It's been a crazy week and hard to get at the kitchen. I found some time to work, so I went after the far end where I'm going to start the line of cabinets. 

Remember those wires I found when I tore out the soffits? What are those all about?

Back then...

I found the mystery wiring wrapped around a nail up in the attic when I tore out the south west end. They didn't seem to be carrying electricity, but I didn't know if they were attached to a switch or something that could juice them up randomly. I just couldn't leave them abandoned, going who knows where. 

...and now:

The soffit is cleared out and the wires are hanging free. They did make a non contact voltage tester chirp for some reason, but when I put my big-boy electrical meter on it, there was no voltage to be read. What?

I have a boatload of drywall repair to do anyway, so I figured some investigational slicing and dicing wouldn't hurt. I used a Oscillating Multi-Tool to make the cuts, right along the center of the studs. 

I popped the first piece of drywall off. The wires were still going down. The wall was open at the bottom where I'd tapped into the water line for the refrigerator. Where could this be going?

Ridiculous.

I sliced another section of wall open, all the way down to the level of a nearby electrical outlet. I thought perhaps it was going to take a 90 degree turn and be tapped in there for some reason.

Pushing the insulation aside, I found it. It went nowhere, just abandoned in the wall by the chumps who'd cut it off.

Of course. 

It was 4 feet of abandoned wire that sent me on this adventure.  

Sheesh.

I don't know why the preceding remodelers didn't take the time to yank it out of there, but I gave it a tug and slipped it out like an 8 year old slurps a strand of spaghetti.

Both pieces slid out with minor effort. 

Rather than cut new drywall, I decided to reattach the old stuff. When I picked up the bottom piece I noticed the familiar sized rectangle of an old outlet box.

They must have decided to move it two feet to the right for some reason. Weird stuff. These old houses tell stories,... confusing stories, but stories nonetheless. 

It only took a minute to zip some screws in with my trusty impact driver. I'm really loving my newer Dewalt brushless 20V model. It has three speed settings; the low speed setting keeps me from blasting screw heads right through the drywall. 

I sealed the wall back up and called it a day.  

20 minutes of work = mystery solved.

I hope your week is going well friends.

What sort of madness have you found in your house?