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2xw studded walls. Multi-gang elec boxes.

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:27 am
by mh_doni49
My interior walls are 2x2 studded with 1/2 drywall. I wanted to do some wiring which will include putting 3 switches at one location and 4 at another location.

But I'm having difficulty finding shallow boxes that aren't single gang.

How have you dealt with this?

Edit: I misspoke. They're 2x3. I measured from back of drywall to back of drywall and it's right at 2".

Re: 2xw studded walls. Multi-gang elec boxes.

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:34 am
by calderhill
There is a reason you cannot find 2" shallow, multi-gang boxes. In the trade, shallow means 2 1/2" depth but more importantly there is code capacity for boxes as well as the practicality of fitting all those switch wires in such small boxes. Even if you could fit 2 1/2" boxes in, multi-gang, "old work" boxes do not exist. Time to re-design!

Re: 2xw studded walls. Multi-gang elec boxes.

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:54 am
by mh_doni49
Thanks for the reply. As far as "old work" goes, one of the walls will be new as I'm putting one in but it'll be directly across from an existing one.

I was going to build it with 2x2s to match it.

Re: 2xw studded walls. Multi-gang elec boxes.

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:02 am
by calderhill
Well, if you're going to build a new wall, why not use 2x3's and then you can find and fit in just about anything. A 2x3 wall gives you a usable in-wall depth of 2 1/2" plus the thickness of the face wallboard. How about a picture? I'm not understanding how you can see a wall "thickness" to one across from it. You can have every wall in a house a different thickness and never see the difference.

Re: 2xw studded walls. Multi-gang elec boxes.

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:15 am
by ponch37300
If nothing else you can use metal gangable boxes to make a 3 gang and 4 gang boxes. These say they are 2 3/4" deep, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Raco-2-3-4-i ... /203634456. This is the contractor pack, I couldn't find the singles online but I'm sure they have them in the store.

Just make sure that you calculate box fill and don't over stuff the box. Also if you end up using a metal box make sure you ground it.

Re: 2xw studded walls. Multi-gang elec boxes.

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 1:19 pm
by mh_doni49
It's a wall separates the LR & kitchen. I want a matching wall on the other side.

I typed 2x3 but my phone's auto correct changed it and I didn't notice until I saw that you said I should use 2x3 studs.

I had an opening in the existing wall because I was installing connected smoke alarm. While I had that opening, I stuck a tape measure in there and from the back of drywall on one side to the back of drywall on the other side is 2" then the drywall is 1/2" for an available depth of 2 1/2".

Re: 2xw studded walls. Multi-gang elec boxes.

Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:42 pm
by KLBoldon
I got a 2 gang remodeler box for my 2x3 walls from menards.

Re: 2xw studded walls. Multi-gang elec boxes.

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 2:04 pm
by calderhill
So the inside of the wall is 2". That means the studs, or however the wall is built out, is not a standard size IE: 1 1/2, 2 1/2, 3 1/2. If you build a wall to match, you would have to use 2x2's and add another 1/2" somehow before you put up your wallboard. You're still stuck with finding a 2 1/2" max depth box that will accommodate your wall so, as ponch37300 posted about building your own, go here http://www.hubbellcatalog.com/raco/RACO ... =RacoBoxes to start and look around the site. I would spend some time looking through the big box stores and see what I could find. You never know what might be on their shelves.

Re: 2xw studded walls. Multi-gang elec boxes.

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 7:55 pm
by mh_doni49
Ok thanks anyway guys. Now that I'm having so much difficulty finding boxes to fit (at a reasonable price), I'm starting to seriously consider the possibility of making the existing wall thicker (with furring strips and additional drywall) so that I can build the new wall that will allow me to use normal boxes and have it still match the existing one.

I was able to find a source for shallow gangable boxes but that solution would require 2 end pieces and 2 middle pieces for each 4 gang box. The min order for each type is 25 units at $3 each ($3 x 2 type x 25 units = $150).

Re: 2xw studded walls. Multi-gang elec boxes.

Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:33 pm
by calderhill
I normally don't hang on to a thread this long but I knew I had seen those boxes somewhere. Local Home Depot has all the 1 1/2" and 2" boxes that my link showed, @ $2.39 each.