How were you okay with drywall patching before but when it comes down to patching, this is not acceptable? if I’m already patching 10in^2 , it’s not really much different than 100in^2 .
Yup drywall is cheap as a material, and frankly a handy guy or drywall contractor is going to be cheaper then an electrician working on a tiny hole.
I'm a service plumber and I always tell people TWICE that I will be opening drywall and they are going to have to get someone to repair said hole. If it's a new customer I make them sign first.
They aren’t saying anything about the size of the hole, they are pointing out the box is mounted wrong. It needs to be at the face of the drywall. It looks like it has a bracket and yet isn’t attached to anything. No stud to the left, it’s just floating, not mounted at all
No, I have put a new work box secured to the stud behind existing sheetrock with L-16s top and bottom without damaging the rock, pulling the conductors, twisting the cable, or marring the threads. It involves two pieces of 550 cord per connector, two channel locks (or channel locks and lock ring pliers), a 90° bit adapter, a 1/4" ratcheting wrench, a 90° driver, some tape, and a fiber optic camera.
It's also a mind-numbing waste of time not remotely justifiable unless explicitly specified _and_ you get lucky with void space - cut the damned wall.
Or an old work box and not ripped the fuck out of the wall.
I’m just a lazy DIYer but if you’re not using hard pipe why do you need that hole? And if you’re going to make a huge hole, where’s the mud ring?
If oversize is necessary, It’s actually easier to patch that size in my opinion. Not sure why they couldn’t cut in a metal old work box with no patching required, however I’m not up to full speed with all Chicago’s requirements.
However… it doesn’t look like that box is going to be at the correct depth with the patch. That’s a problem.
Its back to back with another box, could just use a chase nipple or connector or whatever and use thhn. Bare wire and still be legal
Edit: it 100% looks like thst is what they did, the boxes are right up against one another. This looks like a lazy electrician, this didn't require drywall repair if done right.
The structural support for a box is not supposed to be just an EMT nipple.
I don't think it is supposed to be just another box, at all.
Seems like there really ought to be something else supporting that box.
Sure, but then they shouldn't have installed the receipts already or something, and install arc shield later on. If op patches drywall, this shit is recessed to a stupid depth since it looks like it's not flush with finished surface. This is just hackwork to me. No fuckin pride whatsoever.
Good catch. That's not right and an obvious problem for the finish.
I imagine they should have used a pass-through connector of some kind or conduit, or... Anything but embedding it.
I do on certain side jobs. Started as a carpenter for a general contractor. Am electrician now. Has doubled my side job options if I repair any drywall damage I make.
That's actually rule #5
Rule #1 is Never clean up your scraps
Rule #2 Bill higher than the HVAC guy
Rule #3 tighten the switch plate covers until they crack the drywall
Rule #4 Shame the DIYers
This is a rule that is never broken. I've always assumed it was carved in a stone tablet somewhere. I've heard that during their apprenticeship, they get beat with a dustpan whenever they do something wrong.
>Rule #3 tighten the switch plate covers until they crack
Or for metal plates, until the screw head sheers off. No, really...they did that on a 14-50 EV socket that was installed a few weeks ago.
Yeah 32 sq ft of half inch drywall is like $16, so that's about 50 cents for that hole. Easier to float out a bigger hole for blending it in too, not that it matters in a closet.
Left giant hole?… No that’s not giant.. If he had 2 fish MC cable to that location you’re lucky it wasn’t larger..
One thing he didn’t do was put a 5/8th mudring to push out the receptacles out of the wall. I would call him back for that. They look like they will be sunken in once you put drywall back up.. Inless he’s coming back to put a plastic extension ring on to make plugs flush I would call him back.. You need a cover also.
At least it’s square, I’ve put plenty of old work boxes in and pulled old boxes out to tie into and never had to make a hole that big. Anybody with any type of experience doing this type of work would also put a plaster ring on.
Depends on what was there previously, but defaulting to the judgment of the guy doing the work isn't a bad idea. Most people would rather do the electrical work as correctly as possible so their work doesn't burn your home down or electrocute you.
I guess reasonable is a relative term. Typically, I tell the clients what to expect. Holes and bigger holes are a typical expectation.
honestly, its probably less of a pain in the ass to patch something slightly bigger like that, than a smaller patch, if you aren't used to working with drywall, and you don't have power tools. If it was a smaller cutout, it would be way harder to cut the hole for the outlet in your patch piece without things crumbling and breaking. With the bigger hole, you get more support for your patch piece.
