Socket gap too wide to caulk around?

[Jeff543]

What's the best filler to use to caulk around gaps in a socket?

Is the gap in this socket (photos) too wide to caulk around? .

 

[JohnD]

caulk is not the solution.

the socket is not correctly fitted in the wall

I can't see why not. maybe the backbox has come loose

what happens when you press the plate towards the wall?

maybe the screw is stripped

maybe the electrician was incompetent and the cutout is too small.

find out why and correct it.

what is the wall made of?

 

[JohnD]

@Jeff543

show us some pictures including the fixing screws, from the front and the side.

 

[Jeff543]

caulk is not the solution.

the socket is not correctly fitted in the wall

I can't see why not. maybe the backbox has come loose

what happens when you press the plate towards the wall?

maybe the screw is stripped

maybe the electrician was incompetent and the cutout is too small.

find out why and correct it.

what is the wall made of?

The wall? I don't know, it isn't brick as such i think.

I wouldn't call out his competence as the other sockets he replaced were fine.

 

[JohnD]

The wall? I don't know, it isn't brick as such i think.

it might, for example, be plasterboard on a wooden or metal frame, or stuck to the wall with blobs of plaster. Or it might be lightweight concrete blocks. The age of the house might give some clues. None of us know. To fix it, you will have to find out.

I wouldn't call out his competence as the other sockets he replaced were fine.

if this socket is hanging off the wall, it's either the electricians fault for not fixing it correctly, or yours, if you violently pulled it out of the wall. Which is it?

 

[Jeff543]

it might, for example, be plasterboard on a wooden or metal frame, or stuck to the wall with blobs of plaster. Or it might be lightweight concrete blocks. The age of the house might give some clues. None of us know. To fix it, you will have to find out.



if this socket is hanging off the wall, it's either the electricians fault for not fixing it correctly, or yours, if you violently pulled it out of the wall. Which is it?

Mid 70s Barratt

 

[JohnD]

I'd have thought plastered onto blocks.

Show us the screws.

You can cut off the power and loosen the socket by undoing the two small fixing screws from the front. That will show you if the backbox is loose or incorrectly fitted, or if one of the fixing screws is stripped (very common). You do not need to undo the terminal screws for this.

 

[DiyNutJob]

Going by the existing caulk, if you didn't do it, then it must have been like that since the beginning. If it can't be corrected, I can suggest hybrid polymer sealant. The sealant looks identical to silicone sealant but shrinks less, more dense, more sticky, longer work time, harder to work with by a new user, will stick to itself (uncured will stick to cured), and can be painted over. Decorator's caulk is cr*p and guaranteed to crack given time, and hence more hassle.

I have no idea what the dielectric performance of the polymer sealant is. You will have look into that yourself.

 

[SUNRAY]

I've always hated seeing electric accessories caulked and decorated, it always looks like a messy botch.

The right thing to do is isolate the power, remove the socket, make good the backbox (whatever that entails), make good the wall and decorate, then replace the socket onto a nice flat surface.

 

[JohnD]

I've always hated seeing electric accessories caulked and decorated, it always looks like a messy botch.

The right thing to do is isolate the power, remove the socket, make good the backbox (whatever that entails), make good the wall and decorate, then replace the socket onto a nice flat surface.

too right.

 

[opps]

I've always hated seeing electric accessories caulked and decorated, it always looks like a messy botch.

The right thing to do is isolate the power, remove the socket, make good the backbox (whatever that entails), make good the wall and decorate, then replace the socket onto a nice flat surface.

Agreed. When faced with sockets like that, I loosen the front plate and back fill so that there is no need for caulk. Caulking sockets is a bodge.