Where are your outlets mounted?

[LTParis]

My house is either blessed or cursed with outlets mounted in the floor base board trim, only a couple inches off the floor. With a new whole-house rewire looming in the next month or so I am debating to put my outlets at a more "standard" height, or to keep with the house's style and keep them in the trim.



It got me to thinking just how common practice was this? Where are your outlets mounted? And any suggestions on how I should proceed?

[Lynners]

Every single outlet in our house has been notched into the baseboards - it drives me insane! But, I supposed it was easier than messing about with removing chunks of plaster and lath.

[SkipW]

We have both, and each has it's benefits. The few we have monuted in the baseboard are actually in the perfect spot for reaching under accent tables, etc. The ones mounted where we now call them 'traditional' seem to work also. I don't know if it was a plan, or just how it worked out as the cottage became a residence and then became modernized over the years. The wall mounted ones actually vary in height from 9" off the floor to about 18" off the floor, so I think it's a matter of what one person did to the next. It's the same with our wall switches, they are all over the map when it comes to height.

I would think long and hard if I were you, simply due to the amount of work you create for yourself in repairing/replacing the baseboards that would soon have gaping holes if you were to move them.....

[shazapple]

Any new outlets we install are 16" off the floor. As far as I can tell there's no code for height, but that is what is suggested.

[GothicHome]

Like Skip W. Our plugs are over the place . Some in the base boards some above. I even have a plug mounted on the top surface of my mantle. Some rooms have many plugs others only one. The only sence I can make out of is they are mounted
Were ever you could get a access. They were all modern (1964) vintage plugs so I suspect the PO did most of them. The knob and tube install from when the house was originally electrified only operated the lights as far as I can tell.

[cadrad]

all of the original outlets are in the baseboards, as all of the structural walls and exterior walls are brick, so there is a chase that runs behind the baseboards. there are a few that were added that are either in the floor near the baseboards or on the wall. all of the bedrooms had two outlets originally, the living room had 6, and so on, so the original system is adequate. I am cheating a little, because my electrician tells me my largely untouched knob and tube is safe( but not grounded) and not overloaded. There are five grounded outlets in the house with their own breaker panel for the window air conditioners that the previous owner used. it appears that the original outlets were the single screw in type as there are still a few in out of the way places. the rest were replaced, along with the majority of the push button switches, in the 1950s(?) or so. The screw in type are kinda cool, 'cause you can screw in a light bulb and it will work.

[downtowndahlgren]

All of the original ones in my house are also in the baseboards, and most still have the original wiring. Newer outlets are usually about 10 in. above the top of the baseboard, except for ones in the kitchen, bath, and laundry room.

[nezwick]

Just like others, all of our original outlets are in the baseboard (there's also one in the floor). In one of the bedrooms where they removed the baseboard to hang ugly paneling, they left the single original outlet in its place right along the floor (because they didn't want to relocate the wiring. Our previous owner even added several outlets into the baseboard in the living room as recently as the 1980s-1990s (based on the age of the wire).

Personally, I like having them in the baseboard. They blend nicely into the white painted wood. Also, a lot of the electrical boxes mounted into the plaster walls have loose/broken plaster surrounding them either due to sloppy installation, or just wear + tear.

[s.kelly]

As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, the baseboard option was popular to retrofit, much easier to do. There was even some base trim designed with a wiring chase in it.

There is no height required (generally speaking) in the NEC, there are some specific requirements like counter top.

In my experience most commercial installs use 18" to center of the device for gen purpose wall receptacles. I think this is designed off of ADA requirements to make them accesable from wheelchairs. I am sure that switch and elevator call buttons have requirements.

I am gradually removing baseboard mounted when feasible and making 18" center, though on the party wall (row house) they will be all floor mounted so I can make a semi soundproof assembly between houses.

[Sombreuil_Mongrel]

Mine are baseboard, too. And I kept them there, except in the kitchen.
In all of our old-house restoration jobs, we tend to convince the homeowners that it's the best place because of the plaster disruption if elsewhere.
I can lay out "old-work box" cutouts in my sleep.
And, BTW, there was a four-bladed drill bit/saw tool made just for this! It had differential gearbox and blue steel blades and would cut out a proper sized rectangle of wood, maybe even plaster (but that is hard on the blades).
Casey