@Aaron No. Toronto usually hovers around 10 degrees Celcius for hallowe'en. But once you get out of southern Ontario, you're getting chances of snow at the beginning of November. (North of Huron and Superior)

dammit, wheres tester

i screwed something electrical up last night :(

What did you do?

a couple years ago, i wired a ceiling light into the family room

I'm on server babysitting duty today. So I've got lots of time.

then - separate project, while we were remodeling the 2nd floor, i lost 3 outlets in the family room because they were wired into some bedroom upstairs

so, yesterday, finally got my dremel back from dad

the light switch for the ceiling light i put in the family room runs through the same cavity as an outlet that i lost

so i took the wire that i ran to the light switch, pulled it back, re-wired the outlet, then ran a new line from the outlet to the light switch

simple enough right? wrong - wife goes turn on the breaker

power to the outlet, no power to the light switch

Do you have a voltage tester?

yes, outlet - 120v (or whatever the f it is)

Are the wires to the switch hot?

black to black - on the outlet, black is on gold terminals, white to silve

shes sleeping and i turned it off last night in fear something was really f'ed up so i'll check that

So the power to the light itself comes from the outlet, via the switch?

the outlet and the light switch are close enough that i could touch the black wire on the outlet and light switch and get tone

yes

nothing out of the norm right? the light switch is the last fixture (other than the light) on the line

black into the switch - twist the whites together - give it ground

not rocket science.

Black from outlet, to switch. New Black from other side of switch to light. White from light tied to light from outlet. (I haven't read what you just wrote -- Let's see if we're thinking the same)

i THINK because its a dimmer, cutting the power power to the room with the light on may have f'ed up the dimmer?

@lsiunsuex Shouldn't. Breakers flip all the time.

Do you have a regular switch you could wire in as a trouble-shooting test?

i do and am going to do that today

(or just wire nut the blacks together and see if the light comes on with the breaker)

figured if i was gonna cut a hole in the wall - may as well run some cat5e :)

good idea.

dad thinks neutral isn't making it to the light

(texting while talking to you)

(covered the outlet just incase the cats thought they were gonna be cute and lick the wires - obviously not done yet :)

so, i'll pop the cover on the outlet - make sure both lines are attached solid and proper

1. Check Connections.

check the neutral on the light switch - put a regular light switch in its place for the time being

2. Check Switch

3. Check Continuity through the light.

ok

And Because It's saturday, 2.5 - Make unnecessary trip to Home Depot.

oh, thats a given - i'll need a tool for sure haha

Actually. Turn off the breaker, and wire nut the blacks on the switch together. Breaker on, and check light. That's the simplest test that everything is right.

2.7 Make second trip to home depot to get the thing you forgot on the first trip.

for the drywall patch ... i was gonna cut out a bit more of the plaster to make it more square - cut a square of drywall to fit the whole opening, then cut the box out of the middle of the drywall so it was all 1 solid piece. it'll be a pain, but better than cutting 4 strips of drywall to fill around the box, right ?

Absolutely.

In fact, I'd take off the cold air return cover, and put a single piece in.

f'ing, even putting a drywall screw through the lath splits it. garbage. had to pre-drill the holes for the box as to not split the lath i was jusing as a shim

Once you're drywalling, size of the repair doesn't matter. So go big and do it right.

no - thats heat - not cold

Try a Chicago Patch.

?

Cut the drywall about 1.5 inches bigger on all sides than the hole you want to plug

ON the back, mark the accurate dimensions.

Score, and chip off the gypsum, leaving the front paper intact.

Mud the back of these leftover flaps, install the drywall patch.

huh. never knew that

Then do a top-coat.

was thinking about using mesh tape as you would use on joints just to give it some strength as its an outlet and will get some abuse / use

I hate mesh tape.

so do i

I always get a better job with paper.

alright, gonna go smoke and try to fix this

Have fun.

thanks chris - i'm sure i'll be back

put a regular light switch in - works fine

So you blew the switch. Off to Home Depot then!

those leviton dimmers are so sensitive - not the first time i lost one to power being turned off

so unless it was loose but all i did was change the switch

ok, time to go find and cut a piece of drywall - bbl

Have fun.

shit

i should really go buy a small piece of 1/4 inch drywall huh

half inch is to thick

i cant shave it off the back without it shattering on me can i ?

I don't think you'll be able to do it evenly.

But I hate buying small pieces. It ends up costing about the same as a full sheet.

good thing theres a home depot 2 miles from my house. Off to the store!

Make a list first!

You might be able to save a second trip.

more dremel cut off blades!

1st coat of plaster - not bad - tight space - inches from the floor

home depot doesn't sell cut pieces of 1/4 inch - so i had the dude cut it into 4x4 for me - a 4x4 sheet does not fit in a toyota prius - so in the parking lot i had to try to cut it into 2x4 - wtf.

now that i have the plaster open and my tools dirty, off to put a final coat on the spare room

Don't rush the top coat. DO it tomorrow.

Well done.

one way or another, this ends tomorrow. quick sand when i wake up and paint all day so i can make it my office. this room has been 2 years in the making

i've had enough of this room - 10 gallons of joint compound cause i sanded in between coats haha