Hello, I just moved into this house and it’s a pretty major work in progress. One thing that’s perplexed me though is the front door.

We have a light switch inside that no one knows what it actually does. It’s right inside the door but it doesn’t turn on the porch light. That one is on the other side of the room.

We had a contractor over giving us quotes to install stairs and I asked his opinion. He pointed out the white around the door is not wood but a barely transparent plastic. He’s pretty sure it’s supposed to light up and the reason the switch doesn’t work is because the bulbs are probably burnt.

Issue with that is that I can’t find a way in to check that. It definitely is a very fragile plastic. Wouldn’t take much to break. But I’d like to not break it so I can replace the lights and put it back together. But I don’t see screws or anything. Anyone have any advice?

  • @HybridSarcasm
    19•8 months ago

    You sure that mystery switch doesn’t turn on the outlet mounted on the exterior (upper left) ?

    • Uprise42OP
      2•8 months ago

      I don’t think so. We found a mysterious wire in the basement that goes outside to nowhere directly below it. Either way that doesn’t work and I’m just trying to find the best/least damaging way to remove it.

      But it did cross my mind and I tested it with the switch on and off and it worked with neither. That being said I don’t think it’s an outdoor rated plug so it could just be bad either way.

      • @HybridSarcasm
        4•8 months ago

        Well, if the interior switch is bad, the device (outlet or otherwise) would never turn on. I’d start by confirming that power is coming into the switch (LINE), and power if leaving the switch in the ON position (LOAD). One of those voltage detectors can do that. If you know the LOAD is good, then use the voltage detector on the suspected lights.