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?

  • Nawor3565@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    I see an outlet above the left of the door. Have you tested to see if the switch controls that outlet? Maybe something plugged in there long ago

  • TWeaK@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    Does the light switch operate the sockets outside? Maybe a previous owner installed it for Christmas lights or something.

    • Uprise42@artemis.campOP
      0·
      1 year ago

      No we’re pretty certain that wire comes out in the basement. There’s almost an identical one directly underneath the house.

      I did test it with the switch to be safe and it was a no go. It could be dead all around though. I don’t think that’s a outdoor cable

  • Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca
    0·
    1 year ago

    I’ve never seen lights like that, I imagine that translucent plastic is simply to let daylight in. Probably switched out the front door at one point and couldn’t find one the exact width so got a narrower one, filling in the gaps with that translucent material. I wouldn’t think the switch would have anything to do with it. Sometimes people just remove a light and don’t want to bother taking out the wire and switch and changing the box and patching the drywall.