Light Switch Covers | How To Install a Light Switch Cover if the Light Switch Box Sticks Out

Light Switch Covers


Occasionally we talk at Light Switch Cover about how to handle a few of the problems that can arise when you attempt to install a new light switchplate.

In this post we'll talk about one that can really baffle you if you're not aware of how to solve it, and that is when a light switch box sticks out after you take of the old light switchplate and try to put on the new on and ... when you place it over the light switch box, it doesn't lay flat because it sticks out too far.

Of course at this time you're really puzzled, because you think of the old switchplate that laid flat on it, and attempt to figure out the mystery.

This can actually happen at a new home as well as an old, because the original switch box wasn't installed correctly, and it sticks out for that reason.

But the cause really doesn't matter, it's the solution. So here's the reason why the old plate laid flat: it's in the length of the screws. Yup. As easy as that.

What happens when a light switch box sticks out is you either would have to take it out and redo everything to make it fit, or you can go out and buy new screws. Bet you didn't think it would be that easy did you.

Now the trick is that you must go out and get shorter screws for the lightswitch plate because the longer ones won't work in this instance.

If you're lucky, nylon screws came with your switchplate kit, and all you would have to do there is snip off the end with a scissors and screw the light plate cover in.

And if you're not so lucky and have a metal screw, just take one of the original screws and bring it to a store and get a couple a little shorter of the same kind.

You could even get a couple shorter screws of different lengths to save you a trip. They're not expensive, and you could always return the ones you buy if they aren't needed.

Light switchplates don't have to be a difficult thing to work with at all, and usually they're not. This is one of only a couple of real problems that occur, and really the worst one. Now you know how to take care of it.

Light Switch Covers