After new siding was installed on the house, there is a 1-1/2"-thick wooden spacer between the electrical box for an outside light and the location of the light. In my prior experience, the electrical box was always placed snugly next the fixture. How does one meet electrical code when there is a wooden spacer?
The photo shows the Hardie board siding (yellow) with a 1.5-inch-thick wooden block (white) with a roughly 3.75-inch-diameter cylindrical hole. At the top of the wooden block is metal flashing (dark gray). Inside the hole, you can see some Tyvek housewrap (white with blue writing) and the electrical box (gray). The lighting fixture is supposed to go on the outside of the wooden block.
Is it OK, under electrical code, to just stretch the wires from the electrical box to the fixture and install the light fixture on the outside surface of the wooden block?
The house is in northern California, USA, in the San Francisco Bay area.
While researching this, I found two questions about wall-mounted outdoor lights but both have answers (here and here) showing the electrical box snugly meeting the light fixture.
Best Answer
Yes, there is such a thing as a weatherproof extension ring
While you can't just extend the wires out beyond the box to the fixture (what if a splice failed and tried to light things on fire?), the good news for your situation is that weatherproof extension rings do exist! Ask your local supply house for a Hubbell (Bell/Raco) 5363-0; this will give you 1.5" of extra box depth, which should be just enough to deal with your spacer board.