Receptacle boxes
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Re: Receptacal boxes
The boxes are usually flush with the first layer and you can use a spacer ring to make up for the second.
Another option is an adjustable depth box. You nail to the studs as usual, but then you have an adjustment screw to line up the final depth. These are bit pricier, but for variable depth stuff, they are worth it. I"ve used them for tile installs, since the backer+tile is often not exactly the depth of drywall or a spacer.
The boxes are usually flush with the first layer and you can use a spacer ring to make up for the second.
Another option is an adjustable depth box. You nail to the studs as usual, but then you have an adjustment screw to line up the final depth. These are bit pricier, but for variable depth stuff, they are worth it. I"ve used them for tile installs, since the backer+tile is often not exactly the depth of drywall or a spacer.
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Re: Receptacal boxes
If you are using metal boxes, secure the box even with the face of the stud, and use an 1 1/4" p-ring.
If you are using metal boxes, secure the box even with the face of the stud, and use an 1 1/4" p-ring.
Re: Receptacal boxes
What he said. I used both depending on if it was "new construction" or adding a layer to an existing wall. Home Depot/Lowes sells both the box extender, and boxes you can adjust with a screw to bring the in and out so they are perfectly flush with the wall :T
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Re: Receptacal boxes
Hmmm... that gives me an idea for an existing project I've left unfinished for a few years in hopes that I would figure out how to make it meet code...
do the adjustable boxes come as the octagonal style? What's the range of depth?
Hmmm... that gives me an idea for an existing project I've left unfinished for a few years in hopes that I would figure out how to make it meet code...
do the adjustable boxes come as the octagonal style? What's the range of depth?
I don't recall seeing octagonal adjustable boxes. Just single and dual box sizes. The whole purpose of hte code is to ensure nothing flammable/conductive could cause a fire. You might be able to use some type of PCV L-channel and cut/bend it into shape.
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Yeah, I've looked at them, and looked at them, and looked at them... I just don't think I'll queeze them into where theyhave to go, which is kind of why I dug out behind the boxes that are there now, which is why there's a gap to where the what covers the boxes is... Trouble is, unlike the extenders for 1gang boxes, the ones for the octagon are quite strong and ridgid...
PVC is an interesting idea. Also, I might just be worried about nothing. Certainly nothing as a practical matter...
Basically I have a gap between the light that covers the box and the box itself. Per code, that has to be closed with a non-flammable material. But we're not talking about truly empty space here. This is in a box made out of vinyl siding material that's probably only about an inch away. It might be an inch gap, BTW.
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Yeah, definitely need them for code. I've been in far too many houses, where the whole plug pushes in because the tiny tabs on the outlet no longer pinch against the drywall. In a proper install, they don't have do -- they rest on the box or box extender!
And when that happens, wires do come out. Just this week I saw an outlet that had the hot just floating in the box. Neutral and ground were wired to the receptacle. It must have popped off due to the slack in the box and I'm luck I didn't get a shock when I want to touch the metal cover plate. That kind of thing is rare, but it only takes one rare thing to burn your house down.
And when that happens, wires do come out. Just this week I saw an outlet that had the hot just floating in the box. Neutral and ground were wired to the receptacle. It must have popped off due to the slack in the box and I'm luck I didn't get a shock when I want to touch the metal cover plate. That kind of thing is rare, but it only takes one rare thing to burn your house down.
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Its amazing what codes are in place for all sorts of things.
Ones I see people doing wrong all the time are covering up junction boxes completely with drywall, using extension cords up above ceilings or in walls, Using extension cord wire for actual wiring between boxes, and putting more than one wire into a single breaker inside the panel. All No No's.
Ones I see people doing wrong all the time are covering up junction boxes completely with drywall, using extension cords up above ceilings or in walls, Using extension cord wire for actual wiring between boxes, and putting more than one wire into a single breaker inside the panel. All No No's.
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We have a guy here up In Canada that has a TV show called Holmes on Homes now called Holmes inspection that he shows all sorts of things contractors do wrong and he has to go in and fix them. Very scarry:rolleyesno:The sad thing is, most codes are very simple to follow and not necessarily more expensive. People just don't know them and go for the easy solution. Now when a pro does that . . .:explode:
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The wife and I love Mike Holmes! We get his show via HGTV here in the states. It's incredible the stuff he digs up. I think they recorded his anti-contractor rant once and just replay every episode
Sorry to thread-jack, Dan.
Sorry to thread-jack, Dan.
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ARGH! I've seen every episode they run here in the states. New episodes aren't being run here. Sometimes Canada is SO much better... :whistling:
OK, so maybe you guys can help me out, I pulled something Holmes would smack me for...
We hired a guy to do the roof/windows/siding... no probs, he did a great job... as an EE, when he started talking about hiring an Electrician to mount th enew lights, I decided to save the money and do it myself.
Before the siding went up, we had conduit on the outside of the house carrying 'lectrics to the light mounts. The contractor put up 1" foam board insulation behind the new siding, cutting channels in it so as not to disturb the old conduit. It's vinyl siding, and he used decorative "boxes" where the lights go.
So I went in to install the lights. Like a good boy, I first put an electrical box into the vinyl box. I used the octagonal for added strength as these are big lights. I cut the opening in the vinyl box just big enough to get the electrical box in, which was almost but not quite too big for the mounting plate of the light to cover. But with an opening and a box that small, I couldn't get the proper connectors into the space to protect the wiring from the sharp edges on the electrical box. So I cut away the insulation from behind the electrical box, and got the box in with the proper connectors. The the only thing I'm down to, is this gap between the electrical box and the vinyl siding and light's mounting plate that I believe but not 100% sure is a code violation. I'll admit I haven't tried, but I don't think I can get the proper octagonal extender in there, but I'm at a loss for what else to use to fill this gap to code. Or since any direct line out of the box will hit vinyl, am I worried about nothing?:help:
When I was rewiring some of the recepticals in my home theater, I did the right thing and verified every plugin in the circuit was dead after turning it off at the circuit breaker using both a light and a volt meter. Unfortunately I discovered the hard way that the receptical box with the common back to the circuit breaker was also the same common for the (still live) smoke detector circuit. Different hots, same common :rant:
Moral: Be careful out there even when it was professionally built.
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