Box in the outlets on the other 3 sides just a little bit, then get a receptacle box extender (kinda like a mudring) that will move the receptacle flush with the batten surface, then put on a pretty faceplate.
Had to do something similar with my vents.
https://preview.redd.it/rkuvgkdlkjoc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=67a95867531085c83190e1ce907870609d83af50
Yeah, most any kind of automatic tool will do that. You might be able to do it with a scroll saw, but a handheld coping saw with a taped and marked line is probably the easiest to get the perfect fit.
Filament is the material 3d printers use, and the stl is the 3d design file that the printers follow. It's basically the blueprint for the design. So someone had already made the blueprint they wanted, and they just had to load that onto their 3d printer, give it material, and saved $77.
The problem with this solution is 3d printer plastic is not safety rated to electrical boxes. The plates they come with are supposed to help contain a fire and help prevent it from spreading out of the junction box. If you use 3d printed filament or resin, it will melt and spread molten burning plastic down the front of your wall and help that fire spread
Why not to 3D print outlet covers and switch plates.
[Link](https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/oqw3j8/comment/h6ea0p7/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Sorry. 204% is the threshold for certainty. I'll need you to verify your suggestion, cross reference with others, and make sure you put it on a PPT so it's easy for the boss to understand. Close of business today.
This might work, if you cut the tab off.
https://preview.redd.it/g1wxo4hyffoc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9f4a7962b3767f900db13860cc3e938e54a27090
Obviously will require changing the existing outlet to the designer duplex style.
The plastic ones are flimsy as shit. Cutting it is like 75% chance of cracking or breaking it. For $2.50 I’ll just buy it and save myself the frustration.
I would suggest not using a chainsaw to cut it then.
But seriously. They're really not that hard to cut if you take your time. Especially if you get the ones that are flexible. I've cut quite a few.
Are you seriously that upset that I said that I don’t like cutting a plastic blank that you decide to down vote me? That’s pretty sad guy. Not everyone needs to do things your way in life.
dude, im not upset in the slightest. I even made a joke about the chainsaw.. I have a 12v offgrid cabin and had to cut a lot of them for various odd uses. If you use the brittle plastic ones they are a lot easier to crack. The flexible poly ones are super easy to cut. Use a fine blade, ideally a dremel with a cutting disk..
Edit, if you need to use a jigsaw, it helps to flip them over and screw them to a thin piece of plywood or luan.
And then cut both the outlet and what they are screwed to.
Cut the plate for an easy fix. Or go get some 1x2 and trim around the outlet and overlay the outlet cover ontop of the trim. You will need longer screws to reach the box, and by code in most places a “box extender” See pic. Put trim where red lines are, the green would show where the cover plate sits. Caulk and paint to match, and it would finish out very nicely and look intentional vs just cutting the plate. Alternative to both of those is to cut out the electrical box, make the hole a little bigger to the right and use a remodel box and let the full size cover plate touch the wood and cover the hole that is behind the wood.
https://preview.redd.it/x0ya26ykshoc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b504671d26768907fda72014e8141fc57cdffb3
We simply notched one of the verticals around our outlet. With a router, it would be a pretty simple job here. Painted and finished, it looks great imo.
https://preview.redd.it/gxvrqi3n6foc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d640376088a1298fd82e7b9571cfb389bd3606a2
I just picked a green very similar to this for the walls in my office. I'm happy to find out that it looks really nice with the white trim and baton wall.
Easy peezy...you don't need the telephone jack, does anyone use a home land line ever any more? And the electrical outlet, what I would try, is to shut off the power, pull out the outlet and screw in those wire attachment screws, wrap all the way around the outlet with electrical tape to cover those screws completely. Use a drill bit or a dremel and extend the slot (left wards) that holds the screws that secure the outlet to the box in the wall as far as you can so outlet now covered in tape is secured all the way to the right and see if cover now fits.
Use a belt sander (or any sander) on the plastic plate to shave it down to the correct size. Trying to cut it will cause it to crack. Done it. Super easy fix.
