I’d like to tear out the paneling in my family room and replace it with drywall. As the existing electrical outlets are obviously set for a thin sheet of paneling, my question is how do I move them out to be flush with a thicker sheet of drywall?
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When you tear out the paneling buy new outlet boxes that have the flush mount tabs on the side of them nail them to the stud with the spacing tabs flush with the face of the stud. Hang your new drywall and roto-zip out the outlets done deal.
You're entitled to sh!t.---Tony Soprano
Look in the electrical dept. at any big box store and you will find extensions for outlet boxes sold in different thicknesses to accommodate what your project requires.
Technically, yes. As a practical matter you can probably get away with longer screws for the outlet ears, so long as you're not using foil-faced drywall and there's no foil facing on the insulation or whatever that could cause problems. Even then there are various box extensions/shields that can be used.
But replacing the boxes or remounting the existing ones slightly is no big deal. You may in fact find that the existing outlets were just bent back a bit to fit and bending the mounts forward is all that's needed for a proper fit.
happy?
I think you'll find drywall under the paneling. No need to adjust outlets,
I wouldn't bet on it, depending on where he lives.
If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people
happy?
I don't understand the question. Why not just remove the fasterners, move the boxes and refasten? What am I missing?
Ron