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I’m new to all things drywall. I’m using adjustable boxes for electrical switches and outlets in the bathrooms and kitchen where the finish will be tile.

I’m getting a bulge where the mounting bracket is located. The drywall is 1/2”.

Are my drywall screws too close to the bracket? Is the fix simply to float it out to “flat”?

I would like to avoid this extra “mud-training” if possible.

The photos below are of different boxes. Switch box

Switch box

2 Answers 2

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Your obvious problem is the height of the screws holding the bracket in place where you snugged down the drywall above and below that bracket location and caused the drywall to fracture due to the back force when you snugged the screws down. It's broken now, and even loosing up the drywall screws can't fix that break. Ideally take the drywall off, sink the screws flat (or shim out around that to a more gentle curve, and redo the drywall. If that's not possible, then you'll be needing to mud it flat. But if you're putting tile over it anyway, probably using a bit less thinset behind the tiles in that specific pop location will probably be good enough to even out the bulge.

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  • Okay thank you for the input. Moving forward I’ll try to use a lower profile head to mount the box. I had a feeling, but there is no getting around experience! Thanks
    – Richard
    Commented Aug 15, 2023 at 23:28
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    Since there’s tile going on top, my first instinct would be to hold a short section of 2x4 on the bump and whack the 2x4 with a heavy hammer to pulverize the back of the drywall. If it wasn’t getting tiled, I’d break off the bulge and hollow out 1/4” of the back and stick it back on (with mud underneath and mesh tape on top). Commented Aug 15, 2023 at 23:42
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    You can mount the boxes with drywall nails. The flat heads will cause no bulge.
    – RMDman
    Commented Aug 16, 2023 at 0:18
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    You need to use a taper head screw, with a head that's just a little bit bigger than the hole in the bracket.
    – Huesmann
    Commented Aug 16, 2023 at 12:08
  • @MarkRansom, it's stated in the final words of the first paragraph that the finish will be tile.
    – Milwrdfan
    Commented Aug 16, 2023 at 19:13
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Those screw heads are way too big.

Remove them and use drywall screws which fit quite snugly into the metal holes and will even indent the metal a little bit so their heads are flush with the metal itself.

I'd hesitate to drive the existing screws further into the stud since it can cause warpage in the metal and thus a new problem.

If the current screws are considerably thicker than the new drywall screws then just jam a few toothpicks lathered with wood glue into the hole and drive drywall screws while the glue is wet.

You did remember to fasten the ears of the bracket too, right?

enter image description here

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  • Ah yes, I did use the rear mounts as well.
    – Richard
    Commented Aug 17, 2023 at 3:16

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