Drywall over electrical junction box

Joyce L
by Joyce L
I'm having 50 year old kitchen re-wired for additional outlets. Installing new drywall and new cabinets. Electrician placed new junction boxes where they'll be covered up by drywall and cabinets. Is this code? Or should they be accessible in the attic, not buried in a wall?
  6 answers
  • No outlet., switch, splice or any type of box can be covered with material that prevents you from accessing them. All splice boxes need to be in attic, or in basement. This is a safety issue. You can cut out the drywall and place a removable cover, but that sort of messes up the look. The electrical contractor should have put these boxes in a proper location.
  • Woodbridge is so right! never cover up any electrical or plumbing junction! It is a nightmare if you do-we bought our home from a DIYer who drank too much and boy was our plumbing and electrical a mess! We are still finding 'jerry rigs' after 6 years and gutting the kitchen, a bathroom and soon the master bath-I can tell you from experience that you want to do it right the first time! good luck
  • Joyce L Joyce L on Jul 15, 2014
    Thank you for your reply. The electrician is here now and re-doing it!! When he said, "Yeh, what was I thinking?", that warm fuzzy feeling left me! Job's almost complete!
  • Barbara Turner Barbara Turner on Jul 15, 2014
    I tell you what, call your county Home inspection office and simply ask them "Can I cover an electrical junction box or for that matter any outlet with drywall?" NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I can pretty much assure you that they will be on your doorstep to facilitate an immediate inspection and will most certainly fail the job! It is TOTALLY AGAINST CODE! AND NOT TO MENTION A FIRE HAZARD! You get that STUPID electrician back and make him fix it or better yet call a LICENSED AB&C Contractor A means Commercial AND residential ALL JOBS and let them fix this Asap! DO NOT CONTINUE THIS!
  • Jeanette S Jeanette S on Jul 15, 2014
    This is so against every code I have ever heard of, so I would insist it be moved. Did you supply him with a copy of the layout when he did it? You will probably wind up having to pay to have it made right. Check with your code people before you move forward. You need to check codes anyway when doing renovations.
  • Always hire reputable licensed and insured contractors. No reputable contractor would ever hide a box like that.