock patching to do. If that doesn't bother you, AND you happen to have a single cable in the wall coming from the direction where you want to install a new receptacle you can probably pull the wire back to the new receptacle location. If a receptacle has one or more cables entering from underneath (crawl space), you can cut the wires under the house and make a junction box, and feed the new receptacle out of the box. Then remove the old receptacle & box and repair the sheetrock. At no time can you splice a wire inside a wall and cover it up or even leave a capped off live wire inside a wall.