How do you straighten back square to the wall the plastic electrical boxes that the drywall crew has bent?

Question

I spent a lot of time making sure all the boxes were mounted at the exact height and that I did not hammer the nails so tightly that the boxes became angled before the drywall crew came in. But, they installed the drywall, then tried to rotozip the boxes out through the drywall. Most of the boxes are now crooked and angled because the attaching nails are bent, and when I install switches and outlets, they are all sitting at an angle coming through the cover plate since they are taking the same angle as the box. I'm hoping someone has run into this before and has a good but easy remedy. I have about 100 of these to fix in the whole house.

The electrical box that I used was Carlson Super Blue boxes.

Thanks

Answer 1

I would have the drywall installers fix this. That is part of their job and it looks as though they did a lousy one.

Answer 2

I think the folks that said have the Drywall people get it fixed have it right. If the contractor is ethical, he does not want a sloppy job. He also does not want the bad press he will get if he does not make it right. Tell him you are going to the BBB if he resists. Some Newspapers have columns about contractors and poor work.

Answer 3

The outlets and switches have play in them to have them sit plum.  There is a slot where the top and bottom screws go through.  Try to loosen these two screws and move the outlet/switch to a plum position.  If this play doesn't work, then you should have the drywall crew do the repairs.  If they don't cooperate, hire another contractor and sue in small claims court the original drywall crew for the cost of the new contractor.

Answer 4

You can take a rough cut saw blade and trim out the sheet rock on the sides of box....cut only the area that lets you lean the box in the direction to straighten out the box. Usually you only need a little trimming and the face plate will cover the sawed out area....if not use a little caulk to fill it in and replace the plug or switch plate.

Answer 5

Trim some of the rock away from the edge of the box. Then pull it level with a pair of needle nose pliers.   This happens all of the time with the rockers.

Answer 6

I believe it's called a F clip..You can find them at any hardware store. It's basically a flat piece of metal, shaped like an F, that hold the box behind the wall.  What you do is slip it between the wall and box then fold the tabs over the edge of the box to hold it back.

Very simple, I've had to do that plenty of times when I was doing electrical work.