Drywall & Receptacles

You can use washers or spacers, and metal painted or brass plates to help support the outlets

Buy longer screws. I have never tried to buy any, but what we used on the job was some very small diameter pneumatic tubing cut to length for the spacers.

You should also consider getting some insulated gaskets for the outlets. Using them on the outer walls are great power savers.

Caddy makes something for this:

You could also try using oversized metal wall plates to provide support.

I have used 6/32 hex nuts behind the device strap to keep the device from being pushed back. I have also seen other electricians use a piece of solid #14 or #12 copper wire coiled around the screw.

Well, the first problem is that the boxes are not installed correctly. They are not supposed to be flush with the stud, they are supposed to stick out 1/2" and be flush with the drywall. The mounting strap on the receptacles should rest on the box and the drywall at the same time.

I've seen some blue work boxes that had fingers on two ends that had to be an inch long.

I swear I saw metal support plates for just this problem in the dale electric catalog but I can't seem to come up with the right combination of search terms to find you a link to their web site. I was going to order a couple next time I had to order any electrical supplies and I haven't had to order anything in a while.

nate

found what I was thinking of

nate

Nope, that ain't it- those are clips to retain a floating box. What OP wants, and I'm suprised nobody mentioned it, since they are discussed on here regularly, are box extension rings. All the big-boxes carry them,

aem sends.....

Nope, I know what you're thinking of...

Oddly enough, the Madison hangers are on the very previous pages of the catalog :)

nate

dammit, ya made me look :)

I just referbed (sp?) a 1907 and rewired completely. A lot of the outlets and switches had been spaced out with short pieces of some sort of 3/16" rubber hose product. Seems to have worked pretty well. As you mentioned, you'll (possibly) need longer screws.

I forgot to mention box extenders:

Something an electrician always has:

Strip some #12 solid. Wrap it around your Phillips screwdriver in a tight coil. Slide it off the screwdriver. Cut the coils to the appropriate length, and slide the recep screw through the coil. Yes, you may need a longer screw.

Thanks for the tips guys. I knew someone would have a solution somewhere, but my attempt to Google a solution was stymied by my word choices.

another solution nobodies mentioned is to go to your local big box store and go the isle of the electrical section where all the electrical doodads in little plastic bags are hung on hooks. You know, where the wirenuts are. There you will find stackable green plastic spacers made just for this. They're aout 1/16 inch think and have interlocking snaps to stack them up as thick as you want.

dickm

As luck would have it, before I posted my question I did go to that very aisle looking for something just like that. I obviously missed it, just like I missed the box extenders when I was in the box aisle. I think I was seriously distracted by the store closing in 5 minutes and needing to get a few other things that I knew for sure existed (which is also why I didn't track down somebody to ask). I'm looking forward to finding the things I missed next time I go there.

I think this is the best solution - there's just one nut, no worrying about 3-4 washers; it attaches the outlet solidly to the box which is itself attached to the stud, so everything is robust; and if the box is metal, the outlet or switch body is solidly grounded.

Again, code sez that if the box edge isn't flush with wall surface, you need something between the device and any combustible materials, in case of sparking. I agree, a fire actually starting that way is a one-in-a-million shot, but when it comes time to sell, if the inspector actually pulls that particular outlet cover, you;ll have to redo it anyway. As cheap as extension rings are, may as well do it that way in the first place.

aem sends...

Just so you know, I do plan to use the box extenders. I do like to follow code just to avoid problems in the future.

Finally picked up some box extenders, so I thought I'd give an update.

The extenders didn't work. They depend on fins catching the drywall, and the people who put in the drywall didn't unscrew the plugs, they just cut a bigger hole. So here's what I did:

I bought a regular box. Set my table saw for 3/8" and cut. Put the rectangle in the hole, and found I really needed 3/8" on 1 corner and 1/8" on the opposite corner. So I marked it with a permanent marker. Then pulled out my angle grinder and grinded away. Now it extends the box flush with the wall and is code-compliant. Cheap too, if you don't count my time :) Now I just have to do it again & again & again (about 12 times total).