All of the flush-mounted electrical sockets in my kitchen are "wonky". Given that the mounting boxes must have been cut out wonky in the first place and that the mounting brackets are fixed, is there any way to straighten things out?
Bruce
The sign of a dodgy sparks.
You will have to remove the socket and unscrew the backbox. If there's room to move it about, set it straight then drill some more holes through any of the other mounting holes then re-fix it. If there's no room to move it you'll have to remove the backbox completely and make some room with a 'ammer and an old chisel or summat then re-fix it straight.
Si
You might find if you loosen the cover screws, you can twist the socket level and then retighten. Switch off the circuit first, in case some wires come loose whilst moving the socket. If you have a spirit level, use that to make them all level.
It is rare to have boxes with fixed mounting brackets. Normally at least one of the lugs is moveable, allowing final adjustment of angle. Are you sure you have entirely fixed lugs?
Christian.
I will check that. Maybe I can bend one slightly. Will the "wonkiness" not be as noticeable when I put the wallpaper up behind the sockets?
Bruce
It's about rule no 2 in the DIY canon "Wonkiness will always be noticeable, especially by the person who's worried about it, and will never be made to look better by later stages of the DIY process". You can also substitute "surface finish" for "wonkiness".
It will if it's got any sort of square pattern or straight lines on it, and it would drive me nuts even if it didn't. It's not difficult to straighten the back boxes.
Si
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