# Elec. boxes @ the joints, how to finish these joints??



## 1/2 irish (Nov 21, 2010)

Always been a battle between the tapers & the electricians. When the electrical boxes (switches) or recepticales land at the joints to be taped who do you have protect them from the mud?? Do you have the eclectricains duct tape them so the wires don't get full of mud or do you send your laborer go around and fill them up w/ insulation before the taper shows up?? Always a battle!


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## Capt-sheetrock (Dec 11, 2009)

1/2 irish said:


> Always been a battle between the tapers & the electricians. When the electrical boxes (switches) or recepticales land at the joints to be taped who do you have protect them from the mud?? Do you have the eclectricains duct tape them so the wires don't get full of mud or do you send your laborer go around and fill them up w/ insulation before the taper shows up?? Always a battle!


 I find its easier and cheaper for me to just fill em up with mud as I run the flats.


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## mudslingr (Jul 18, 2010)

1/2 irish said:


> Always been a battle between the tapers & the electricians. When the electrical boxes (switches) or recepticales land at the joints to be taped who do you have protect them from the mud?? Do you have the eclectricains duct tape them so the wires don't get full of mud or do you send your laborer go around and fill them up w/ insulation before the taper shows up?? Always a battle!


I just fill 'em up and clean them out at the end so everyone is happy. It keeps from letting little chunks of dry mud in the box from attaching itself to your fresh stuff. If I can run tape across the box I will do that too.


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## Kiwiman (Jun 14, 2008)

I just fill them and when finishing punch it in with the broadknife handle and clean it out with my nose pickers, it comes off clean from the cable when dry.


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## smisner50s (Jan 6, 2011)

I fill em..our elect knifes um out and takes a tap to the screw holes


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## Final touch drywall (Mar 30, 2010)

If I see mud in a box, someones getting fired.I preach respect for all trades to my guys,& respect it back.


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## Checkers (Jun 25, 2010)

Final touch drywall said:


> If I see mud in a box, someones getting fired.I preach respect for all trades to my guys,& respect it back.


I clean all of mine out at the end of every job. I also keep my hand textures super clean where the baseboard goes and scrape all my windows and doorways to keep the trim guys happy!


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Final touch drywall said:


> If I see mud in a box, someones getting fired.I preach respect for all trades to my guys,& respect it back.


dont come on the job while im there. wait till i am done . presto , no mud in box.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

Checkers said:


> I clean all of mine out at the end of every job. I also keep my hand textures super clean where the baseboard goes and scrape all my windows and doorways to keep the trim guys happy!


same as checkers,except when I'm on a commercial site,I let it be known to the sparkies (electricians)to keep their damn small pieces of conduit off the floor.or they can clean them out them selves .
A little pet peeve of mine


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

Wait just a minute...I thought those big holes were _supposed _to be filled with mud!





On a more serious note, I clean 'em out at the end, unless they're those snap-in types, then I mask all those little things...or tell the electrician to do it.


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## CE Drywall (Sep 6, 2010)

clean 'em after. we cut out the mud/tape that overlaps and then suck the dust out with a shop vac. Some isulators will duct tape them if they are using spray in, and that is always nice.


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## Ozzie (Jan 20, 2011)

moore said:


> dont come on the job while im there. wait till i am done . presto , no mud in box.


Totally agree....:thumbup:

When those nongs finally realise that Plasterboard always runs accross the ceiling joists and those little patches are screws and stop making my ceiling look like a swiss cheese while they play guessing games..... Then ... maybe I'll show some respect.

On a lighter note..... I was having a few issues with an electrician on one job.... and there was a feature cedar wall with a knothole at powerpoint height.
Just before I sheeted the other side of the wall.... I nailed an offcut of his wire to a stud and poked it through.

I heard from the builder (an old mate) later..... that the sparky damn near went nuts trying to get power to it.:jester:

I'm a bad oz:whistling2:


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## cdwoodcox (Jan 3, 2011)

Always cut them out after mudding before sand & spotlight. I found on commercial jobs its always a good idea to check with sparky to make sure wires aren't live won't kill but will definately scare the hell out of you.


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## Capt-sheetrock (Dec 11, 2009)

I only vac out boxes just prior to painting. 

