New kitchen cabinets covered an electrical outlet
Contractors often install cabinets directly over existing wall boxes, leaving live wiring trapped in an inaccessible space behind wood. Homeowners are left trying to figure out whether to use a box extender safely or legally relocate the outlet to meet building codes.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Using box extenders or adapter rings to bring the outlet flush with the inside of the cabinet
- 2Cutting into the cabinet backing and wall to relocate or extend the wiring
- 3Attempting to pull down glued cabinets to redo the wall box properly
- 4Installing a surface mount gang box
- 5Asking a contractor beforehand
- 6Adding GFCI protection instead of moving the outlet
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“We had kitchen cabinets installed (through a local contractor, cabinets sourced through a Big Box store) and just found out that the cabinet where our microwave was supposed to go was installed directly over an existing electrical outlet box on the wall.”source ↗
“We're trying to figure out our options for actually fixing this correctly.”source ↗
“The handyman I had over today made it seem like even if we went with the box extender option, it would still be a hazard to leave that open behind the other cabinet.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to fix cabinets pulling away from the wall
- 7How to replace two-prong outlets with three-prong without rewiring
- 3Is a melted electrical socket safe to leave until morning?
- 2Is it safe to put a couch over a floor heat vent?
- 2How to fix peeling veneer on kitchen cabinets near the sink
- 2Why does my electrical outlet only work sometimes?