My kitchen reno exposed some messed up wiring behind the walls

So I was pulling down the old ceiling in my kitchen to put in new lights. I found a junction box that was totally buried behind the drywall, with no cover plate. It had a bunch of wire nuts and splices just hanging out. I had to cut a hole in the wall to get to it and fix it properly. Turns out the last guy who worked on it just slapped drywall over everything. Now I'm paranoid about hidden junctions in old houses. Has anyone else run into this kind of thing? How do you deal with it without tearing everything apart?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendyc633mo ago

Buried junction boxes are a huge red flag, I mean.

noah503mo ago

Seriously, @wendyc63 is right on the money calling that a red flag. In my experience, those hidden junctions are shockingly common in older homes and pose a real fire risk. Without tearing everything open, your mileage may vary, but carefully scanning walls with a stud finder can sometimes clue you in to trouble spots.

lucas_carr241mo ago

Yeah, and it's not just old homes either. I've seen some real hack jobs in places built in the 90s where they just drywalled right over a box because it was faster. The stud finder trick is a good start, but honestly, if you get a weird reading or your lights flicker for no reason, it's worth cutting a small hole to look. Better to patch some drywall than deal with an electrical fire.