Covered up boxes ?

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e2me

Member
Location
South Dakota
Ok so one of my pet peaves got stroked today. So Im going to vent here and see what the masses say .How do you find boxes that the sheet rocker covers . Myself if it?s a new contractor, I will find one or two cut them out nicely let the general know and forget about it .Then the next time I have to find any box I use at least 3 swings of the hammer.
I very rarely have to find them on a third house for the same contractor
If we were to leave the wires out of say 1 or 2 boxes in every house do you think anyone would say anything? Hell yes but they think nothing of a sheet rocker covering 2 or 3or more
Damn how hard is it screw it to the wall cut out the boxes its 2 steps cant they handle 2.:mad: :mad:
 

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
Depending on how much or little we like the carpenters will dictate how we cut them out. If the guys are undesirables then we'll use the plumbers favorite Sheetrock cutter, called a lump hammer. If we like them, we'll cut them out neatly with a Sheetrock saw and tell them about it so that they can try harder not to miss them in the future.
 

Paul B

Senior Member
Man I thought that only happened to me. Sometimes I think those guys do it on purpose. I often follow the same DW installers. I thought they were just messing with me.
 

bkludecke

Senior Member
Location
Big Bear Lake, CA
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
Personally I don't go out of my way to mess with other tradesmen. I know they don't screw up on purpose. We may need that drywall guy to fix one of our mistakes, or the carpenter to help solve a problem, and vice-versa. Building a project is a team effort the better the team works as a team the better the project goes for everyone. When we start the "get even" game we all loose - especially the project owner, who doesn't deserve this stuff.
 

tallgirl

Senior Member
Location
Great White North
Occupation
Controls Systems firmware engineer
The electrician who lays out the houses I work on scribbles up a print. Perhaps if y'all got a copy of the floor plan on 11x17 paper and marked it up not only could you give it to the rock hangers to double check against, but also for your own use when they've buried a box.

Oh, and I asked last weekend about providing the HO with a set of as-built prints. Yes, we do, and they include not only the circuit layout, but also the direction the wire is run from box to box.
 

celtic

Senior Member
Location
NJ
I try and avoid the situation by being proactive instead of reactive.

A few cans of spray paint are your best friend.

Under each outlet, one stripe...under each switch, two stripes....under each ceiling location, one circle.

If they can't follow my road map, out comes the hammer and I'm not real neat about it - why should I be?
 
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Minuteman

Senior Member
I'm sort of with left coast Bob. Mostly because we work with some of the rockers each time. They have patched up some of our mistakes and we fix theirs. If I "find it with my Eastwing", they tend play "pay back" and get sloppy with the mud.
 

memyselfandI

Senior Member
celtic said:
I try and avoid the situation by being proactive instead of reactive.

A few cans of spray paint are your best friend.

Under each outlet, one stripe...under each switch, two stripes....under each ceiling location, one circle.

If they can't follow my road map, out comes the hammer and I'm not real neat about it - why should I be?

This is what I do. Then there is no misunderstanding when they cover one up. One or two in a house is acceptable, any more than that is laziness and should be dealt with accordingly... like the broad side of a hammer.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
celtic said:
I try and avoid the situation by being proactive instead of reactive.

A few cans of spray paint are your best friend.

Under each outlet, one stripe...under each switch, two stripes....under each ceiling location, one circle.

It is as simple as that, I will generally have marked the locations of the outlets and switches on the deck with upside down paint anyway.

Digital camera shots of the walls before they get closed up is also a big help.
 

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
celtic said:
I try and avoid the situation by being proactive instead of reactive.

A few cans of spray paint are your best friend.

Under each outlet, one stripe...under each switch, two stripes....under each ceiling location, one circle.

If they can't follow my road map, out comes the hammer and I'm not real neat about it - why should I be?

That's a good idea and I am going to give it a try. I don't think it will keep the hangers from burying the boxes but it will eliminate any excuse. I have seen them cover a box right at the break in the rock, you know they saw it because there is a bow in the wall.
 

bikeindy

Senior Member
Location
Indianapolis IN
iwire said:
It is as simple as that, I will generally have marked the locations of the outlets and switches on the deck with upside down paint anyway.

Digital camera shots of the walls before they get closed up is also a big help.

My computer is full of pics from before and after project shots. It is the best way to ensure an easy finish. We also mark each box location. Hey everyone misses something sometime they are moving fast around here. I agree that at the end they should take a second look. I just let them know I had to cut open a box. I keep track and then ask for fix favors for me later.
 

Dave85

Member
Location
NJ
While wiring houses for work boxes ALWAYS get covered up so I started doing the digital camera trick as well...nice and easy.

As for cutting the boxes out of the wall, I use a spiral hand saw from sears...cuts great and doesn't really harm the wires at all..great for tight round cuts too

 

dduffee260

Senior Member
Location
Texas
This one is easy. I inform the GC or the sheetrockers foreman, owner, boss. etc., that we charge $75 per covered up box. If we bust up the sheetrock and there was not a box there. Then we pay for our mistake. If we bust up the sheetrock and find a covered box. The painter gets to charge the sheetrocker for the repairs. If we locate and cut out the box with a sheetrock saw and there was a covered box. The sheetrocker gets a $75 backcharge. We do not like backcharges in a project really, it makes for bad vibes and most of the time we have to work with some of the people over and over.
But truth is it takes us time to find covered boxes and time is money. The backcharge amount is more than fair. If they do not like it, then don't cover our boxes.
Sometimes if we have a little spare paint and time, we will paint a stripe on the floor for receptacles and switches.
 

gaelectric

Senior Member
I worked with a drywall company one time where their foreman went around and marked the locations on the floor with paint. Usually we just deal with it, pretty much knowing where the box is though. Seen a few get cut out pretty rough by electrician that got PO.

My real peeve is when they cut out the boxes with a roto zip and thrash the wires, or when they ram the wires into the back ofthe box with a hammer to prevent this.
 
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