how much as an electrician do you hate to return for second fixing only to find your backbox full of plaster

[Dougie]

how much as an electrician do you hate to return for second fixing only to find your backbox full of plaster

 

[zen'heist'dj]

Been at it long enough to know that walking into a job and seeing a backbox packed with plaster is never a good start to the day. It slows everything down and makes a clean second fix harder than it needs to be. I always told the builders to leave the boxes clear but you know how that goes. Are you dealing with metal boxes or plastic ones on this job? Makes a difference in how much scraping and cleanup you're in for.

 

[PGB1]

I primarily work industrial and distribution, but some areas are finished with drywall or similar (offices, restrooms, laboratories & such). Here's my method:

To stop the box from getting mud laden- and to stop conductors from being spray painted wall color- I roll the conductors to the back of the box and stuff it with crumbled newspaper. Lacking newspaper, I cut a cardboard template and stick it in the box.

If you leave the newspaper behind the face of the box, the Mud Daubers will leave it alone. Some courteous ones even change the paper when they are done.
Paul

 

[Dougie]

Been at it long enough to know that walking into a job and seeing a backbox packed with plaster is never a good start to the day. It slows everything down and makes a clean second fix harder than it needs to be. I always told the builders to leave the boxes clear but you know how that goes. Are you dealing with metal boxes or plastic ones on this job? Makes a difference in how much scraping and cleanup you're in for.

How much time would you save if there was something that could prevent this altogether and would you purchase it, as you can guess I am doing a feasibility study as I have a patent-pending solution to the issue.

 

[Dougie]

I primarily work industrial and distribution, but some areas are finished with drywall or similar (offices, restrooms, laboratories & such). Here's my method:

To stop the box from getting mud laden- and to stop conductors from being spray painted wall color- I roll the conductors to the back of the box and stuff it with crumbled newspaper. Lacking newspaper, I cut a cardboard template and stick it in the box.

If you leave the newspaper behind the face of the box, the Mud Daubers will leave it alone. Some courteous ones even change the paper when they are done.
Paul

How much time would you save if there was something that could prevent this altogether and would you purchase it, as you can guess I am doing a feasibility study as I have a patent-pending solution to the issue.

 

[PGB1]

How much time would you save if there was something that could prevent this altogether and would you purchase it, as you can guess I am doing a feasibility study as I have a patent-pending solution to the issue.

There is (or was) something on the market which snapped into the boxes. The finishers and painters could do their work and this cover plate pulled out when they were done. For multi-gang boxes, one and snap in two, three or... (Don't know about 4-11/16, 4-4-6, etc)

I was given some samples to evaluate years ago and used them at home. They were HDPE, so the mud and paint came right off. I absolutely can't remember right now who made them. Perhaps it was Rack-A-Tiers. They have all kinds of cool-handy stuff like that.

Personally, I wouldn't buy any. They'd be one more thing to carry to the job, one more thing to clean up, one more thing to disappear. Finding paper and boxes on job sites is easy. Paper torn off drywalls scraps is handy. Heck, even cut a scrap of drywall to fit inside would work. Crumpled up McDonald's bags?

 

[zen'heist'dj]

@PGB1 really hit on the main challenge any new product in this space will face, the competition is literally free. Most electricians will just use whatever is handy. Such as cardboard cutouts, drywall scraps, crumpled-up paper or a strip of painter's tape.

@Dougie for your feasibility study, the key question is how your patent pending solution provides more value than those free, onsite options. Have you focused on making it significantly faster to install/remove or making it reusable to the point where it saves money over time?

 

[Dougie]

@PGB1 really hit on the main challenge any new product in this space will face, the competition is literally free. Most electricians will just use whatever is handy. Such as cardboard cutouts, drywall scraps, crumpled-up paper or a strip of painter's tape.

@Dougie for your feasibility study, the key question is how your patent pending solution provides more value than those free, onsite options. Have you focused on making it significantly faster to install/remove or making it reusable to the point where it saves money over time?

I wish I could show you how this saves time and money for both electricians and plasterers, there would be no arguments between us and the plasterers using this system. At the moment I am only sharing the prototype under NDA conditions. All the comments I have received are extremely helpful.

 

[PGB1]

I wish I could show you how this saves time and money for both electricians and plasterers, there would be no arguments between us and the plasterers using this system. At the moment I am only sharing the prototype under NDA conditions. All the comments I have received are extremely helpful.

If your injection molding die costs are low enough to produce some, it might be worth contacting supply houses and asking them to put up a counter display. You never know- people may really like them.

Me?
As I mentioned earlier, I was given a bunch to try. At home, they were fun to try and worked well. The little handles were nice to use to pull them out and didn't interfere with mudding knives or paint rollers. But at work with so much to carry, I kept on doing it the old timey way: Shove stuff in the box.