Reason being:
1) the more you do for other trades,,,, the less they respect you
2) the more you do for other trades,,,, the more they demand you do
3) the more you do for other trades,,,, the more they see you as just "soup kitchen" help


These aren't rules,,, just somethings I've figured out !


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

Capt-sheetrock said:


> I only vac out boxes just prior to painting.
> 
> Reason being:
> 1) the more you do for other trades,,,, the less they respect you
> ...


that's why I leave all the sanding to the painters:whistling2::jester:


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

i have never cleaned one out. i thought the sparkies liked cleaning those out.:whistling2:


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## A1rocker (Jan 8, 2011)

I always coat up to the boxes and then hand coat to finish up to them after they are dry my father told me never fill a box twenty years ago and old habits die hard


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## Axecutioner-B (May 3, 2010)

Wad up a small piece a plastic masking & throw it in the box maybe ? Remove when done maybe ? :whistling2:

I was a sparky for years. To be honest I was so used to cleaning mud out of boxes that I never thought nothing of it.
________
Justy Live


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Axecutioner-B said:


> Wad up a small piece a plastic masking & throw it in the box maybe ? Remove when done maybe ? :jester:
> 
> I was a sparky for years. To be honest I was so used to cleaning mud out of boxes I never thought nothing of it.


my dad seldom cleaned out a box. i do . sparkys sometimes are the last man out . seems like alot of trouble and mess for them to clean MY mud out of there boxes .


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## CE Drywall (Sep 6, 2010)

As a finisher it is on me to keep the mud out. What gets me is when our hangers forget/miss a can light and I have to crawl though the insulated rafters to find it.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

CE Drywall said:


> As a finisher it is on me to keep the mud out. What gets me is when our hangers forget/miss a can light and I have to crawl though the insulated rafters to find it.


man i am with you on that one. it was never a problem till the roto zip came along. i know its a must to use. [ speed] before job is staged , i take orange spray paint , dot spray all ceiling cans/ s/d /rec. switches are never a problem. if they cover a switch they know it. SPEED is reason boxes are covered . before stage i push all wires to back of boxes. [ ROTO ZIPS] USE YOUR HEAD. KNOW HOW TO USE THEM.


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## CE Drywall (Sep 6, 2010)

On some high end jobs with sound systems, or integrated computer systems, we take pictures of each room just i case. 

And yes, watch the wires. Even a nick is enough to screw up some system.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

I found two hanging crews this year , they cover no boxes, cut no wires. there great. one crew can hang 160 boards a day. 4 men . good hangers here are hard to find. even in these times.


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## Capt-sheetrock (Dec 11, 2009)

moore said:


> I found two hanging crews this year , they cover no boxes, cut no wires. there great. one crew can hang 160 boards a day. 4 men . good hangers here are hard to find. even in these times.


 As a recovering hanger,,, I'd to say that if the electriacans didn't want their wires nicked, they would push them to the back of the box. My router bit is set "short" and won't touch anything that is not STICKING OUT THE FRONT OF THE BOX.

I'm done shareing now


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

Capt-sheetrock said:


> As a recovering hanger,,, I'd to say that if the electriacans didn't want their wires nicked, they would push them to the back of the box. My router bit is set "short" and won't touch anything that is not STICKING OUT THE FRONT OF THE BOX.
> 
> I'm done shareing now


I make a point when marking my boxes to look for any wires that are sticking out and then cram them as tight as I possibly can into the back of the box with my hammer handle. The more wires that are sticking out, the more cramming I do. Voila! No nicked wires, and hopefully next time, no wires sticking out


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## muddermankc (Apr 6, 2009)

wow,this is the first time i havent agreed with most of you guys. Never have filled the boxes up with mud,and never had to be told not to,seems like common sense,i always just stopped at em and hand finished em after. Always backcharged my guys if boxes were filled. Just me though,fill em tight guys,hell tape em shut!!!!!!!!:thumbup:


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## Capt-sheetrock (Dec 11, 2009)

muddermankc said:


> wow,this is the first time i havent agreed with most of you guys. Never have filled the boxes up with mud,and never had to be told not to,seems like common sense,i always just stopped at em and hand finished em after. Always backcharged my guys if boxes were filled. Just me though,fill em tight guys,hell tape em shut!!!!!!!!:thumbup:


 I think you missed the point. Lately the sparky's have been making their jionts up and leaveing the wires that attach to the switch or recptacle hanging out the box, so that they can trim one out faster.

