My first drywall patch job turned into a 3 day mess after I forgot about outlet boxes

I was fixing a hole in my living room wall, maybe 6 inches across, and thought I had it all planned out. Cut the patch, screwed in some backing, slapped on the mud. Then I went to sand and realized I had completely covered over an outlet box on the other side of the wall. Didn't even mark where it was before I started. Spent 2 hours chipping away dried joint compound to find the screw holes, then had to redo the mud around the edges. By the time I was done, there was a weird bulge near the outlet that I couldn't smooth out. Took me three coats and a lot of cussing before it looked halfway decent. Has anyone else buried something dumb like a switch or pipe behind a patch?

2 comments

2 Comments

wade55812d ago

Did I just read my own life story in a Reddit post? Because I think I've got a patch that's still holding a grudge against me from last winter. I buried a whole-ass switch plate behind my first patch and didn't find it until I went to plug in a lamp and hit drywall instead of a socket. Spent the next day chipping compound like I was mining for gold, except the gold was a small plastic box I'd already painted over. Three coats of mud and a lot of cussing sounds about right, buddy.

nathan_patel12d ago

Oh man, "weird bulge near the outlet" hit home for me. Next time take a photo of the wall before you mud or at least poke a screw through to mark the box location.