You might want to buy the rectangular looking outlets va those round ones and cut the side of the cover? That way it doesn’t look “off”
https://preview.redd.it/7ihzlrvf0eoc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d2405147c1f92d7acd2d934ab49e1427840fdb2
NEC 314.20
>Installations within or behind a surface of concrete, tile, gypsum, plaster, or other noncombustible material, including boxes employing a flush-type cover or faceplate, shall be made so that the front edge of the box, plaster ring, extension ring, or listed extender will not be set back of the finished surface more than 6 mm (1/4 in.).
Installations within a surface of wood or other combustible surface material, boxes, plaster rings, extension rings, or listed extenders shall extend to the finished surface or project therefrom.
NEC 314.21
>Noncombustible surfaces that are broken or incomplete around boxes employ‐ ing a flush-type cover or faceplate shall be repaired so there will be no gaps or open spaces greater than 3 mm (1∕8 in.) at the edge of the box.
In this case the wood wainscot is a combustible surface and must not extend more than 1/4" past the front face of the box.
I’m shocked the top comment isn’t recommending moving the outlets over. They make outlets specifically to be attached to drywall and not a stud.
1. Take the vertical boards down
2. Cut out piece of drywall and replace with a fresh clean piece.
3. Cut out spaces for the new electrical boxes in the new piece away from the boards.
4. Put the birds back up
There's some unknowns as to how much work that will be, compared to just cutting a cover with a razor blade.
Is the stud on the left side of the box? Will you have to drill through it to run the wire to move the box? Will the existing wire be long enough to move the box without having to run new wire?
That’s true. But you can easily figure that out by popping the plate off and using a flashlight in the hole.
I think the cut cover and the framed out board are a pretty tacky look but to each their own!
Same, hard to fit modern things properly into a 200+ year old house so things get creative. Learned to be careful with that Dremel though, plastic wall plates are just as much melting as they are being cut.
Cut the plates down with a hacksaw. The outlet looks tight but if you loosen the screws you may be able to get a bit of lateral movement to the right. They make a non breakable cover those may work best.
First of all, previous owners were imbeciles to have not considered the proper placement of the battens to avoid this issue.
Cut plates are going to look hack. The easiest solution isn’t always the best.
Cutting with a reciprocating saw around the full plates will look equally hack, though slightly better, in my opinion.
If it was me, I’d take all the battens down and start over. If there are panel/board seams behind the battens, tape, compound, and sand smooth, then repaint entire wall. If you like the batten look, recalculate where they need to go to create a pattern that doesn’t interfere with the outlets. Use a bit of construction adhesive behind those that can’t be screwed into a stud or rigid backing material. Install new, unadulterated wall plates.
Just reattach the ones the pervious homeowner had on them. The house couldn’t have been sold with that obvious of a violation. Were you the “previous home owner”?
Box in the outlets on the other 3 sides just a little bit, then get a receptacle box extender (kinda like a mudring) that will move the receptacle flush with the batten surface, then put on a pretty faceplate.
Like this: https://i0.wp.com/livingwithlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/image13-e1570979480335.jpeg?resize=480%2C640&ssl=1
this is perfect thank you!!
Don’t forget a ‘box extender’.
This...
Had to do something similar with my vents. https://preview.redd.it/rkuvgkdlkjoc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=67a95867531085c83190e1ce907870609d83af50
Looks great, cleanest option in my opinion even if it's slightly more effort
Things like this is why I bought a 3D printer. Nothing beats spending $400 to print a $2 switch plate.
I spent $10 on a fine toothed saw and just cut the plates.
Have you thought about buying a 3D printer and printing a fine toothed saw?
This saws handle isnt very ergonomic...hmmm..
This is the way. Printer came in especially helpful around Christmas when the kids wanted a nintendo switch. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4781762
Duh, that’s a 5 times higher return on investment than just printing a cover plate! Would be silly not to do it.
This is a very simple solution
Just make sure you're cutting a vinyl (drillable) faceplate and not one of those bitches that snap into a million pieces when you breathe on it
Ah... just one quarter turn more on this screw... plate should be nice and snug... *shatter*
I spent about 11 seconds with an oscillating tool. Looked terrible though. Afterwords I discovered there are narrow plates made specifically for this
Yeah, most any kind of automatic tool will do that. You might be able to do it with a scroll saw, but a handheld coping saw with a taped and marked line is probably the easiest to get the perfect fit.
True enough, but the “replacement microwave handle set” was about $80.. or about $3 of filament and someone had already published the STL.
