My old fireplace mantle had an AC outlet built into it. I'm building a new mantle and surround and when I removed the old mantle, this is what I found.Photo 1Photo 2Photo 3Photo 4I don't know where these two armored cables originate from but I suspect one originates from an upstairs bedroom outlet directly above. Each cable has only two wires in it and when I plug in an outlet tester, the receptacle is showing as grounded.I showed the photo to an electrician I met in Home Depot who said the armored cable was the ground but when I posted the photo on another DIY blog, I was told the cable is un-bonded and is no longer considered safe as a ground.The wall behind it is brick with a layer of what I believe is gypsum plaster and mesh. When I drilled out a piece, it's pretty thick (about 2 inches) before I hit brick. What I thought about doing was carving a channel in the plaster for the cables (between the two red lines), putting a nail plate over it and then installing a surface mounted GFCI behind the TV. I would then patch over the channel and paint. Is this a good idea and is it doable? Rather than carve a channel in plaster, I assume I could run the cables up the wall under conduit but given the size of the cables, it would be really noticeable. Given that the wiring looks pretty old (my house was built in 1940), is there a way to find the origin points and perhaps have an electrician rewire without ripping out the entire wall? via /r/DIY http://ift.tt/2ulypAB