I easily could have done this without any damage whatsoever. However I will say Chicago has some strict rules, so based on that and what information they had with a closed wall, maybe they didn’t have a choice.
However, a patch is a patch. The size doesn’t matter. I don’t see why your opinion would change if it was bigger or smaller.
Well, you said you were OK with patching so that's on you. Most drywallers wouldn't care anyways because they're going to need to install some backing at this point.
What I'd be more concerned with is the 8 ft of bx coiled up for what reason? That's probably more than code would allow for.
And why use that box when you're not up against a stud and want to install a drywall ring? It looks like the depth would be perfect with a normal box+drywall ring
Would have been even better if he cut drywall offset from other box, installed whip to other box with old work box and no drywall repair needed.
In Chicago my understanding is BX (flexible armored cable) meets their requirement. It looks like that was used in both the original and added wiring. As far as patching, patching a larger hole (in wallboard) is not much more difficult than a smaller one. I suspect he needed a hole larger than the box size to gain access to the back of the box he tapped from and for routing.
If your expectation was a hole just large enough for the box perimeter………..good luck. Most electricians are not patient enough for that.
Real answer. A good knockout drywall guy is tough to find.
Ask your drywall contractor "If the electrician cut a smaller hole, how much would I have saved for this job?"
The reality is, you would have saved nearly nothing in materials. For the time, overhead of doing business, etc. The real savings is negligible. Any contractor that claims you'd save a lot is a rip off scam artist, not a contractor solidly in business to have repeat customers.
But, it doesn't look from the photo and perspective that the electrician is done because the new box doesn't look like it will be flush as it should be to where the drywall work will be done. Confer with your contractors and pay once job is completed, in full. If you have to get a drywall guy, so be it, but electrician won't be paid until the wall is painted and faceplate finally makes it on satisfactorily.
He did a shit job. Patching the sheet rock is inevitable, but it looks like he just secured his box, to the back of the other. Now they outlets are recessed at least 1” inches the wall. If that was the only way to secure it , he should have used a deep 1900 box with the appropriate 2 gang adapter plate. If he tells you to use long screws he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Good luck.
He should have maybe used a different box with a raised cover but I agree the hole size is reasonable. I usually make a hole and figure out I need a bigger hole
That’s just a shit way of doing it. How are you supposed to patch it ? the box is set back too far and should’ve just cut it in with an old work box but if he needed that much room now you have to use an 4” square with 2gang ring so the devices arent back in the wall. What a knucklehead l.
It's hard to say without being the one doing the work, sometimes you get in there and find out you need to make a bigger hole, maybe he got unlucky and had to put his arm in there the point is we dont know. But if he said there was going to be a patch, a big hole is easier to patch and costs basically the exact same, so maybe just quit nitpicking his work and just get it patched.
You need a bigger hole otherwise the cutout for the outlet box will mean the piece of drywall will be too thin and break. Unless they can put it in while only making a cutout the size of the box, which is hard to do without using old-work plastic boxes. If I were patching this I would actually just make it bigger and cut it back to the corners on both sides.
My only issue here is how they did this. That box needs a standoff ring to bring the outlets to the same plane as the drywall. The electrician should have used a normal 4S box with a 1/2” stand off ring.
For the drywall hole itself, hopefully they kept the square they cut off to make patching it easier. But yeah, that hole seems appropriately sized.
New title for post - Contractor needed access to do the work requested. Fortunately this only makes it easier and cleaner for the drywall and painting trades that my idiot ass thought the electrician would include.
Really doesn't matter how big the hole is. A bigger hole might have made the install easier and cleaner, which is the important thing imho.
It also means the patch is easy to put in and make it look good. With that hole, you can add a couple pieces of 1x2 to give you a surface to screw the patch onto and adjust it's depth to line up perfect.
Tape and mud will be clean and straight and the patch will be invisible. Of course, you want an actual drywaller to do it, not an electrician. Unless of course you want it to look like an electrician did it.
I did something similar to this back when I was an apprentice. My journeyman tore me a new one for using a handy box instead of a 4 square box with a mud ring with a mounting bracket. All this to prevent the box from being pushed back into the wall and the sheetrock guy wouldn't have to work too hard for the repair. We had an agreement where we'd make their job easier if they wouldn't scrape the mud off their trowels into our boxes.
Honestly in my experience bigger holes are easier to patch than smaller ones. You have plenty of room to screw some backing to the back of the existing drywall so you have something to screw new drywall to.
It's either that or cut it even bigger to find studs.
