ICOT, In one bedroom of our house there was a ceiling light fixture that was totally worn out, frayed and possibly blackened, although it worked fine. I thought it was a big danger. I went to Lowes, and bought new fixture for 6 dollars. I thought would be simple job of unscrewing old one, unwrapping wires in electrical box, twisting new ones, putting on caps, and screwing new fixture back into box.
However, I found there was no box!!! The oisvarf who did the work before, just screwed fixture into the wood. I found two exposed wires (and also a conduit shield) buried in insulation. I tested the live wires against the conduit shield to find which was power, and then connected to the black wire of new fixture and other to white. I twisted the braided wires of the new fixture to the solid wires of line (which does not hold very well, even with cap), and screwed fixture into the metal bracket he had put in the wood.
I know this is very dangerous, and I guess I will need an electrican to fix. I did it temporarily because I reasoned that without a light, it is just as dangerous, if not more so, to have those live wires just lying around in the wood. I am also concerned that if water gets into the attic from any leak, it can cause a short. I did not use tape, as didn’t have any on hand. I probably should redo it with electrical tape. However, it works for now, so I don’t want to mess with it, especially since it was hard getting caps to stay on solid wire.
So may questions are:
1) This is not a new house (built in 1930’s). Was there ever a time when the code did not require a fixture box?
2) Can I install the box myself? The wire seems very short, I don’t know if the entire conduit line can be pulled so that there is more length, or if it is too short to go any more.
3) How would one splice conduit to make it longer, if necessary?
4) Is this common, that some guy will wire up something so dangerous, and just cover it up and hope nobody will ever find out. How did he get away with this.
5) Would you recommend an electrician to do all of what needs to be done, rather than doing it myself. I do not want to cut holes in ceiling and plaster and paint myself.
6) When I first bought the fixture, the guy in Lowes said they would install it, but would be 140 dollars. That is crazy expensive for a 6 dollar fixture, so I figured I would save big and do it myself. However, now that I see what a mess the previous installation is, what would you recommend? What do you think an electrician would charge to do all the necessary work here?
Thanks for any advice.