Bathroom Renovation #2 - Electrical

The bathroom's electrical fixtures were black with brass plate covers. They were also installed in the wrong places for our plans. Finally, we wanted to add an additional task light near the toilet. One each of the switches and receptacles were in the right place so I attempted to use the existing metal boxes instead of switching them out with the new blue plastic ones. I got one of those vertically stacked dual single-pole switch jobies that fit in one box. I wanted to consolidate two switches into the existing box. It would have been so nice if it had just worked.

What I discovered was a mess of spaghetti in each box, with several wires coming in and out. As luck would have it I was not able to add another switch and get all the wires shoved back in the tiny metal box. In addition, the stupid switch body kept coming apart whenever I screwed it in. Apparently the old metal box had gotten squished or it wasn't universal enough to accommodate my new switch.

So after a little more cursing, I was forced to rip out the old metal boxes and replace them. We had removed the bottom half of the wall so it was easy to reach up behind the drywall and plaster to make the swap. Here's the new main light and fan next to the entrance. We'll keep the old box in the wall and patch over it.