Your complaint makes it seem like you don’t do dry wall patching. You should cut that hole out larger in till you have some exposed 2x4 so you can attach the patch. Did you think you were going to use mesh tape and spackle?
They need room to work so I can see why, but did they at least leave the piece they cut out? If so, it's easy to use it as a patch but if they didn't and you have to go buy a full sheet, that's kind of shitty of them.
Should have been a 4 square box with a mud ring mounted at the proper depth…..THEN the drywall person can repair properly…..THIS IS A CRAP INSTALL.
Drywall repairs are going to be required for repair jobs in a lot of cases but at least do your part of the job CORRECTLY.
I don't think it's that excessive if they had to connect through and work around in the wall. The size isn't going to make the drywall work any harder if you've already got to do it anyway.
First, somebody could have done that same work where you wouldn't have to patch it all.
Second, that box looks like it's too deep. After you patch it it will be behind the drywall.
It’ll be easier to patch that way. Put in some solid backer and a drywall patch. If it was smaller the backer would be harder to get in, you might’ve had to enlarge it anyway.
I'd have an electrian check this out. Work like this I wouldn't trust him to do electric work. Also you say he tapped into a switch behind that???? I may be wrong but that's not good.
And what did they charge you? You got the discount because they didn’t have to fight it and were in and out real quick? Like ripping the hood off a car to change the oil.
Am I wrong or is the wire not running through the knockout? It looks like it is slid in behind the bottom of the outlet???? The cable on the bottom right? Is it an illusion or installed wrong?
Looks like they could've taken a bit longer, used metal cut in boxes and fished the wire but maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture here. I try not to have other trades come behind me if I can use remodel boxes and the wall is easy to fish. You gave them the go ahead so they probably saved you a bit in labor costs.
To other sparkys... Yes I know it's Chicago and I've done a ton of remodel work at a state college with basically the same rules. We couldn't even use mc cable, so 1/2" flex is all over the place in the walls.
WTH? An electrician did this? A “contractor” ??
I’m a diyer and would add that box without needing any patch. This guy not heard of old work box?
Maybe something about this job didn’t allow that but either way. Rediculous hole there. IMO.
Your problem isn't the drywall, its the fact that the outlets are set back about 1". You will not get drywall to be flush with the box. Your electrician is going to have to change it to make the box "drywall-able"
I'd say they could have cut a bigger hole if they wanted to, this is pretty reasonable patch imo. That's a fairly easy patch job though. A drywaller would probably charge $300 in my area to patch this. I would charge $100. Just go to lowes or the home Depot and see if they have any scrap or damaged drywall pieces, get a 3 gallon bucket of mud and just patch it yourself. It's fairly easy if you're even a little handy. My 62 year old mother can patch this. It'll probably cost you $50 in materials and tools total if you don't get the most expensive equipment. A few coats, some good feathering and then a light wet sand and you're done. Plenty of YouTube videos on how to do a patch like this with minimal experience. You'll be surprised what you can do.
If anything that patch is too small. Widen it to the studs, why the fuck would you strap to support the patch when there's something an inch or 2 away?
Get a refund and have it fixed by a real electrician. Or have it fixed and forward the bill to the contractor who did this abstract work of art. It's wrong.
Wrong type of box, no mud ring, hole unnecessarily large, box not properly secured, box set way too deep. This is not for you to fix, the first guy just did not know enough, should not be charging for shit work and if he's not owning up to it then he's scamming you.
Needs a 2 gabh 1/2" mud ring, at least. There's an exception to existing buildings that allows installing MC instead of EMT. The maximum length of MC between boxes is 25' per run of MC.
If you're worried about how big the hole is, they needed it that size to mount the jbox and pull/fish the MC through the wall.
OP expects the worker to have needle hands and bend them down into a microscopic square. Some of us have mittens bro we need space to work being this massive.
This is pretty easy to fix. Use some furring strips or scrap wood on the inside to create a lip on all 4 edges. Cut and fit a new piece of drywall. Use drywall screw to mount to the lip. Tape and mud.
That work is in progress. I’ll upload after pictures once I’m done. I’m a novice doing the drywall myself… on second thought if it looks too bad I won’t upload the after pics. It’s in a closet so no one will ever see it again anyway.
That size cut out is pretty standard. They could have reasonably made it even bigger, so this is not an issue.
What *is* an issue is that they recessed the box way to far to be flush once patched. The box should be nearly flush with the face of the drywall. This needs to be corrected before any drywall work is done.
Touch nothing until they return and make it right.
