I'm in the process of finishing my basement (it has taken 1.5 years so far, and is still progressing). I'm working on roughing-in the electrical at the moment.
Against the 2×4 studs, I installed deep j-boxes (this product) instead of the smaller ones, primarily to give me more space when messing around with 12ga wires.
The city electrical inspector wanted me to protect the wires going into these boxes (and possibly, the boxes themselves) from stray nails, etc. The problem is that I can't seem to find 1/16" steel plates that are wide enough to span the gap between two studs. I could possibly use the 3" or so wide nail plates, with a line of these installed onto a furring strip or similar, but that would still leave small spaces for an errant nail or screw to slip into.
I bought a sheet of aluminum (this product), and am planning on cutting this into long strips, possibly doubling it over, and screwing it into the studs to protect the entire length of wire and back of each box.
Is this feasible? OK per NEC? Am I giving the inspector another reason to deny approval of my electrical rough-in?
Best Answer
You need to protect the wires where they enter the box, but you don't have to span the entire stud cavity. You just need to protect the wire as far as it takes to reach more than 1-1/4" from the stud face (or the back of the drywall).
I'd pick up some double-gang box covers and nail them to the studs at box height and extending toward the cavity that the box is in. If you feel like you need more width, get 3-gang plates.