I have a bedroom that has no ceiling light. The bedroom is on the first floor, below our living room so there is no access from above. There is also a light switch that controls an outlet. I would like to install a ceiling light, controlled by that light switch and rewire it so the outlet is no longer controlled by the switch. The switch is not directly in line with the desired location of the light, so at some point I will need to go through a ceiling joist or a stud in the wall but I am not sure what is my best option. As a novice who has no electrical experience beyond changing out bad switches/outlets and simply rewiring them the exact same way I found them, I would appreciate as much information as possible on this. 
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Alexander Baker
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I take it both halves of the receptacle are switched? – ThreePhaseEel May 24 '17 at 00:20
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Yes, top and bottom are on the switch – Alexander Baker May 24 '17 at 00:24
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Additionally I have just been informed by my wife (we have been discussing this for 2 months) she has decided she may want a light/fan combo. Possibly controlled on separate switches. How much more difficult is this? I realize I may be not be giving enough specific information, but if we could at least figure out the wiring for the outlet/switch situation for now I will tell her she must make a firm decision by tomorrow evening. – Alexander Baker May 24 '17 at 01:18
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It's not terribly difficult as long as you pull the correct (i.e. /3) cable between the light-location and the switch-location. Box fill is a potential issue, but fixable all the same. Are the existing wires 14 gauge or 12 gauge btw? – ThreePhaseEel May 24 '17 at 01:53
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They are 12. I know 12 is required for outlets so I had just assumed (probably a dangerous thing), but I just verified they are indeed 12. – Alexander Baker May 24 '17 at 02:17
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12 is only required for *certain* receptacles (kitchen counter, laundry, bathroom, or anything else that's an actual 20A circuit) unless you have a local amendment that says otherwise, but good to know for sure. – ThreePhaseEel May 24 '17 at 02:20
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One more thing: what size is the existing switch box? – ThreePhaseEel May 24 '17 at 02:21
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It is 1 gang. Approx 2 1/4" wide, 3 1/2" high and 3" deep. If I go with the fan, and want two switches it is easy enough to pop that one out and replace with larger right? I saw something once about using a sawzall to cut the nails holding it to the stud and replacing with old work box. – Alexander Baker May 24 '17 at 02:55
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Extension boxes are a thing, as well... – ThreePhaseEel May 24 '17 at 03:18
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I have a feeling I will end up having to put in a fan/light combo with two switches. I will have to stop at the store tomorrow to pick one up. What other supplies will I need? Am I able to get a start on changing the wiring of the switch and outlet tonight, or will it be best to don't all tomorrow night when I have the fan also? – Alexander Baker May 24 '17 at 03:32
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Electrical is 90% mechanical, and this is a great example. **This is mostly a construction, framing and drywall job**. Rarely do I say "hire a professional" but in this case you need a guy who specializes in old-work Romex pulling. He can do this in about an hour, and have him do all your rooms. Oh, and the builder built the house this way to save about $20 in labor and you know exactly how much in parts. *Great*. – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 24 '17 at 15:14
1 Answers
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1. Remove the existing switch box
This may require you to cut the nails/bracket attaching it to the stud. You should be able to accomplish this using a hacksaw, oscillating multi-tool, or any other thin bladed saw.
2. Get a flexible drill bit
They can be a bit expensive, but you're going to need one if you don't want to remove the drywall. I recommend getting the whole kit, which includes the alignment tool. It will also come with a tool for pulling cable, which might come in handy later.
3. Cut the hole in the ceiling
Use a drywall circle cutter, hole saw, jab saw, utility knife, etc., to cut the hole for the ceiling box.
4. Drill up from the switch box
If you're lucky, there'll be no fire breaks in your way. If there are, you'll have to drill through them as well. Use the alignment tool to get the flexible drill bit to the middle of the top plate, making sure the bit is straight and plumb (you want to go straight up through the top plate(s)). Keep in mind that it might be a double top plate, so it might take a bit longer than you'd think.
NOTE: The drill bit has a little screw on the tip, so it will basically pull itself through the wood. You're not going to have to apply much pressure, just let the bit do the work. If the bit gets bound up, you'll have to reverse the drill to get it to back out.
5. Bore through the joists
Position the flexible drill bit up through the hole in the ceiling, so that it hits the joist a couple inches up from the ceiling. If you're only drilling through a single joist, being perfectly straight isn't that important. However, if you have to drill through more than one joists, you'll want to make sure that the bit is positioned as straight and level as possible.