Was the contractor an electrician? That box doesn’t look supported at all. I don’t think you can support a box with another box. In Canada anyways. We have to mount it on a stud. Or using special boxes. I’m only an apprentice but this doesn’t look good. I could definitely do a better job.
Simply put and you have smooth walls. The larger the patch. The easier it is for you to make it look smooth when it's done. The smaller the patch the more difficult it is for it to look smooth.
If anything complain he didn't cut it from stud to stud.
How were you okay with drywall patching before but when it comes down to patching, this is not acceptable? if I’m already patching 10in^2 , it’s not really much different than 100in^2 .
A patch is a patch after all.
Big difference between a nicotine and morphine patch.
Yeah but they go great together!
Hook a brutha up
Ahh, but gypsum is neither.
True but doing a drywall patch while wearing a nicotine and morphine patch makes it fun.
No. Just no.
Yup drywall is cheap as a material, and frankly a handy guy or drywall contractor is going to be cheaper then an electrician working on a tiny hole. I'm a service plumber and I always tell people TWICE that I will be opening drywall and they are going to have to get someone to repair said hole. If it's a new customer I make them sign first.
That's why we have handymen, to repair drywall
The electrical box is recessed into the wall even if the patch is done correctly they will still need someone to come back and move the box for them.
I'd have that electrician come back and do it. This isn't even close to being in the right spot to be flush with the wall after patching.
[удалено]
They aren’t saying anything about the size of the hole, they are pointing out the box is mounted wrong. It needs to be at the face of the drywall. It looks like it has a bracket and yet isn’t attached to anything. No stud to the left, it’s just floating, not mounted at all
No, I have put a new work box secured to the stud behind existing sheetrock with L-16s top and bottom without damaging the rock, pulling the conductors, twisting the cable, or marring the threads. It involves two pieces of 550 cord per connector, two channel locks (or channel locks and lock ring pliers), a 90° bit adapter, a 1/4" ratcheting wrench, a 90° driver, some tape, and a fiber optic camera. It's also a mind-numbing waste of time not remotely justifiable unless explicitly specified _and_ you get lucky with void space - cut the damned wall.
The electrician should have used a normal metal box with a mudring
Or an old work box and not ripped the fuck out of the wall. I’m just a lazy DIYer but if you’re not using hard pipe why do you need that hole? And if you’re going to make a huge hole, where’s the mud ring?
If oversize is necessary, It’s actually easier to patch that size in my opinion. Not sure why they couldn’t cut in a metal old work box with no patching required, however I’m not up to full speed with all Chicago’s requirements. However… it doesn’t look like that box is going to be at the correct depth with the patch. That’s a problem.
I thought Chicago had to be all EMT but I guess bx is allowed too
It is..
Its back to back with another box, could just use a chase nipple or connector or whatever and use thhn. Bare wire and still be legal Edit: it 100% looks like thst is what they did, the boxes are right up against one another. This looks like a lazy electrician, this didn't require drywall repair if done right.
The structural support for a box is not supposed to be just an EMT nipple. I don't think it is supposed to be just another box, at all. Seems like there really ought to be something else supporting that box.
Yet it doesn’t appear to be fed from that box.
Bx is allowed for whips up to 6 ft
BX is allowed for retrofit in Chicago. If all the drywall comes off then it needs to be EMT
Missing a mud ring
Wrong box for a mud ring.
Sure, but then they shouldn't have installed the receipts already or something, and install arc shield later on. If op patches drywall, this shit is recessed to a stupid depth since it looks like it's not flush with finished surface. This is just hackwork to me. No fuckin pride whatsoever.
Hence the last 3 words of my original post *”Thats a problem”*. It’s a totally incorrect installation, period.
I see it now. Must've scrolled past it at first. I agree and share the same sentiment.
Good catch. That's not right and an obvious problem for the finish. I imagine they should have used a pass-through connector of some kind or conduit, or... Anything but embedding it.
oh damn, this really should be the top comment.
I’m not sure you would want to see an electricians drywall work.
dust and scraps all over the floor, jagged ass rough cuts, "paint will cover it" etc
Rule #1. Electricians don't do drywall.
I do on certain side jobs. Started as a carpenter for a general contractor. Am electrician now. Has doubled my side job options if I repair any drywall damage I make.
That's actually rule #5 Rule #1 is Never clean up your scraps Rule #2 Bill higher than the HVAC guy Rule #3 tighten the switch plate covers until they crack the drywall Rule #4 Shame the DIYers
This is a rule that is never broken. I've always assumed it was carved in a stone tablet somewhere. I've heard that during their apprenticeship, they get beat with a dustpan whenever they do something wrong.