I'm either too dumb or too old to understand this. Would you mind simplifying this comment for me?
Filament is the material 3d printers use, and the stl is the 3d design file that the printers follow. It's basically the blueprint for the design. So someone had already made the blueprint they wanted, and they just had to load that onto their 3d printer, give it material, and saved $77.
The problem with this solution is 3d printer plastic is not safety rated to electrical boxes. The plates they come with are supposed to help contain a fire and help prevent it from spreading out of the junction box. If you use 3d printed filament or resin, it will melt and spread molten burning plastic down the front of your wall and help that fire spread
You can buy UL 94V-0 (AKA fire retardant) filament these days.
Maybe just hit it with some fire retardant spray if you’re worried.
Why not to 3D print outlet covers and switch plates. [Link](https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/oqw3j8/comment/h6ea0p7/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I'm about 203% certain that is my suggestion.
Sorry. 204% is the threshold for certainty. I'll need you to verify your suggestion, cross reference with others, and make sure you put it on a PPT so it's easy for the boss to understand. Close of business today.
I just wont know until the fish guy confirms it.
Hey this is r/diy people are here to save money, not life and property!
This might work, if you cut the tab off. https://preview.redd.it/g1wxo4hyffoc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9f4a7962b3767f900db13860cc3e938e54a27090 Obviously will require changing the existing outlet to the designer duplex style.
Or just cut the existing plate and save yourself $2
The plastic ones are flimsy as shit. Cutting it is like 75% chance of cracking or breaking it. For $2.50 I’ll just buy it and save myself the frustration.
I would suggest not using a chainsaw to cut it then. But seriously. They're really not that hard to cut if you take your time. Especially if you get the ones that are flexible. I've cut quite a few.
Are you seriously that upset that I said that I don’t like cutting a plastic blank that you decide to down vote me? That’s pretty sad guy. Not everyone needs to do things your way in life.
Bruh. There are more than 1 persons on reddit. Stop caring about downvotes. Such a silly thing to have a fit about.
Says the guy upset about someone not wanting to cut a plastic blank..?
dude, im not upset in the slightest. I even made a joke about the chainsaw.. I have a 12v offgrid cabin and had to cut a lot of them for various odd uses. If you use the brittle plastic ones they are a lot easier to crack. The flexible poly ones are super easy to cut. Use a fine blade, ideally a dremel with a cutting disk.. Edit, if you need to use a jigsaw, it helps to flip them over and screw them to a thin piece of plywood or luan. And then cut both the outlet and what they are screwed to.
Buy polyester outlet covers and cut them with a utility knife. Nylon ones will shatter, you need polyester.
This is what I did for an outlet too close to my baseboard. It took about two minutes and fit perfectly.
Some insanely complicated answers in here. Op, go buy a $1 vinyl cover and a good saw blade and just cut it down to size.
I’d say a dremel would be even easier if you’re not adept with power tools
For sure. Honestly you could probably do it with a good knife blade. I usually use an oscillating tool.
Cut with an oscillating tool to open just enough for the cover
Cut the plate for an easy fix. Or go get some 1x2 and trim around the outlet and overlay the outlet cover ontop of the trim. You will need longer screws to reach the box, and by code in most places a “box extender” See pic. Put trim where red lines are, the green would show where the cover plate sits. Caulk and paint to match, and it would finish out very nicely and look intentional vs just cutting the plate. Alternative to both of those is to cut out the electrical box, make the hole a little bigger to the right and use a remodel box and let the full size cover plate touch the wood and cover the hole that is behind the wood. https://preview.redd.it/x0ya26ykshoc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b504671d26768907fda72014e8141fc57cdffb3
moving outlets is not much more difficult than a wallboard patch job
We simply notched one of the verticals around our outlet. With a router, it would be a pretty simple job here. Painted and finished, it looks great imo. https://preview.redd.it/gxvrqi3n6foc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d640376088a1298fd82e7b9571cfb389bd3606a2
I just picked a green very similar to this for the walls in my office. I'm happy to find out that it looks really nice with the white trim and baton wall.
I have something similar in my bathroom. Builder elected to cut the outlet cover. It’s not particularly noticeable.
