Getting joint compound out of outlet box
Soultrain
| Posted in General Discussion on
Drywall guys just finished, unfortunately they filled in several boxes with joint compound – a couple you almost wouldn’t know there was an outlet there. I talked to the drywall sub & he had one of his guys come & clean them out.
However, the screw holes for mounting the device are still filled (I didn’t ask him to clean those out since I was afraid they would get trashed in the process & therefor be unable to hold a screw).
Any advice on cleaning these out w/o destroying the threads?
Replies
Screws should go on in fine - I've not had a problem.
Forrest
the screws will just go right through the mud. the stuff just pulverizes
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, wer ist jetzt der Idiot ?
Here's where the Klein 10-N-1 multi-bit screwdriver shines!
One of the bits is a small 'torx' bit that is perfect for cleaning the plaster out of those screw holes.
Thanks everyone!!
Never had a problem getting the screws to go right through mud. Heck, I generally leave the boxes half-filled -- figure it's a fire safety feature, but future remodel sparkys may not agree.
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I would think that leaving the boxes filled would encroach on the NEC requirement for box size & would cause heat buildup...
Maybe I wrong on the reason for sizing requirements...
The sizing requirements are mainly to simply assure that there's enough room for everything -- it's pretty darn hard to jamb in much more than the NEC specs.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Ted, That is one of my pet peeves about drywallers. Leaving mud and tape run into boxes. The other one is the shmoes who wipe their taping knives clean of half dried ad crusty mud on the door and window trimmers then walk off leaving it there for the finish carp to have to clean off so he can set trim. ARGHHHH!"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
First time using a drywall sub?
They bury EVERYTHING! I just had a job finished. Luckily the floor is going to be redone cause its white and i'm not talking about dust.
I've never seen it in person, but to look at a site post drywall you'd think they were having a naked mud party while running the joints.
MSA1'
Wired a house this winter, 2 boxes covered with insulation, 3 covered by dry wall hanger, 1 so full of mud, the homeowner "patched the 1/4 " hole" and painted over it. They were all "pretty fast " though;)
Northeastvt
"They were all "pretty fast " though;)"Another example of "fast does not equal good".
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Yup, first time.
The other thing that gets me, is that the landing on for my stairs was finished. I had a piece of cardboard cut out and laying on top to protect from scufs, mud, paint, whatever.
They took the cardboard, cut it up to use for other stuff, now there's white blotches all over the landing. I'm hoping I can sand them off...
You should bill them for that.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Sorry for the late reply i've been on vacaton. Those blothches should come off with a damp rag. If not Bill Them!
Pressure washer!
.........................just kidding. Don't do that!
Shaped charges.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I was installing a large chandelier and was planning on fishing up a wire from the basement to a certain spot on a wall where I was going to put in an old-work box for the switch.
What I found in the wall was an old abandoned metal four-gang box filled with plaster - HARD plaster.
Well, I needed that spot so I spent the time to chip out the plaster. Got the plaster out and unearthed a few wires, too. Started to cut the wires out to prepare to remove the unneeded box but something told me to poke my tester in there first. I do believe I would have soiled my drawers if I hadn't tested.
Didn't have to fish power up to my new switch. It was already there waiting to be tapped.
Recently installed some outlet/switch boxes, and covered them with blue masking tape to make them more visible to the plasterers.I know you're a real electrician (as opposed to my kind) and I found something I thought was weird today...
Was installing a new outlet high on the wall for a plasma TV, pulled off the 7" baseboard to drill holes behind it to run the wire without having to patch a bunch of holes higher in the wall.
I reached up under the plastic box that would power the new outlet to poke in the Romex, and found it covered with some kind of red putty. What the heck is that for?
The outlet(s) are in a common wall between condo units.
Thanks, Jen
most likely fire stop....
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And likely code requires more of it where you make your changes.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Yup,.
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Since it's a common wall, I thought about sound proofing...but it's also surrounded by fiberglass insulation.
Thanks, Jen
the red stuff is supposed to expand in a fire ,it has nothing to do with soundproofing, seem kinda weird using it with a plastic box.
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The plastic used in electrical boxes is reasonably fire-resistant, the fiberglass even more so. But the critical point is that a conduit for heat/air should not be provided between the two apartments -- long before anything in the wall actually burns it can provide a conduit for hot gases to move between units, spreading the fire.Fire-stopping measures prevent this. The fiberglass prevents radient heat from being transferred through the wall, and the putty blocks hot air.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I do tenant buildouts on occasion and not once has the BI or plan review addressed sealing the outlets located in a stud bay shared by adjacent businesses. They're all over the edge sealing, conduit penetrations either vertically or horizontally but apparently cutting in outlet boxes that could provide a path between tenants passes under the radar.
This I got to look into.. you know... open a new can of worms.
we can't pipe j-boxes for a adjoining spaces in the same stud bay
and some towns around Chicago ...who has one tough fire Code..... wouldn't allow anything other than "plenum " boxes,covers ,and and fittings above a suspended ceiling there was a time when simply fire-taping with DW tape and JC was sufficient ,but now almost all jurisdictions I have worked in want fire caulk on every penetration of a firewall regardless of which space it feeds and they want the commo conduits caulked as well ....but I can honestly say that I have never seen firestopped Romex at a plastic box the idea seems silly .. ,but who am I to argue.
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Like Maddog, said that was a firestop pad, also required to contain sound. Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
I carry a drywall jab saw when I set electrical. I cut the mud off the sides of the box & then knock the crud out of the box.I also usually push the end of the jab saw into the box screwholes to remove the muck enough to get the screws started.