Legal to have outlet in basement stairway? House built 2000.

[Robert Gift]

From an outlet in her little office, wife tacked an extension cord along the baseboad under her office door and around under the basement door into the basement stairway.
It powered two vacuums on their wall-hanging battery chargers. (Vacuums easily quickly accessed and out of the way in he stairway.)

From her office outlet I managed to get 14-2/gnd cable through the unfinished basement ceiling to an outlet I screwed into the double stud at the basement door. Stairway is dryvalled.
Works perfectly, but am I violating any electrical codes?

Thank you.

 

[bigb56]

If the receptacle is in a box with a wall plate, and the Romex is protected "where subject to damage" I don't see a problem.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Afjes]

I'm not quite seeing the layout you describe.
But as bigb56 states the receptacle must be in a box with a wall plate and if Romex is not within a wall but on a wall/baseboard it may then be considered "subject to physical damage". Meaning it is possible that the exposed Romex may be damaged physically by something hitting it, something being dropped on it etc. Romex outer sheathing is not meant to protect the wires inside, that's what they make MC and conduit for.

If you draw this out as in a diagram we may be able to come up with a better safer solution to what you have done. So far from what you described I can not tell is this setup is to code or not.

 

[Robert Gift]

I'm not quite seeing the layout you describe.

Just saw your post.
Thank you.
Found 2x4 stud and cut out drywall rectangle at the stud. Installed a blue plastic outlet box. Removed the nails and used drywall screws through the inside of the box into the stud. (Screws on the Neutral side of the outlet.)
Managed to get a 14-2 w gnd to the outlet from a first floor outlet, so no exposure. (Better from an unfinished basement outlet?)
Wife very pleased to have her two battery-powered vacuums hanging out of the way easily accessible near the top of the basement stairway.

 

[Robert Gift]

Is an outlet allowed in a basement stairway which is egress out of the basement?
Must outlet be on same circuit as basement outlets since it is in the basement?
(If the basement circuit breaker is turned off, the outlet is still energized from livingroom outlet.)

 

[bigb56]

Is an outlet allowed in a basement stairway which is egress out of the basement?

Yes

Must outlet be on same circuit as basement outlets since it is in the basement?

No, however code does require basement receptacles to be GFCI protected. It used to be only unfinished basements but as of 2020 they included finished basements. The change was made due to the shock hazard from moisture on the concrete floor, but if your stairs are wood it's kind of a gray area. Probably should be GFCI protected because someone could use it to run equipment in the basement.

BTW putting screws through the side of the box for attachment is actually a code violation albeit minor. They make listed boxes specifically for this, some have screws (Smart Box) and others have wings that hold onto the drywall and are called remodel boxes. The Smart Box has the screw heads recessed into depressions where they can't contact any wiring.

I'm not a huge fan of Smart Boxes due to the fact that they have limited space and GFCIs and dimmers are a pretty tight fit in one.

 

[Robert Gift]

Yes
No, however code does require basement receptacles to be GFCI protected. It used to be only unfinished basements but as of 2020 they included finished basements. The change was made due to the shock hazard from moisture on the concrete floor, but if your stairs are wood it's kind of a gray area. Probably should be GFCI protected because someone could use it to run equipment in the basement.

BTW putting screws through the side of the box for attachment is actually a code violation albeit minor. They make listed boxes specifically for this, some have screws (Smart Box) and others have wings that hold onto the drywall and are called remodel boxes. The Smart Box has the screw heads recessed into depressions where they can't contact any wiring.

Thank you.
Our basement floor is "structural wood" (5/8" T&G plywood on steel I beams.) Why? But nice a fan is pulling air under the floor out which may contain radon. Never tested for it.
Assumed my box is not code, but used what I had.