Light Switch Behind Plumbing

I am having the basement apartment of my 1920 row house renovated and am concerned with the way the contractor has framed the bath. Is it OK to have a light switch the opposite side of a shower faucet?

There is no problem with this installation

I'd be much more concerned about the excessive number of copper plumbing fittings and their solder joints.

I do not like the way the cables entering the metal wall box appear not to have been secured to it but that is not the plumber's problem.

It looks like the kind of box with integral clamps.

(google image search...)

like this:

That conduit looks pretty bad.

As long as you use drywall/backer board/tile....no problem.


And wipe those joints next time.

With a rental unit being renovated, I wonder if the old electrical work is being reviewed. That kind of BX cable often goes with 2-wire outlets.

I don't think that's conduit. Looks like old cloth-wrapped, to me. Around here, I see this mix a lot - places built in the 30's-50's, remodelled in the 60's-70's, look exactly like that picture.

I'll hazard a guess: that's a kitchen countertop outlet on the other side. Power's coming in from that cloth-wrapped wire on the left, and the BX is tapping in to run another kitchen outlet. So the kitchen looks modern-code-compliant, plenty of outlets, but there's actually only 1 circuit. You can't run a kettle at the same time as a toaster, even if they're on opposite countertops.

That's what I see a lot, anyways...

Your shower control should be screwed into a solid piece of wood, attached solidly to the studs on either side. So should that electrical box...

There's some debate about that, I just discovered in the plumbing forum.

Thanks for everyone's reply! Your comments have been very helpful.

One wire is cloth and the other is conduit. The electrical box is a light switch to the ceiling light. which is just a hallway between the bedroom and the living room. The basement apartment has not been occupied in decades and there are very few outlets so I will need to run new circuits, ESP the kitchen as one poster pointed out.

Thanks again!

So I guessed wrong, huh?


As long as you're going to be running new circuits, and have all the walls open, get the electrician to replace that old cloth-wrapped. It's pretty rare that the rubber insulation isn't brittle and/or damaged by now. Nothing worse than finishing the job, walls all closed up, and suddenly a circuit conks out...