LESLIE: Doug in Rhode Island is up next with a question about how to wire an electrical outlet. How can we help you?
DOUG: I did some remodeling work in upgrading the island. And it used to be a floating island. And now that it’s fixed to the floor, I’m considering putting electrical outlets. And I’m just curious as to what might be the best location, as well as what the code – the electrical code – might require.
TOM: Well, are you over a basement or a crawlspace?
DOUG: I’m over a basement.
TOM: OK. Because what you’re going to want to do is run the wire up from the basement below, into the side of the island. Is it a standard kitchen cabinet that you’ve used to create this island with?
DOUG: Yes.
TOM: Because you can mount the electrical outlet, basically cut it into the side of the cabinet. When you wire an electrical outlet, you’re going to want it off the countertop, down below on the side of the cabinet. And the key safety aspect here is you want to make sure that it’s a ground-fault outlet. Those are the outlets that have the test and reset buttons in them for wet locations.
DOUG: I did see something online concerning that.
TOM: Yeah. So as long as you use a ground-fault circuit interrupter outlet and you just bring the wire up from the basement, that’ll be the most practical way to do it. It’ll probably end up not being on the same circuit as the kitchen because, generally, what you do in a situation like that is you grab the closest power source that you can, that’s convenient and safe, and just kind of go up from there.
DOUG: OK. Sounds good. Thanks for your help.
Leave a Reply