OLD WORK BOX

The process of fixing up an old house is appealing to many people and has become a popular way for people to make a little money while doing something they enjoy. For many people the appeal of buying an older home to fix up is that it is much cheaper than buying a newer home that is in perfect condition. There are a lot of different things you need to know in order to make an informed decision when considering the purchase of an older home to renovate. One of the most common issues to be addressed in these homes is the electrical wiring. Since there have been so many advances and changes in this field over the last few decades this can end up being a major project. Thankfully there are some products that can make the process a bit easier. For example, Allied Moulded makes a product that is called an old work box and this enables an installer to easily replace older, out of date electrical outlets. This product can save you a lot of time as they are designed to be installed after the finished wall has been installed, unlike conventional single gang boxes which are installed on the framing before a finished wall surface is in place.

An old work box can be configured in a number of ways to be installed in just about any type of situation over most any wall surface. You will want to look into the existing wall surface that you have and choose the model of old work box that fits best with what you have. The old work box installation process is quite simple and requires that a hole be cut into the wall to accommodate the box, unless one already exists. After the hole is in place you will need to feed the wire through the box and secure it with the clamping device included. At this point you simply slide the old work box into place and then secure it using whatever type of fastener is included.

One type of the old work box models utilizes what is called a snap bracket which slides through the hole you have cut into the wall surface and once it passes by the wall material it expands outward and locks into place. At this point you will simply need to tighten the snap bracket screw found in the bottom of the box and this completes the process. The old work box in this situation is secured by the pressure from the snap bracket and the screw in the bottom of the box. Another type of old work box installation relies upon what is called wing brackets. These brackets lay flat on the top and bottom of the box when installed and after the box is placed in the hole you have made, you simply tighten the screws which control the wing brackets. This causes the brackets to move into place and secure the box to the backside of the wall surface. At this point you simply tighten two screws found on the front side of the wall box and that completes the process.

If you are wondering what the old work box dimensions are you can visit the Allied Moulded website at www.alliedmoulded.com Along with the old work box dimensions you can also find all of the specific technical information for this line of products and all of the industrial electrical products available from Allied Moulded. The old work box dimensions are usually different from standard new construction boxes, as they are more shallow. The lower depth allows these to fit into areas where space is a premium. The old work box dimensions vary from model to model so you will want to look at all of the models to find the right fit for your job.