Took me 4 hours to chase a dead outlet in a 1970s house

Found out the previous owner had buried a junction box behind drywall in the basement ceiling. Anyone else run into this kind of hack job that kills your afternoon?

2 comments

2 Comments

blair_gibson781mo agoMost Upvoted

Whoever thought burying a live junction box was a good idea must have been a real genius, huh? Hope you at least found some vintage beer cans in there to make it worth it.

patb861mo ago

Oh man that's brutal. A buddy of mine had something similar happen in his 80s house. He was trying to put in a new light fixture in the dining room and spent like 3 hours tracing wires. Finally cut open the wall and found the junction box literally just stuffed in the ceiling cavity with no cover on it. Live wires just sitting there touching insulation. Coulda burned the whole place down. The previous owner was clearly just winging it with electrical work. Made me real careful about checking behind walls before I touch anything now lol.