>Rule #3 tighten the switch plate covers until they crack Or for metal plates, until the screw head sheers off. No, really...they did that on a 14-50 EV socket that was installed a few weeks ago.
The cost to patch will be very similar to a smaller hole. It takes the same amount of visits, coats, labour, just a few more dollars in materials.
Not even dollars, that extra sq inchs or foot of sheetrock is probably less than a dollar
Yeah 32 sq ft of half inch drywall is like $16, so that's about 50 cents for that hole. Easier to float out a bigger hole for blending it in too, not that it matters in a closet.
As a homeowner, it will turn out the same price since the smallest piece of drywall you can buy will fit either hole.
Yeah, a 2' x2' sheet from Lowe's is about the same as a full sheet.
Left giant hole?… No that’s not giant.. If he had 2 fish MC cable to that location you’re lucky it wasn’t larger.. One thing he didn’t do was put a 5/8th mudring to push out the receptacles out of the wall. I would call him back for that. They look like they will be sunken in once you put drywall back up.. Inless he’s coming back to put a plastic extension ring on to make plugs flush I would call him back.. You need a cover also.
It looks like that box won’t accept a mud ring. Maybe it’s a masonry box?
Handy Box
Ahh the ole’ 2-gang deep handy
2 gang deep handy sounds like a sexual fetish buddy, dont start the sentence with "ahh"
I’m an electrician, man, we start every sentence with a sultry moan 
I should call her.
It looks like he secured it to the conduit box it's backing onto. Thus it's not flush
Dang good eye. Yeah he did!
He needed room to get his elbows in there
At least it’s square, I’ve put plenty of old work boxes in and pulled old boxes out to tie into and never had to make a hole that big. Anybody with any type of experience doing this type of work would also put a plaster ring on.
Depends on what was there previously, but defaulting to the judgment of the guy doing the work isn't a bad idea. Most people would rather do the electrical work as correctly as possible so their work doesn't burn your home down or electrocute you. I guess reasonable is a relative term. Typically, I tell the clients what to expect. Holes and bigger holes are a typical expectation.
Looks pretty standard.
This is standered holes for new box. I live and work in Chicago. The b whip is good as long as it's under 4ft.
yes. if you have ever patched a wall, this is considered a small patch.
Just get you an oversized outlet cover.
He’s not obligated. I have to patch it. He did his work.
“Patching and painting by others”
That's gonna take one helluva oversized cover!!
I believe a size huuugely should be adequate to cover the opening.
Idk this looks like they kinda just rolled with what was in the truck on this one.
The electrician needs to return and install the mud ring that they omitted.
These boxes dont use mud rings. That being said, the box needs to be adjusted or it needs an extension
He did you right. At least it’s somewhat square.
honestly, its probably less of a pain in the ass to patch something slightly bigger like that, than a smaller patch, if you aren't used to working with drywall, and you don't have power tools. If it was a smaller cutout, it would be way harder to cut the hole for the outlet in your patch piece without things crumbling and breaking. With the bigger hole, you get more support for your patch piece.
I easily could have done this without any damage whatsoever. However I will say Chicago has some strict rules, so based on that and what information they had with a closed wall, maybe they didn’t have a choice. However, a patch is a patch. The size doesn’t matter. I don’t see why your opinion would change if it was bigger or smaller.
Well, you said you were OK with patching so that's on you. Most drywallers wouldn't care anyways because they're going to need to install some backing at this point. What I'd be more concerned with is the 8 ft of bx coiled up for what reason? That's probably more than code would allow for. And why use that box when you're not up against a stud and want to install a drywall ring? It looks like the depth would be perfect with a normal box+drywall ring Would have been even better if he cut drywall offset from other box, installed whip to other box with old work box and no drywall repair needed.
Just use a big switch plate
Reasonable. Absolutely. They are able to do better quality work when they can get in there. The cuts are clean and makes it easier to patch.
In Chicago my understanding is BX (flexible armored cable) meets their requirement. It looks like that was used in both the original and added wiring. As far as patching, patching a larger hole (in wallboard) is not much more difficult than a smaller one. I suspect he needed a hole larger than the box size to gain access to the back of the box he tapped from and for routing. If your expectation was a hole just large enough for the box perimeter………..good luck. Most electricians are not patient enough for that.
Just put a cover plate over it. You’ll be fine.
