My house didn't have an exterior receptacle on the front. It really needed one.
I don't know why I hadn't installed a receptacle earlier. I think it's one of those early faults of the house that I just accepted and forgot about. With Christmas and the desire for Christmas lights, I was prompted to install a receptacle. My initial thought was to tie into an interior receptacle. After a bit of online research, my plan was confirmed.
Purchase List:
1/2"x12" or longer drill bit
14 gauge wire
Introduction
This needs to be a GFCI receptacle. Any receptacle that could be prone to water such as outdoors, bathrooms, or near a kitchen sink needs to be GFCI.
I only had one receptacle that was easily accessible on the front of the house and on the side I wanted it. By removing the cover plate I could tell which side of the stud the receptacle box was mounted. I also determined there was a jack and king stud at the nearby window. This offered a roughly 14" cavity, but I wanted the exterior outlet as close to the interior outlet to make fishing wire through the wall easier.
I used the window sill as a height reference, transferring the interior measurements to the outside. I wanted to stay above finish floor as I wasn't sure how much space was between the brick and rim joist and whether I could snake wire through.
Before beginning I made sure the breaker for this circuit in this room was off and double checked with a test light.
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| Blue is the interior receptacle, gray is the future exterior receptacle |
Exterior Hole
Using the measurements I had previously determined, I marked the exterior hole. I double checked my measurements, and thankfully the height from the ground was perfect. I drilled through the mortar as it's typically softer than brick and thus easier to drill through.
I drilled the holes right next to each other, then used a hammer and screwdriver to knock out the little bit of mortar between the two holes. If you have to leave it overnight, like I did, a bit of steel wool will keep bugs seeking warmth out.
Interior Access
I cut a 1" square hole below the receptacle box with a hobby knife. Being on the bottom would make a less than perfect repair less visible. Using the thickness of the wall at the window, I determined the wall was 9" thick, I used that dimension and how much lower the outside box would be for a rough idea of the angle I need to drill through the wall at the access hole.
Running Wire
I had scrap metal rod with a hole in the end. Through trial and error I ran it through the stud cavity, through the sheathing, and after a few minutes finally managed to see it from the outside. This took quite a while. I thought I might have drilled the inside hole too high. The is definitely easier as a two person job, if not mandatory. Once I could see the end of the rod I created a hook from scrap 14 gauge wire to hook the end of the rod. I then taped the scrap 14 gauge wire to my 12/2 Romex wire and attempted to snake the wire through the wall.
This was a frustrating process. I thought I might need to drill the outside hole larger or create a larger interior access opening. At first I thought the sheathing might be the problem, but from what I could see through the opening it wasn't the issue. After trial and error I tried using a small metal rod beside the Romex wire and pushing them both through the opening from the outside. This worked well, I would push a few inches in, then pull it from the inside and repeat the process. I think the issue is that pushing from the outside the wire was bending while in the brick and getting caught. From the inside it was getting caught on the inside edge of the brick.Also the extra thickness of tape and scrap 14 gauge wire didn't help.
Wiring the GFCI Receptacle
I screwed in the strain relief from the inside, which makes the clamping screws almost impossible to tighten, but it blocks the hole and I don't want bugs trying to get into my house. I also stuff steel wool into the hole I drilled through the brick.
I cut EVA foam to act as a gasket, tracing the box onto the foam and making the gasket 1/2" wide. While you would typically caulk around the box, since brick is an uneven surface, foam will act as a gasket and cleaner finish.
The GFCI receptacle has a LOAD and LINE slot on the back. The wire from the interior should feed into the LINE slot. If you were going to install a receptacle downstream, it would be fed from the LOAD slot.
The black and white wires are installed with screw down clamps on the receptacle. Strip them first. The box and receptacle are grounded which requires a wire nut for the receptacle, box, and incoming line.
Bend the wire in the box into a Z shape so it will fold into the box. From there I pulled the slack out of the 12/2 wire from the inside.
I marked the box mounting points of the box onto the brick using a hammer and nail. While a hammer drill is ideal, a regular drill can work. I would push on the drill every few seconds to hasten the work. Hammer the plastic anchors into the holes and screw in the box. The box has a pull out clip so that a cord can be plugged in and the cover still shut.
Wiring to the Interior Receptacle
With pliers and much frustration I managed to pull the other end of the wire into the existing receptacle box. To do this I pushed all of the wire back into the wall, keeping the end close to feed it into the box. I made a service loop just outside of the box, with roughly 6" of slack in the 12/2 wire. I then cut the excess, stripped the wires, and inserted them into the existing receptacle.
I was able to double wire the ground screw and reinstalled the receptacle.
Power On
After I checked everything was secure and installed correctly I turned the breaker on. The 'Reset' button on the GFCI receptacle will need to be pushed to activate the receptacle. Pushing test will de-activate. If the receptacle grounds out, the 'Reset' will need to be pushed to activate the receptacle again.
Drywall Finishing
After all the work, my access hole was in rough shape. I re-cut it to make it square and then cut a drywall patch. I cut it larger so I'd have a 1/4" paper overlap onto the existing wall. This way there's not an open joint you're trying to fill.I caulked this piece in place, then used drywall compound to feather the patch.
Defying expectations, I somehow already had matching paint to complete the repair.
Conclusion
Running the wire was the most frustrating part as I expected. I'm glad I decided to use a metal rod to push the wire into the wall. Finally there is receptacle access on the front of the house. With it being Christmas, this receptacle was put to immediate use.
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