How to Install a Receptacle Box in an Existing Wall

You can install an old-work receptacle box, featuring a pair of built-in swing arms, into an existing wall with a few basic tools and a little elbow grease. Old-work boxes are made of blue resin and are available in single- and double-gang sizes. Instead of fastening this type of receptacle box to a wall stud, you'll slip it through a cut hole behind the wall material. You can adjust the box's fins to the wall depth by rotating the fasteners located on the face of the box.

Stud finder
Old-work receptacle box
Pencil
Cutting tool
Phillips screwdriver

Instructions

- 1
  Determine where you'll install the old-work receptacle box on the wall. Slide a stud finder in that general area to make sure no wall studs are located directly behind the spot where you'll make the hole.
- 2
  Set the receptacle box's front face against the wall. Trace around the outside edge of the receptacle with a pencil.
- 3
  Cut the wall material following the traced outline of the receptacle box. Use a utility knife for drywall or a reciprocating saw for wood walls.
- 4
  Run the new wire through the opening in the receptacle box. With its swing arms folded in, slide the back of the box into the hole until its front tabs are flush against the wall face.
- 5
  Rotate the fasteners in a clockwise direction using a Phillips screwdriver to swing the clamp arms behind the wall material out. Continue rotating the fasteners until the clamps tightly enclose the wall material between the receptacle and its swing arms.

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