Hiding unsightly telephone wires-help!

When I was painting my kitchen for some reason I just painted around telephone wires sticking out of the wall. I don't know why I didn't look into removing them before I painted but I'm pretty sure it had to do with being too ancy to get started. Now I'm looking back and wishing I would have taken the time to do it right.

These wires have been sticking out of my wall like this for a year and a half. Today I decided to do something about it. We don't have a home phone and I plan on knocking out that wall in the future to open up the kitchen/dining room space so I have no qualms about completely getting rid of those wires. I want to just cut the wires off completely. But can I? I sat there and pondered it for a while and decided to take the safe route.(Only after a google search on "Can i cut through telephone wires in my house" and other embarrassing searches turned up nothing).

I taped the wires to the wall (pictured) and used a shadowbox that I already had and put a few wine corks in it. I originally wanted a picture of a wine glass but as I was leafing through the latest issue of Food & Wine magazine I spotted the perfect sized picture of collectible corkscrews.

Right now the frame is not sitting flush against the wall. The telephone wires are too thick. So I hung it on nails that are just barely into the wall. It's definitely in a precarious position and certainly only a temporary fix. I need to get rid of those wires. But can I cut through them? I just don't want to get a jolt. We don't even have telephone service so am I crazy for worrying about it? If anyone out there knows about telephone wiring, please let me know how to get rid of these wires.

p.s.: i'm just assuming this is telephone wiring. If it is something completely different, please alert me to my idiocy.

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March 25, 2007

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merelyepic

April 07, 2007

I work with electronics, and there's close to nothing running through tele wires. You'd have no problems with cutting them (but make sure your clips have a rubber-insulated handles; it never hurts to be safe).

I suggest cutting them, then using a dowel to stuff them into the wall. Sand it all down and paint and you'll be good to go.

However, I do like the corkbox on it, looks nice.

Manzabar

March 26, 2007

The closeup picture of the wires is rather blurry, but that does look like telephone wiring to me. Now, I'm not an electrician or a phone company guy but I don't think telephone wires carry very much current. Still, I don't know if you could just yank those out or what. You could try calling your local phone company to see what they can tell you. Alternatively places like Home Depot sell cover plates you can buy to cover up the wires.