[Xist]

Thanks for the explanation.

I found a video by Ace where they cut out a strip of drywall to mount sconces. They stapled the power cord to the 2x4s and presumably filled in the trench, textured, primed, and painted, but they didn't show any of that. They didn't show other important parts, either. Someone complained that what they showed was illegal and dangerous--the wire needed to be run 1.5" into the wall or have a protective metal plate over it.

Honestly, I wouldn't recommend it, but if you covered the entire wire with protective metal, you could just spackle over it.

How else would you repair a 2" trench? Cut a piece of drywall?

Well, if it isn't safe or legal to bury wires where the drywall goes, is it safe and legal to bury wires on the surface of the drywall, under spackle and paint?

Can you imagine buying the house, not knowing the wires are there, going to put a poster on the wall, and putting holes in wires with thumbtacks?

I guess that is an unrealistic scenario. The seller might take the connectors and bury the ends instead of removing the wires, but then it wouldn't be plugged in.