Would you like some Hills Bros. Coffee with your can light?

Question

We were doing a whole house electrical re-wire and main panel upgrade for an Investor doing a flip in Mishawaka, Indiana. In the formerly finished basement ceiling was the following piece of electrical art:

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@Aaron Linden

I am all for DIY, innovation and being economical because this seems to be a prior homeowner that did this or had it done by someone who obviously did not pull a permit since there is no way an electrical building inspector would have let that go.

However when doing electrical work during rehab, whether for a flip or a rental, especially things that will be hidden behind a wall or ceiling that is not the time to cut corners - everything should be at the very minimum up to code both for safety and liability.

Can you imagine if that Non UL Listed coffee can caused a fire and the insurance fire investigator traced it down as the cause? Not only would there possibly be personal and property damage but I bet the insurance company would have a very good reason to deny the claim.

Account Closed · Answer

Actually now that I think about it, we came in after the drop ceiling had been torn down during the rehab.

The drop ceiling would have hidden the coffee can with only the trim piece being visible thus it would have easily passed for a legit fixture at a casual glance.

Obviously this would not pass a rough-in electrical inspection for many reasons the main one being that a coffee can is not UL Listed for that particular use so I am not in any way recommending re-creating this no matter how tight your budget is lol.