Replacing Electrical Outlets
Posted by Wayne
The electrical outlets above our kitchen counter were cream colored and old. Because I had installed a half inch thick backsplash around them, they were now recessed into the backsplash and I needed to extend them outwards before I could install faceplates. While I was at it, I figured I should upgrade to new outlets as well which matched our kitchen.
Before
My first step was to turn of the electricity to the kitchen. I had my wife plug in her hair dryer into the first outlet and I went downstairs and flipped breakers until she yelled that it had turned off. After I came back upstairs I had a sneaking suspicion that the two outlets I’d be replacing were on different breakers even though they were within a few feet of each other, and I was right. I plugged the hair dryer into the other outlet and it worked. I avoided a 110v shock right there. I went back downstairs and switched off breakers until the second one turned off.
I removed the old outlets and pulled them out of the wall as far as the wires would allow.
I disconnected the old outlets.
I attached the new outlets.
I secured the new outlets back into the outlet box. This is where I made the outlets work with the depth of the new backsplash. Instead of screwing the outlet all the way back in tight to the electrical box (where it would be recessed), I only put the screws about 1/4 of the way in. This was enough so that the outlet was secure to the box and wouldn’t pull out, but because it wasn’t tight it was a little wobbly. This would change after I applied the faceplates.
The faceplate basically tries to pull the outlet out of the wall while it pushes on the backsplash. This takes any wobbliness out of the extended outlet and makes everything nice and secure.
Total Cost: $6 ($3 each for new outlets), Total Time: 1 hour.
3 Responses to “Replacing Electrical Outlets”
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March 24th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Why not just keep the outlets hot and use an insulated screwdriver.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Or maybe just wear a pair of rubber dishwashing gloves.
March 24th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
FYI, the above two comments are jokes. Don’t try either of these or expect to get shocked.