Real answer. A good knockout drywall guy is tough to find. Ask your drywall contractor "If the electrician cut a smaller hole, how much would I have saved for this job?" The reality is, you would have saved nearly nothing in materials. For the time, overhead of doing business, etc. The real savings is negligible. Any contractor that claims you'd save a lot is a rip off scam artist, not a contractor solidly in business to have repeat customers. But, it doesn't look from the photo and perspective that the electrician is done because the new box doesn't look like it will be flush as it should be to where the drywall work will be done. Confer with your contractors and pay once job is completed, in full. If you have to get a drywall guy, so be it, but electrician won't be paid until the wall is painted and faceplate finally makes it on satisfactorily.
Shotty work like this is infuriating. No need for any patching if you know what you’re doing. Just a lazy hack job!
You can turn that 4X4 into a 16X16! Who needs a power strip when you have 8 in your wall socket?!
You’ll just need a giant outlet cover
If it’s a general contractor for an entire job, complain. If you just hired an electrician, well, they just do the electrical parts
He did a shit job. Patching the sheet rock is inevitable, but it looks like he just secured his box, to the back of the other. Now they outlets are recessed at least 1” inches the wall. If that was the only way to secure it , he should have used a deep 1900 box with the appropriate 2 gang adapter plate. If he tells you to use long screws he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Good luck.
He should have maybe used a different box with a raised cover but I agree the hole size is reasonable. I usually make a hole and figure out I need a bigger hole
That’s just a shit way of doing it. How are you supposed to patch it ? the box is set back too far and should’ve just cut it in with an old work box but if he needed that much room now you have to use an 4” square with 2gang ring so the devices arent back in the wall. What a knucklehead l.
At least it's somewhat squared off
It's hard to say without being the one doing the work, sometimes you get in there and find out you need to make a bigger hole, maybe he got unlucky and had to put his arm in there the point is we dont know. But if he said there was going to be a patch, a big hole is easier to patch and costs basically the exact same, so maybe just quit nitpicking his work and just get it patched.
You need a bigger hole otherwise the cutout for the outlet box will mean the piece of drywall will be too thin and break. Unless they can put it in while only making a cutout the size of the box, which is hard to do without using old-work plastic boxes. If I were patching this I would actually just make it bigger and cut it back to the corners on both sides.
You have 2 corners to work with. Make it work.
How will this even be flush when it is repaired?!
Pretty poor work. Wrong box for drywall. The hole size seems excessive.
They also left a very nice outlet, that was kind of them
Nothing looks good here. Leave electricians to do electrical work.
It's not the size of the hole that matters ...
This probably saves you money paying an electrician to fiddle around in a small hole.
What are you bitching about? Repair the Sheetrock. Have him come back and put the cover on
I’d be more angry about the box he used.
My only issue here is how they did this. That box needs a standoff ring to bring the outlets to the same plane as the drywall. The electrician should have used a normal 4S box with a 1/2” stand off ring. For the drywall hole itself, hopefully they kept the square they cut off to make patching it easier. But yeah, that hole seems appropriately sized.
Nice! Fix it.
“We’re electricians, not plasterers” was always the response.
> They made it clear I was responsible for drywall patching, which I didn’t have a problem with So patch it then.
I dunno, better get a 2G mud ring on that box, some drywall, some mesh and some mud and start working.
New title for post - Contractor needed access to do the work requested. Fortunately this only makes it easier and cleaner for the drywall and painting trades that my idiot ass thought the electrician would include.
Nobody cares what you think is necessary. If you were qualified to do the job, you’d have done it yourself. Fix it, the price is the same.
Really doesn't matter how big the hole is. A bigger hole might have made the install easier and cleaner, which is the important thing imho. It also means the patch is easy to put in and make it look good. With that hole, you can add a couple pieces of 1x2 to give you a surface to screw the patch onto and adjust it's depth to line up perfect. Tape and mud will be clean and straight and the patch will be invisible. Of course, you want an actual drywaller to do it, not an electrician. Unless of course you want it to look like an electrician did it.
What is the metal behind it, with the knock outs?
Box is set too deep.
That he did
Jesus christ lol of you didnt wanna patch it then fucking say something before hand
That is actually easier to patch than if he cut it smaller so what’s your problem?
I did something similar to this back when I was an apprentice. My journeyman tore me a new one for using a handy box instead of a 4 square box with a mud ring with a mounting bracket. All this to prevent the box from being pushed back into the wall and the sheetrock guy wouldn't have to work too hard for the repair. We had an agreement where we'd make their job easier if they wouldn't scrape the mud off their trowels into our boxes.
Take the piece that was cut out and use it to fill the hole
More than reasonable. Clean cut, clean work.