If you have to go through more joists than the single bit can reach, you'll have to buy extensions to lengthen the bit. Another option is to cut additional access holes along the route, so you can drill from multiple locations.
6. Fishing the cable
This is the most difficult task, and might require cutting strategically placed access holes through the drywall. Basically, use any means necessary to fish the cable between the switch and the outlet. The flexible drill bit can double as a fishing rod, and can be used with the cable pulling tool to pull the cable.
You might want to consider buying a fish tape and/or fish rods, as they'll make the job more manageable.
NOTES:
If you want to control a light and fan separately, you'll want to pull three wire cable (hot, hot, neutral, ground), instead of two wire cable.
The current switch box is too full, so you'll have to install a double gang box to accommodate the new wires and switches.
To make the receptacle always hot, simply connect the line going to the receptacle to the feeder coming into the box (hot to hot, neutral to neutral, and ground to ground).
Make sure you use the proper gauge wire. If this is a 15 ampere circuit, use 14 AWG copper conductors. If it's a 20 ampere circuit, use 12 AWG conductors. Check the breaker protecting the circuit, to determine the circuit ampere rating.
Make sure you turn the power off at the breaker, and verify that it's off, before beginning any work.
Make sure you install a ceiling box rated for ceiling fans, preferably one of the braced boxes.
Do your best to be sure there's no other utilities in the way, before drilling through joist. You don't want to hit a pipe, other electrical line, etc.
If you have carpeting on the floor above, you might consider pulling back the carpet and opening up the floor.
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He'll definitely need a bigger box or an extension ring -- the existing box he has is already too small (it can only hold 6 fill units @ 12AWG while he needs 8 fill units of space as-is and 11 in the new configuration). – ThreePhaseEel May 24 '17 at 11:48
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Ok. When I get a fan, I will also get the kit you have recommended. What about a really strong magnet? I have seen some DIY articles/videos where they have been recommended for helping fish cables. Is this an effective method and is it worth getting one? – Alexander Baker May 24 '17 at 12:19
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It would have to be a really strong magnet, and you'd have to add some type of ferrous metal to the end of the cable. However, I'm not sure how you'd get the cable to jump up into a 1/2" hole through a joist. The easiest method, is to cut a single access hole (either near the wall, or where the cable has to turn into the joist). – Tester101 May 24 '17 at 12:30
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Also, have a look at [this answer](https://diy.stackexchange.com/a/47894/33). – Tester101 May 24 '17 at 12:32
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@AlexanderBaker Are the joists perpendicular to the switch wall? Is the ceiling textured? – Tester101 May 24 '17 at 12:34
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The wall is adjacent to the joists. However I will need to go through one joist, since the switch isn't in line with the center of the ceiling. The ceiling is textured. – Alexander Baker May 24 '17 at 12:47
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As for wiring the switch to make the outlet hot all the time, I connect the two wires that are already in the switchbox with wire nuts? Ground to ground, white to white and black to black to red? My understanding (obviously quite limited) is that red is also hot so I can connect red and black together. If this is indeed what I do, how will I get power to that switch now? Do I run pigtails from these newly connected wires to the switch? The wife has made a decision on light/fan combo. It can be connected to a single switch and light and fan controlled via remote. No need for 12/3 now right? – Alexander Baker May 24 '17 at 13:38
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@AlexanderBaker Yes that's correct about the wiring. Connect the red and black to the black from the feeder, along with a pigtail to any switches for the light/fan. If you want to use a remote to control the fan/light you don't have to run 12/3. However, you might still want to, so you have the option in the future. Also, you're going to have to install a larger box at the switch location, since you're already over the box fill limit. – Tester101 May 24 '17 at 14:02
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Excellent. Thank you @tester101 and ThreePhaseEel. I will be tackling this sometime in the coming days and will let you know how I make out! – Alexander Baker May 24 '17 at 14:10
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@AlexanderBaker Good luck. You might want to buy a fish tape, and/or some fish rods. They'll make fishing the cable a bit easier. – Tester101 May 24 '17 at 14:14
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@tester101 SUCCESS! I only ran into two slight problems during the process. 1st, I found it kinda difficult to use the drill bit alignment tool to drill straight/level but since you said it wasn't as important if I was only going through one joist I just did the best I could. 2nd, the flexible drill bit I bought did not make the holes big enough to fish 12/3 through. However, we decided the ceiling fan was going to be too low. Would have left us with about 6'1" of clearance so we just did a light. So I just ran some 12/2 and it fit the holes a bit better. Thank you so much for your help! – Alexander Baker May 25 '17 at 19:50
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