Electrical Boxes, the Dummy Version

Old work electrical box showing fins

When it comes to DIY projects around the house, even the most fumble-fingered homeowner or apartment dweller is certain he or she can wield a cordless drill or – if he or she is old school – a hammer to hang a picture; maybe even curtains or a shelf system in the closet. When the topic is plumbing or electrical work, however, many prefer to call in a pro, though a few will forge ahead with the project. For those few, we here at the Antisocial Network strongly advise avoiding any instructions you find at eHow.com. If they don't, they just might end up with "advice" of quality similar to that published by Sarah Celebi in "How to Install an Electrical Switch Box"¹; and that would not be... optimal.

We say "not optimal" because it's quite clear that Celebi has no training or experience whatsoever in as an electrician, DIY or otherwise. That's pretty clear from the first paragraph, in which she claims that

"Electrical switch boxes come in many configurations to serve different purposes. They can be made of metal, plastic or fiberglass, but some codes no longer allow the use of plastic boxes in electrical wiring."

We sent out a researcher who was hard-pressed find any residential electrical code that prohibits plastic boxes, and since both of Celebi's alleged references are printed instead of on-line, we couldn't verify her statement. What we do know is that far more authoritative references say plastic boxes are OK. Sarah follows that claim by saying that

"Electrical switch boxes are installed during new construction, but it is not difficult to install a new one in an existing home..."

...which gives on the impression that Celebi thought the question was about old construction. Fair enough. So what were her instructions? Well, she starts out by recapping the code for switch location: 48 inches from the floor, blah, blah, blah. Next, she says to find a stud. Now begins the process of installing the switch box:

"Trace the perimeter of your electric switch box, using your pencil. The electrical switch box will be mounted to the side of the marked stud with the opening of the box facing forward and flush with the wall's surface." We're beginning to see a problem here. You? Next, Celebi would have her readers "Cut along the lines of the box you just traced, using the drywall saw. Keep your hand straight to get a nice, clean cut. Make sure you do not cut into the edge of the stud; you will need the stud surface to be flat for a leveled mounting." Whatever the heck a "leveled mounting" is... Next, "Run your wires through the electric box before you install it. For a light switch, you will need a line source from the service panel, a load (wire that is hooked up to the light fixture) and a 'neutral.'" You, there's the pattern: "a line source"? a "load"? a "neutral"? Clearly, this faker had never seen Romex® cable. Oh, yeah, and current code also requires a ground, which Sarah conveniently forgot; or maybe she just thought it meant "dirt." Finally, Celebi instructed her readers to

"...fasten the two diagonal screws on the electrical box to the stud, using the cordless drill..."

Yeah, we wish you could just screw the box to the stud...

OK, so what went wrong here? It's pretty clear Celebi knows nothing about electrical wiring (her body of work at eHow suggests she doesn't know much about a lot of things). She starts off with a bogus claim about plastic boxes and code; perhaps conflating commercial and residential installations. Then she demonstrates a clear failure to understand the difference between new and old construction boxes, which leads her to fiddle around with stud finders and the like -- an old-construction switch box doesn't need a stud, since it clamps onto the drywall! Talk about the blind leading the blind -- this is exactly why we started publishing the Dumbass of the Day blog.

In this post's original incarnation (2012, per archive.org); Celebi, who never provided a bio, got a pass from Demand Media in the form of this disclaimer:

"This article was created by a professional writer and edited by experienced copy editors, both qualified members of the Demand Media Studios community. All articles go through an editorial process that includes subject matter guidelines, plagiarism review, fact-checking, and other steps in an effort to provide reliable information."

Well, no, Demand Media: this bull was nowhere near reliable!

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was    ehow.com/how_7641764_install-electrical-switch-box.html

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