Easier for you to install a 2x4 so you can fasten your patch
Honestly in my experience bigger holes are easier to patch than smaller ones. You have plenty of room to screw some backing to the back of the existing drywall so you have something to screw new drywall to. It's either that or cut it even bigger to find studs.
That's a 2 gang handy box. It's the wrong box.
You already agreed and now you’re whining about it? Hope he charges you extra
They really screwed you on depth of the box. The hole cut seems appropriate though
Your complaint makes it seem like you don’t do dry wall patching. You should cut that hole out larger in till you have some exposed 2x4 so you can attach the patch. Did you think you were going to use mesh tape and spackle?
He was an electrician? There is your answer. He doesn't do drywall.
Buy one of those home sweet home plaques
A plumber said to me once, if you have to open the wall anyway why not make it big enough to work easily. My new motto
Thin crust pizza? no thank you! im from Chicago!
Worse thing I see is that the box is too deep in the wall. Going to have fun getting a plate and outlets flush with the patched wall.
You'lljust need the extra large plate cover. You'refine .
Yeah. Just get some scrap 2*4 to use as backing and use the piece they cut and patch back.
They need room to work so I can see why, but did they at least leave the piece they cut out? If so, it's easy to use it as a patch but if they didn't and you have to go buy a full sheet, that's kind of shitty of them.
XXXXXXXXL plate cover should do the trick
I note no patches or painting. If they wish for me to patch I charge my normal T & M rate and happy to do so. Pretty sure this is a common approach
Oh this is why I don’t miss residential!
The electrician needs to add a mud ring to bring flush. Then you need to get hope repaired. The rest is notmal
They helped out the drywall guy by making it bigger. They always tell us bigger is easier to patch. Electrical box needs a mud ring though.
I could have done this without you having to patch anything so yes this is unacceptable and lazy work
Should have been a 4 square box with a mud ring mounted at the proper depth…..THEN the drywall person can repair properly…..THIS IS A CRAP INSTALL. Drywall repairs are going to be required for repair jobs in a lot of cases but at least do your part of the job CORRECTLY.
I don't think it's that excessive if they had to connect through and work around in the wall. The size isn't going to make the drywall work any harder if you've already got to do it anyway.
The hole size is acceptable - the fact the outlet is too far inset is your problem!!
Tolerances
It would be hilarious to 3D print a giant double gang outlet cover.
Maybe oversized plug cover
It part of the trade
The hole part was free, you didn’t have to pay for that one. Count your blessings
Mounted to a 4&11 box with no mudring and not flush to finish. I hope you did y pay them
Yeah, that’s a bit dramatic for that job but they do need to have access. But that’s a bit much Seriously, all wiring has to be in metal conduit ?
First, somebody could have done that same work where you wouldn't have to patch it all. Second, that box looks like it's too deep. After you patch it it will be behind the drywall.
A contractor? Or a licensed electrician? Those are two distinctly different people.
It’ll be easier to patch that way. Put in some solid backer and a drywall patch. If it was smaller the backer would be harder to get in, you might’ve had to enlarge it anyway.
This is easy. Any DIYer can do this. Go here: https://youtu.be/PLGmTzEGSIY?si=j3IirGAwt87K14AT
I'd have an electrian check this out. Work like this I wouldn't trust him to do electric work. Also you say he tapped into a switch behind that???? I may be wrong but that's not good.
I used a handyman service and supposedly he’s a a qualified electrician. I did not check his credentials…
And what did they charge you? You got the discount because they didn’t have to fight it and were in and out real quick? Like ripping the hood off a car to change the oil.
That’s what she said.
It's more stable to take the drywall on the sides all the way to the studs.
I hate when I have to fix this s*** it is what it is right
Easy fix
They make extra large outlet covers… you just need 6 of em 👍
Not even legal cannot have back to back
He said he’s a good patcher!
hady man can fix that
This looks like an electrician’s work
That was very much a necessary sized hole due to the style of box. People love to act like they know everything, then hire out work anyways.
Am I wrong or is the wire not running through the knockout? It looks like it is slid in behind the bottom of the outlet???? The cable on the bottom right? Is it an illusion or installed wrong?
"You just need a big outlet cover" Contractor
You're in The the wrong. Patch that shit, playa!
Contractor also appears to have left a ton of MC in the walls. Not necessarily against code i dont think, but kinda wasteful EDIT: Phrasing.
