I plan on install 6 recessed lights in my living room and I want to get the power from a receptacle that's being controlled by a switch. I would rewire it so that the receptacle is live all the time and the lights are the ones being controlled by the switch. Thing is that my receptacle is under a window and the switch is about 5 feet away. I would have to go through about 3 studs from the receptacle to the switch. So how do I go about doing this? I'm pretty sure that my romex is going to my receptacle first because the switch is wire with my porch light switch so... I can fish the romex vertically no problem from the switch to the lights because I have an attic access.

 

Check the wiring at the switch to see what you have available. It does not sound like you need to go to the receptacle.

 

Well I have 2 switches and the previous owner wired them in a way where one controls the receptacle and one controls my porch light.

 

Understood, but you need to see what you have to work with in the switch box before starting.

 

What do you mean? I see two romexs with a ground, a yellow, a red, and a black idk

 

Is that in the switch, or the receptacle? [Edit: I see you must have meant the switch] Can you make out which wires are connected to both switches?

 

That was the switch. I see the white/yellow screwed together. The black from my porch is in the switch. A red bridge is comin off that same switch and screwed into the black bridge wire from the other switch and the black from the romex as well. The red from the romex from the receptacle is in the receptacle switch.

 

here are pics, sorry. the left one is my porch the right is receptacle

 

Yellow is not a color wire normally found in a cable. Where does it come from?

It sounds like you have everything you need in the switch box.

 

From your description power comes in at the switch therefore it will be easier to come into the switch box than the receptacle. There may need to be a bit of rearranging wires at the receptacle if it is half switched but that is minor.

Basically you will do the following:

• After diagramming the connections and marking each wire in the switch box you will disconnect them.
• You will cut the nails holding the box in with a Sawzall or hack saw blade and remove the box.
• Then you fish the new switch cable in the wall using the hole left by the removed box for access.
• You will then feed your wires into and install a two gang old work box in the hole.
• Connect the wires and you are done.

Caution: When pulling out the old box be sure not to loose any wires that come from below.

For clarity just call the wire at the switch white not yellow unless you have conduit. That's what it started out life as if this is cable.

 

The black that is spliced is supplying power to both switches. The whites are your neutrals.

 

Given your easy attic access, if you had time on your hands and a little patience, you could probably even fish the new cable into the upper right corner of the existing box if you didn't want to cut it out of there for whatever reason.

 

It was an off white so I thought it was yellow, oops. So I still don't understand how this works because I want to change the right switch from controlling the receptacle to controlling my lights. Can someone make a diagram?

 

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So where's my power in from?

 

The spliced black that is already supplying power to the switches.

 

Oh sorry I misinterpreted the diagram. Just trying to figure it out lol

 

So basically I'm going to disconnect the red wire where you said cap out, replace with the black wire from my new light, tie the neutral wire to the 2 existing ones in the wire screw, then ground it to one of the switches?

 

Are there any grounds in the box? If so they all need to be connected together and pigtailed to each switch. Assumes non metallic old work box used as replacement.
Yes. At the receptacle it is also disconnected and only black is used. If the receptacle has the brass tab removed replace the receptacle and do not remove the tab.

Yes.

 

Ok, there is no ground in the switch box being connected anywhere. I can see the ground wire that runs from the porch romex to the receptacle romex where they didn't cut it and I gues they grounded it in the receptacle. Thanks, this helps.

 

So would my receptacle be live? When I unplugged the red wire from the switch to change switches, the receptacle died

 

After you replace the receptacle (only needed if the tab is broken off) and use the black wire instead of the red it will be live. If both halves are switched then you would just need to make a short pigtail for the black wire in the recep box and you would not need to replace the receptacle.

Another alternative is to just add the red wire (the one you were going to cap off) to that splice of 3 black wires in the switch box and not have to mess with the receptacle at all.

 

Yes, as I wrote: Did you do that?

 

If the wiring is not grounded it should not be extended.

 

I can ground it, it's just that the wire hasn't been grounded yet