Phone jack moving know-how

September 2, 2004 6:25 PM

I'm renovating a room and I'd like to move a phone jack that was originally placed 5 feet from the floor (for a wall phone), down closer to plug height. We're talkin' standard wood frame construction with gypsum board walls. I know that the box is set against a wall stud but I'm unsure the best way to do this with the least amount of tearing up and patching. Any tips, online resources or warnings? I also don't know jack about phone wiring. Get it? Jack? Har dee har.
posted by jabo to Technology (5 answers total)

Remove the cover plate of the existing outlet.
The box is probably screwed to the stud, don't bother trying to remove it.
Get a new box and cut a hole for it in the new place you want it to be.
In the old box, push the wiring out so that it's hanging loose in the cavity between the studs and the wallboard.
Fish a straightened coathanger up through the new hole until you catch the wire. Bring it down and install new box.
Patch over old box.

That's how I would do it.

As far as online resources, tell us which of the obvious ones you know about and how you've found them wanting. Obviously you've googled on +phone +wiring...right?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 6:33 PM on September 2, 2004

Use an "Old Work" box so you don't have to nail it into the stud.
posted by internal at 7:15 PM on September 2, 2004

And take note on how the wires are attached in the original, and replicate that pattern in the new jack.

If it's an RJ-10 (clear plastic dongle on the end of the cord like a mini Ethernet cable), the "outer" pair of wires are the active ones, IIRC.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:47 PM on September 2, 2004

Response by poster: I realize now that I omitted the fact that I want to move the jack to another area that's not directly below the original. And perhaps what I found wanting with the 1,320,000 pages that Google came up with, was the advice of fellow Mefites that may have experience dealing with this.
posted by jabo at 4:32 PM on September 3, 2004

Then what you're asking is significantly more difficult. Specifically, it's damnably difficult to drill holes through studs without removing the gyproc.

You could try dropping the wire to the bottom of the studs, punching out behind the baseboard, running the wire between the carpet and wall, and then doing the reverse to get back up into the wall where you want to place the box.

On my floors, at least, the gyproc stops 1/2" above the floor, leaving a good space to run wires behind the baseboard.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:25 PM on September 3, 2004