I had someone connect some romex for some wall lights for me. I ran the wire, and just had him do the connections (they're inside junction boxes). This from a partially finished space into a finished space. As the run starts it is in holes drilled through exposed 2×4 wall (the other side has drywall), it leaves the wall and goes out and over the metal support beam and into a finished drywall ceiling. It's stapled on the vertical part. On this part I use a flexible metal raceway (secured at both ends) to go over the beam (the builder did the exact same thing). After this, I ran the wire between the floor joists. I laid it on top of the ceiling that's finished with drywall.
I sold my house… it will be inspected…like.. in a couple days… do I need to tear out portions of the ceiling and staple this wire to the joists? Do I need to take it all out and have it pass, then have someone else come in and redo it? Will he get on a ladder and look at how it's run? Does it matter? Is it within code? Help me get this thing right so I can make sure our home closes. Thank you! (the wiring is part of a home theater that is being sold with the house.. it's a major player as to why our house is selling.. need to make sure there's not a surprise). Thanks
Btw, saw someone say on this site that it was ok to let it lay up there, and ran with it. Wish I wouldn't have done that now, just so that I wasn't worrying right now.
Edit from OP:
Let me go further… Based on my limited knowledge, I understand that home inspectors (those generally hired by the buyer) are not "code experts". That said, my township requires an occupancy permit and inspection (ie, the city's building inspector comes out, I'm sure you know that :P). So, this guy might be a little more stringent when he finds work done that wasn't permitted. I'm not even sure it has to be permitted, but maybe it does? I'll be calling this week to find out and apply for retroactive if so. So, if it is required, it will be required to be up to code… Will the city's inspector pass it done this way? Here's a picture to illustrate. There are three of these coming from one closed junction box ran off an existing outlet ran parallel with the joists.
Best Answer
Let's be practical about this one. The area of concern on your part is the wire that is resting on the ceiling drywall. In a perfect world, if you had had access to the space then the wire should have been secured to avoid any nail damage etc. It sounds like you did the rest of the installation well where you had access. If the cable in the closed ceiling is not visible without removing drywall, then it is highly unlikely a home inspector will even see it. I'm not advocating hiding problems from a home inspector,(I am a home inspector) but keep in mind that a home inspector is not a government building inspector and typically is not allowed destructive/invasive inspection techniques. If the cable is fully enclosed, it will not be seen. Let us assume that the inspector sees and makes an issue of the unsecured cable. Normally, the finding would be addressed before a closing. It would be rare that a minor problem like this would sink a sale unless the buyer was looking for some way out of the deal and refused to allow you to remedy the problem. Personally, I would never write up such a minor discrepancy unless I felt it posed a safety problem. Most electricians I know would probably do the same by fishing the wire in an open bay and securing it in the first exposed area available.