Easy peezy...you don't need the telephone jack, does anyone use a home land line ever any more? And the electrical outlet, what I would try, is to shut off the power, pull out the outlet and screw in those wire attachment screws, wrap all the way around the outlet with electrical tape to cover those screws completely. Use a drill bit or a dremel and extend the slot (left wards) that holds the screws that secure the outlet to the box in the wall as far as you can so outlet now covered in tape is secured all the way to the right and see if cover now fits.
Use a belt sander (or any sander) on the plastic plate to shave it down to the correct size. Trying to cut it will cause it to crack. Done it. Super easy fix.
I can smell that already!
You might want to buy the rectangular looking outlets va those round ones and cut the side of the cover? That way it doesn’t look “off” https://preview.redd.it/7ihzlrvf0eoc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d2405147c1f92d7acd2d934ab49e1427840fdb2
Nope that's a code violation. Box has to be sealed with fireproof material on all sides.
Fireproof materials on all sides? That’s incorrect lol
NEC 314.20 >Installations within or behind a surface of concrete, tile, gypsum, plaster, or other noncombustible material, including boxes employing a flush-type cover or faceplate, shall be made so that the front edge of the box, plaster ring, extension ring, or listed extender will not be set back of the finished surface more than 6 mm (1/4 in.). Installations within a surface of wood or other combustible surface material, boxes, plaster rings, extension rings, or listed extenders shall extend to the finished surface or project therefrom. NEC 314.21 >Noncombustible surfaces that are broken or incomplete around boxes employ‐ ing a flush-type cover or faceplate shall be repaired so there will be no gaps or open spaces greater than 3 mm (1∕8 in.) at the edge of the box. In this case the wood wainscot is a combustible surface and must not extend more than 1/4" past the front face of the box.
Can't you just move the outlet? It's only plasterboard, right? I did something similar with a light switch
I just cut a face plate down, and sanded the side smooth. Works fine as long as you can fit plugs into the outlet.
Use a P&S "TP" plate and cut it with a razor blade. Those plates are the best plate ever.
I think notching the batten would look better than trimming the wall plate. If you're steady you can do this with a multi-tool and a plunge cut blade.
I’m shocked the top comment isn’t recommending moving the outlets over. They make outlets specifically to be attached to drywall and not a stud. 1. Take the vertical boards down 2. Cut out piece of drywall and replace with a fresh clean piece. 3. Cut out spaces for the new electrical boxes in the new piece away from the boards. 4. Put the birds back up
There's some unknowns as to how much work that will be, compared to just cutting a cover with a razor blade. Is the stud on the left side of the box? Will you have to drill through it to run the wire to move the box? Will the existing wire be long enough to move the box without having to run new wire?
That’s true. But you can easily figure that out by popping the plate off and using a flashlight in the hole. I think the cut cover and the framed out board are a pretty tacky look but to each their own!
I have one this in my wall, so I cut the plate with a dremel
Same, hard to fit modern things properly into a 200+ year old house so things get creative. Learned to be careful with that Dremel though, plastic wall plates are just as much melting as they are being cut.
This shit pisses me off. Just a little bit of planning during the B&B install would have completely voided this junk.
They also got paint on all the rugs and installed the curtain rods crooked.. they clearly weren’t thinking anything through
Cut the plates down with a hacksaw. The outlet looks tight but if you loosen the screws you may be able to get a bit of lateral movement to the right. They make a non breakable cover those may work best.
Just trim out outlets spaces next to the batten.
Just trim out outlets spaces next to the batten.
Just trim out outlets spaces next to the batten.
First of all, previous owners were imbeciles to have not considered the proper placement of the battens to avoid this issue. Cut plates are going to look hack. The easiest solution isn’t always the best. Cutting with a reciprocating saw around the full plates will look equally hack, though slightly better, in my opinion. If it was me, I’d take all the battens down and start over. If there are panel/board seams behind the battens, tape, compound, and sand smooth, then repaint entire wall. If you like the batten look, recalculate where they need to go to create a pattern that doesn’t interfere with the outlets. Use a bit of construction adhesive behind those that can’t be screwed into a stud or rigid backing material. Install new, unadulterated wall plates.
Just reattach the ones the pervious homeowner had on them. The house couldn’t have been sold with that obvious of a violation. Were you the “previous home owner”?
Holy shit, what are you talking about?
Can’t you just move the wood trim?