Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Moving old bathroom wall lighting fixture to new location

Hi,

I'm looking for advice and instruction on what would be the best way to move the location of my bathroom wall-mounted light fixture to a dual sconce setup. My house was built in the 1970's and my bathroom is setup with the ol' chain and hook and glowing balls fixture. Needless to say this is quite dated. I'm doing small update projects as I plan to sell my home very soon. I would like to replace the old square mirror with a nice framed oval mirror with two sconces on either side. The problem is that the old fixture is coming out of the wall in the upper corner of the room, where as the mirror and sconces are more in the middle.

I know I'm definately going to need to cut out some wall board to do this. I can provide a photo if required if my description is confusing.

Thanks

I'm not sure which part of the project you need help with. You'll need to mount two electrical boxes for the two new sconces. If you are removing the wallboard, you can just attach the new boxes to studs (or to new framing you install between the studs). Otherwise if the fixtures are lightweight, you can use an old-work box.

If the existing cable will reach one of these boxes, you can just reroute it there and then run a new cable to the other box. If the cable won't reach, you'll need to splice it in a permanently accessible box covered by a blank cover plate, or you'll need to remove the cable back to the box where it came from and replace it with a longer cable.

Do you have specific questions not already covered?

You've answered things I hadn't considered. I'm going to have to extend the wiring from the original location. I'm assuming the best way is twist with caps... but you are saying I will be required to have that splice in an accessable box as well. I'm trying to think of how this could be done w/o having an unsightly plate in the middle of the wal. Tracing back the original line sounds like somethign that would require a lot of work including removing board??? My electrical expertise is very slim and before now, has been relegated to ceiling light fixture changes, ceiling fan installs, and plug outlet changes.....

Using wire nuts ("twist with caps") is not merely the best way, it's virtually the only code-compliant way for the DIYer. And yes, all splices must be made in permanently accessible junction boxes.

I strongly suggest you read a few books on home wiring before proceeding.

If you hve a medicine cabinet removing that might help you. You will be able to see into some of the stud cvitues and identify where the wire is currently running. It may allow you to run you new wires as well with minimal wallboard removal.