Walked through a 1920s hotel renovation and found a junction box nailed to a stud with no cover

I was helping a buddy rough-in some new circuits at the Hotel del Sol downtown, an old place they're converting into condos. We popped open a ceiling in the ballroom and there it was, bare splices just sitting there wrapped in friction tape from 90 years ago. Has anyone else run into sketchy old work that somehow still passed inspection back then?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_price17d ago

I found a junction box in a 1920s theater in Detroit once with knob and tube wiring still live behind a wall. The splices were just twisted together with no wire nuts or tape at all. Back then code was basically "don't burn the place down by noon on Tuesday." Those old inspectors must have been half blind or getting paid under the table.

marywells17d ago

Read somewhere that some of those old theaters actually had wiring running through old gas pipes too since they retrofitted from gas lights. @charles_price it's wild you found live knob and tube like that, I heard those twisted splices were called "western union splices" and were considered legit back in the day despite being a fire hazard. Makes you wonder how many buildings in Detroit still have that stuff hiding behind modern drywall.