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Proper reinforcing of electrical box on drywall

There is a 2-gang outlet/electrical box that holds plugs rather well (hair dryer, vacuum, etc). That is usually great, however when pulling the plug from the socket, the whole electrical box gets pulled and bends slightly. It always bends back after the plug is removed, though I worry that one day it will not!

Luckily, the other side of the wall is in a basement utility room, and thus exposed. It can be seen that the box is mounted with 1 screw and 1 nail, driven in to a block of wood that extends from the wall stud. Since the box is only mounted on one side, it bends on said side when pulled, especially when pulled from the GFCI outlet (right side of the last photo below, opposite of the screw+nail). I don't see how to secure it on the other side though.

How can the box be more properly secured?

Is a bit of bend typical? The box only has one mounting side, so I assume that the one side is usually enough. Still, the physics of it make me think there should be mounting options on both sides.

3 Answers
3

Since the box is so far off the stud, my suggestion is to take that existing box off and put an old work double gang in. It secures to the drywall and should fit easily since the stud is far away.

Trying to nail the box in further is pointless since the drywall is up.

The box should be tight to the stud. You could add a thicker block and securely nail it to the stud. A better method would add a 2x4 between studs snug to the back of the box and add a couple of wood screws to anchor the box to the new 2x4. I would use screws to anchor the 2x4 because if you hammer it may damage your sheetrock. This type of box normally has only 2 nails but is tight to the stud.

Since you have access to the back side you can reinforce the attachment of the box. The box should have been up against the structural member and not with the space.

On the side next to the stud you could insert a piece of wood between the box and the structure to take up the space to support the box. On the side away from the stud you could use an improvised support from a piece of wood. In both cases you could secure the box with one screw through the inside through the side of the box and into the pieces of wood. I would use an 8" long piece of 2x4 on the outside of the box. Press this against the box and then use drywall 3 or 4 screws to secure the 2x4 to the back side of the drywall. Then use one screw to hold the box to this 2x4.

Or you could use the special metal clamps designed for this purpose to secure the box to the back side of the drywall. This prevents the box from moving out when a plug is removed. The face plate should prevent the box from moving inward when a plug is inserted.

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