After we finished the demo of the basement I re-wired the basement lighting to function on a single light switch, removed the outlets and switches from the center wall, and configured the circuits to separate the lighting from the outlets and boiler. However, the electric was still running through a rigid conduit and routed through a junction box that were both mounted to the main beam in the basement. Since we’re planning to replace this with a steel beam, we needed to remove the electric.

Beam junction box

I’ve collected a large pile of old flexible and rigid conduit from the demo of the basement and first floors, so I have plenty of material to re-use as long as it isn’t permanent. The basement wiring all falls into the “temporary” category. When we moved the laundry to the basement, I wired up an outlet using a separate conduit that ran along the back wall that had originally serviced the first floor. Since it had more than one circuit running through it, I was able to branch from this point with flexible conduit to connect a light fixture in the laundry area and the two storage areas toward the front of the house. I spent a lot of time switching between active circuits so I could always have at least some lights turned on while I worked.

Basement beam

I was able to disconnect three conduits that ran to the first floor, leaving only one outlet for that floor still active for lights and power tools. The junction box was eliminated by running the conduits directly into the panel, and I was able to eliminate a second junction box once I had finished moving all of the lighting from the conduit along the beam. Finally, I ran one more light by the electrical panel to give some additional light. The result is fewer lights in the basement, so some of the areas are not as bright, but we have light where it’s needed and the beam is now clear.