Just got a call from the electrician who complained that the holes for the remodel boxes are over sized. He said that 3/4 of the boxes are falling through the hole when he installs the device. Because the boxes were installed for rough, I presume that pushing on the wires when he installs the device is what is moving the box. He asked me if I wanted him to stop, but I said to continue as the holes will need to be repaired either way. I figured there’d be less chance of breaking off the repair mud if the device was installed prior to repairing the hole. My question is regarding the best way to repair these holes. Obviously, I’m envisioning having to pull the box partially out of the hole and then putting some compound around it to tighten the clearances up. I know that this will be a weak joint which will be prone to cracking. I was wondering if there wasn’t a better method to repairing the holes?
For the record, at this time I haven’t eyeballed the problem. The area where he is working involved adding electrical to existing plaster walls. All of the boxes were cut in before the drywallers came and I know that the drywallers removed additional plaster because it was easier to replace it than to repair what was existing. I don’t know if these problem boxes are in plaster or the new drywall.
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Old work boxes are always a PITA, though some are much worse than others. Though it doesn't do you any good now, cutting the holes carefully is critical to a good fit, and a MultiMaster is a good tool to use for this.
Dunno a good general way to repair them -- probably have to take each situation as it comes.
Make a Larger Repair
I can't think of an easy way to make a hole a little smaller that would be stong enough to support a junction box. Your best bet might be to just make a larger repair.
Patch in a new piece of drywall. 16" X 16" should be large enough. And to make life easier, cut the hole for the remodel box before installing the patch.
Make a Larger Repair
double post
In some cases the problem is that the opening is just a little too tall, and if the box slides up or down one of the plaster ears will fall in the hole. In such cases it's probably sufficient to just fill the gaps at top and bottom with mud, to keep the box from sliding up/down. (Of course, you have to figure out how to do this with the plaster ears in the way.)
Unfortunately, I've had to do a fair amount of these. In general I don't like joint compound for filling in gaps.
As one other poster said, if the problem is that the hole is too tall, they do make old work boxes that grip the back sides of the hole so the box would be held firmly although you might have to use an oversized coverplate to cover the top and/or bottom of the hole where it showed.
I've also had good luck buttering up strips of wood with PL premium, slipping them in the hole, using either a sheetrock screw as a handle to hold it from slipping into the wall while positioning it or holding it with a piece of string around the middle. If the piece of wood is light enough, you don't even have to keep pressure on it while the PL sets up.
All this assumes you can either push the box in and out of the way to work on the hole, or pull it out. If you pull it out, hold the wires with a string so they don't slip into the wall cavity.
Yeah, it can be a real pain and eat up a lot of time.