Finally settled the ground-up debate while finishing my kitchen remodel

I went thru the same debate when I rewired my workshop last summer. I ended up putting all my 20-amp Hubbell receptacles in with the ground up, mostly beacuse I’m always moving metal rulers and tools around on the workbench. It only takes one slip for a thin piece of metal to fall behind a loose plug, and having that ground pin there as a shield gives me alot of peace of mind.

Dealing with those messy drywall cuts is often the hardest part of the job. I ussually keep a small jab saw and a file handy just to clean up the edges of the box so the ears sit flush against the wall. If the hole is too blown out, I've started using those oversized wall plates from Eaton to hide the gaps. It makes a huge difference in how solid the outlet feels when you're actualy plugging and unplugging heavy equipment. Even though some people think they look backwards, the safety side of things won out for me. It’s funny how such a minor choice can spark a thirty-minute discussion with anyone who notices them. At the end of the day, as long as the connections are tight and the box is secure, you've done the job right.

I stuck with the ground pin down for the main floor of our house. We used the Legrand Radiant series to match the trim, and to be honest, almost every appliance we bought—from the microwave to the bedside lamps—has a right-angle plug designed for ground-down outlets. If I flipped them, those cords whould loop upward and create a mess against the wall, putting alot of tension on the cord strain relief.

I also found that for standard residential use, the visual "face" of the outlet just looks more natural to my family. When I tried a ground-up orientation in the laundry room, my spouse kept trying to force the dryer plug in the wrong way becasue the muscle memory is so ingrained. Sometimes the most practical way is just whatever keeps the cords tucked neatly against the baseboards without needing an adapter.

I had the same headache with chewed-up drywall in my laundry room. I found that using those plastic 'caterpillar' spacers behind the mounting ears is the only way to get a solid mount when the plaster is crumbly. If the outlet wiggles at all, it doesn't matter wich way the ground is facing—it's going to feel cheap and eventually fail. I ended up going ground-up in my garage becasue it made sense for my table saw cord, but I had to buy a pack of longer 1-inch 6-32 screws for almost every box. The ones that come in the package are never long enought when you're dealing with old work boxes and thick wallboard.