Once I even poked their leads out through a pieace of tape and finsihed over the box FULL. I think they failed to see the humor in it tho.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Capt-sheetrock said:


> As a recovering hanger,,, I'd to say that if the electriacans didn't want their wires nicked, they would push them to the back of the box. My router bit is set "short" and won't touch anything that is not STICKING OUT THE FRONT OF THE BOX.
> 
> I'm done shareing now


had a sparky tell me . if a wire gets cut it's his fault for not pushin the wires back far enough . i was in shock. couldn't believe he said that.


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## Capt-sheetrock (Dec 11, 2009)

another way to get their attention,,, take a pair of *****, cut the connection leads ( off the pig tail) just inside the box, leave the cut off pieaces on the floor.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

Capt-sheetrock said:


> I think you missed the point. Lately the sparky's have been making their jionts up and leaveing the wires that attach to the switch or recptacle hanging out the box, so that they can trim one out faster.
> 
> Once I even poked their leads out through a pieace of tape and finsihed over the box FULL. I think they failed to see the humor in it tho.


Stick a tuna sandwich in a box and tape over it,that one works good too,if the sparky is being a jerk:whistling2:


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

moore said:


> had a sparky tell me . if a wire gets cut it's his fault for not pushin the wires back far enough . i was in shock. couldn't believe he said that.


around my neck of the woods,the electrical code requires a 8" loop leading into any electrical box.that way if any wires are damaged,there is enough wire to pull down though the box to repair it.think the other reason for the loop in the wire is for condensation build up,moisture wont run straight into the box,just saying,maybe your code is the same


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

2buckcanuck said:


> around my neck of the woods,the electrical code requires a 8" loop leading into any electrical box.that way if any wires are damaged,there is enough wire to pull down though the box to repair it.think the other reason for the loop in the wire is for condensation build up,moisture wont run straight into the box,just saying,maybe your code is the same


 same here. do alot of work for suitcase g/cs . they see a nick on the wires they hove a cow. once in a great while hangers will nick the plastic , big deal. had a hanger cut the recpt. with keyhole saw while bottom sheet was tacked up. good hanger, but his helpers , not so good.


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## DSJOHN (Apr 5, 2010)

I mark out all outlet boxes[floor ones] with marker on the subfloor before rock comes in building-- at door leading into room ,count ceiling penetrations in that room and write the number on the jackstud[if you look at the number while hanging room,you should know if you missed any] 4' boxes get marked on top sheet along with any wire penetrations-----I am a rotozip hound--greatest drywall hanging tool invented!!!!


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## Mario (Feb 5, 2011)

I do commercial work here in Norther California. %99 of our work is smooth wall, Consisting of mostly lever 4 finishes and level 5 on areas that get harsh light or gloss/eggshell paint. Any boxes that are missed/over cut by our rockers are hand finished 3x's (top, skim and prep coat) We ALWAYS clean boxes as we go. I wouldn't be caught dead leaving mud in boxes, even if the sparkies on the job are assholes. If they rip out your dry mud, in an attempt to clean their own box, and leave a gap in the finishes swiitch/outlet... we get the call... and the blame. 

We care about our work and our finished product shows.


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## betterdrywall (May 4, 2010)

I had a bad sparkie once,, was on a big commercial project years back,, this guy was a jerk,, causing me all kinds of problems,, wires sticking out all over,, plus he was always behind on his work, Anyway, he was being a smart azz one day, Pissed me off big time,, I had a 30 foot wall to finish out and I had to wait on him ,, ,when he was done,, I filled every box there was up high with mud and TAPE I made sure the tape had plenty of mud on both sides stuffed it into the boxes until they were filled,, then I taped and coated completely over the boxes,, Smooth as a babies butt, These were about 25 ft up.. all scaffold work no lift,, due to the area.. Pay back is Hell.. That was my last room to finish,, so I was off to the next job after I was done.. never seen that sparkie again,, and He was terrible.. I think some of you guys would have just knocked his lights out..


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