Hi -- thanks so much for this incredibly useful forum, it's saved me from so many problems as I try to fix my beat up old house ...
I'm about to start putting up a tile splashback in my kitchen, and I've got a couple questions. The fitters who put my units in installed some new electrical outlets and took out an old one; they left the back box in the wall and (as I requested, for reasons of money) didn't fix all the plaster, because in general that's the sort of thing I can fix pretty well myself. Can I take the back box out, patch the drywall there, and tile over? I'm wary about electrics and, as you can see from the photo, there are the ends of some wires at the top. Even though it's out of commission now, do I need to leave access for it? A little access panel would be kind of unsightly in the kitchen, so I'd prefer to cover it over if at all possible.
My other question is about the areas where new outlets have been installed. Can I patch the drywall there / sand it all down to get it level and tile over? I'm pretty handy in general, but new to tiling, so I want to make sure I know what I'm doing first.
Thanks again for your help.
I'm about to start putting up a tile splashback in my kitchen, and I've got a couple questions. The fitters who put my units in installed some new electrical outlets and took out an old one; they left the back box in the wall and (as I requested, for reasons of money) didn't fix all the plaster, because in general that's the sort of thing I can fix pretty well myself. Can I take the back box out, patch the drywall there, and tile over? I'm wary about electrics and, as you can see from the photo, there are the ends of some wires at the top. Even though it's out of commission now, do I need to leave access for it? A little access panel would be kind of unsightly in the kitchen, so I'd prefer to cover it over if at all possible.
My other question is about the areas where new outlets have been installed. Can I patch the drywall there / sand it all down to get it level and tile over? I'm pretty handy in general, but new to tiling, so I want to make sure I know what I'm doing first.
Thanks again for your help.