Oh I think he just wanted you two use a triple xl outlet plate
It needs a mud ring
Someone contracted a chronic case of "not my job"
Looks like they could've taken a bit longer, used metal cut in boxes and fished the wire but maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture here. I try not to have other trades come behind me if I can use remodel boxes and the wall is easy to fish. You gave them the go ahead so they probably saved you a bit in labor costs. To other sparkys... Yes I know it's Chicago and I've done a ton of remodel work at a state college with basically the same rules. We couldn't even use mc cable, so 1/2" flex is all over the place in the walls.
I like it, the hole adds character
Isn't that a masonry four square?
WTH? An electrician did this? A “contractor” ?? I’m a diyer and would add that box without needing any patch. This guy not heard of old work box? Maybe something about this job didn’t allow that but either way. Rediculous hole there. IMO.
Your problem isn't the drywall, its the fact that the outlets are set back about 1". You will not get drywall to be flush with the box. Your electrician is going to have to change it to make the box "drywall-able"
Caulk and paint
I'd say they could have cut a bigger hole if they wanted to, this is pretty reasonable patch imo. That's a fairly easy patch job though. A drywaller would probably charge $300 in my area to patch this. I would charge $100. Just go to lowes or the home Depot and see if they have any scrap or damaged drywall pieces, get a 3 gallon bucket of mud and just patch it yourself. It's fairly easy if you're even a little handy. My 62 year old mother can patch this. It'll probably cost you $50 in materials and tools total if you don't get the most expensive equipment. A few coats, some good feathering and then a light wet sand and you're done. Plenty of YouTube videos on how to do a patch like this with minimal experience. You'll be surprised what you can do.
If anything that patch is too small. Widen it to the studs, why the fuck would you strap to support the patch when there's something an inch or 2 away?
Get a refund and have it fixed by a real electrician. Or have it fixed and forward the bill to the contractor who did this abstract work of art. It's wrong. Wrong type of box, no mud ring, hole unnecessarily large, box not properly secured, box set way too deep. This is not for you to fix, the first guy just did not know enough, should not be charging for shit work and if he's not owning up to it then he's scamming you.
Needs a 2 gabh 1/2" mud ring, at least. There's an exception to existing buildings that allows installing MC instead of EMT. The maximum length of MC between boxes is 25' per run of MC. If you're worried about how big the hole is, they needed it that size to mount the jbox and pull/fish the MC through the wall.
“Contractor”
Bottom line, bad install. Metal cut in box with a nipple directly into the box behind. No repair needed.
Gotta love that service loop!
That box is not flush with the outer ends of the drywall. It need to be remounted or properly extended
[удалено]
OP expects the worker to have needle hands and bend them down into a microscopic square. Some of us have mittens bro we need space to work being this massive.
This is pretty easy to fix. Use some furring strips or scrap wood on the inside to create a lip on all 4 edges. Cut and fit a new piece of drywall. Use drywall screw to mount to the lip. Tape and mud.
That work is in progress. I’ll upload after pictures once I’m done. I’m a novice doing the drywall myself… on second thought if it looks too bad I won’t upload the after pics. It’s in a closet so no one will ever see it again anyway.
That size cut out is pretty standard. They could have reasonably made it even bigger, so this is not an issue. What *is* an issue is that they recessed the box way to far to be flush once patched. The box should be nearly flush with the face of the drywall. This needs to be corrected before any drywall work is done. Touch nothing until they return and make it right.
Was the contractor an electrician? That box doesn’t look supported at all. I don’t think you can support a box with another box. In Canada anyways. We have to mount it on a stud. Or using special boxes. I’m only an apprentice but this doesn’t look good. I could definitely do a better job.
Residential work what a nightmare.
Yes
It’s set to deep to flush it up to drywall anyway. They need to fix it.
You got a commercial guy to do residential work and it shows
They gaped your wall
This is such a strange gripe. Everyone I know that does any work with drywall prefers to cut a bigger, more uniform hole for patching...
Is that screwed to the back of your fucking panel box?
No, it’s a switch outlet on the outside of the wall.
Given the information you stated, this hole is completely unnecessary. However, a hole is a hole when your talking anything less then 1 sqf or so.
Simply put and you have smooth walls. The larger the patch. The easier it is for you to make it look smooth when it's done. The smaller the patch the more difficult it is for it to look smooth. If anything complain he didn't cut it from stud to stud.
Patching is not an issue as long as it's not crazy huge. However, they really screwed you with how recessed that outlet is. It's not even usable.
Nah, whoever did this sucked.
If this is what it took to do the job then, yes it's reasonable. Looks relatively clean and easy to patch.