Wooden Frame for Electrical Box

I need to install a 110-V receptacle in our saloon. The wall cavity is too shallow for a conventional box carrying a gfci so I’m looking for a wooden frame that will allow the box to protrude from the wall a bit. I’ve tried shallow plastic boxes and there’s not enough room for the number of wires I need to run (it will be feeding another outlet.).

There are a couple on the boat that the builder custom-made (see photo), but I’d rather find one than have it fabricated. I saw one on eBay, but it’s too thick to fit in the space I have available . . . and it’s in Thailand.

Anyone know of a domestic source?

There are many types of surface mounted duplex receptacles available that may work. I have used a few and brought the wire into the back. Just an option for what it's worth.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Eaton-Ivor...w2LQmONeeMzHZy3LZDMaAmusEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Yup a surface mount box, painted,

Anybody with basic woodworking skills should be able to make the extension.
I bet a picture frame shop could put something together.

This was my solution, grey Lowe's box painted.

Check at an RV dealer.

Try these guys:

Good stuff, guys. Thanks.

Ian: Are you looking the same one as in the picture you posted? I may have one in storage. Give me a day or so to dig through some boxes if it is.

Why not build a couple of them? 4 cuts, a little bit of sanding, varnishing, done.

Larry M said:

Ian: Are you looking the same one as in the picture you posted? I may have one in storage. Give me a day or so to dig through some boxes if it is.

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Larry, yes, that would be ideal. If you have one could you give me the dimensions? It would need to be at least 1.5” deep to accommodate the GFCI and wiring. Thanks so much!

gsholz said:

Why not build a couple of them? 4 cuts, a little bit of sanding, varnishing, done.

Click to expand...

That’s probably going to be the fallback next week. I tried a plastic surface mount today, and I’m not thrilled with the look.

I hooked up the flat screen temporarily the other day and the fit in the available wall space is really good. The wall-hugging bracket holds it very close and it’s directly across from the recliners. The new outlet for the tv power cord is in the storage locker. Today I pulled the power and HDMI cables behind the wall but ran out of time before I could finish. The shallow outlet I’m trying to “extend” from is all the way forward, just to the left of the windshield.

Just curious....why a GFI? And is it the only one in the circuit? First? Last? Middle?

psneeld said:

Just curious....why a GFI? And is it the only one in the circuit? First? Last? Middle?

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Middle, so it only protects itself and the new outlet for the TV which is downstream. The first one in this circuit is even more problematic to replace. Maybe overkill, but whenever I replace an outlet I use a GFCI, unless it’s already protected upstream.

Guessing you saw this one (in thailand):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/TEAK-WOOD-...LE-1-receptacle-NEW-handmade-one/223644781231

It is a simple bit of mitering. From plain old wood stock it's really not much work. Use a round-over router bit to get the desired profile and then cut four mitered pieces to fit around whatever size box you're using. Some boats use US style boxes, others might use EU sizes (like Italian ones from Vimar).

Given that location if you're making a box it'd be tempting to add more. Maybe a 12v accessory socket, to allow using DC adapters without AC power (genset/shore).

I bought some of the ones on ebay and they are fine, well finished, but not fine artisan craftsmanship. But for the money And time I would not bother trying to make my own.

I’m a woodworker in my spare time and have made all kinds of things out of teak but I might buy a couple of those boxes off of eBay just in case. For $15 bucks (and probably $10 worth of teak) it’s not worth my time to make them.

Ken

angus99 said:

Larry, yes, that would be ideal. If you have one could you give me the dimensions? It would need to be at least 1.5” deep to accommodate the GFCI and wiring. Thanks so much!

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Ian: Sorry, it’s an 1-1/8” deep. The bottom has a notch where wires came up through a counter to enter the box. It’s yours for the price of postage if it’ll work.

Larry M said:

Ian: Sorry, it’s an 1-1/8” deep. The bottom has a notch where wires came up through a counter to enter the box. It’s yours for the price of postage if it’ll work.

Click to expand...

Larry, I really appreciate you taking the time to look. With the number of wires in the box and the size of the GFCI, I’m going to need more cubic inches than that will allow, unfortunately. I think I’m going to go with a plastic surface-mount initially until I can get the time to make one out of teak after the holidays.

Thank you again . . . and thanks to everyone who offered suggestions.

Greetings,
Mr. 99. How about a plastic surface mount clad in teak veneer? Just a thought. Might be able to buy off cuts somewhere. A bit of glue and VIOLA!

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. 99. How about a plastic surface mount clad in teak veneer? Just a thought. Might be able to buy off cuts somewhere. A bit of glue and VIOLA!

Click to expand...

Thanks, RT. I have enough teak to make one of these, just not much time until January. Given enough time, I can generally do decent woodwork, electrical work etc. but I would starve to death if I was doing it for a living.

Ian
For the time being why not a non GFCI? Unless outdoors or around a sink non GFCI should do just fine. On our DF, we have several of the "boxes" - seems standard DF practice.

kchace said:

I’m a woodworker in my spare time and have made all kinds of things out of teak but I might buy a couple of those boxes off of eBay just in case. For $15 bucks (and probably $10 worth of teak) it’s not worth my time to make them.Ken

Click to expand...

$15 for one outlet isn't bad, but add the $12.00 shipping on each one, and $27.00 is getting pretty pricey! Better to just make IMHO, then you get exactly what you want . . . but that's just me.

sunchaser said:

Ian
For the time being why not a non GFCI? Unless outdoors or around a sink non GFCI should do just fine. On our DF, we have several of the "boxes" - seems standard DF practice.

Click to expand...

Tom, thanks a lot for exposing my linear thinking!

This is the perfect short-term solution. Really, thanks.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. 99. How about a plastic surface mount clad in teak veneer? Just a thought. Might be able to buy off cuts somewhere. A bit of glue and VIOLA!

Click to expand...

Actually a good idea. Combines the right look with an approved box underneath.

Have you considered mounting it in the floor ??

So, following Tom’s (and Scott’s) good suggestion, I just installed a conventional receptacle and it fits perfectly in the slim surface-mount PVC box and doesn’t look bad at all. If I decide to upgrade to wood, I’ll do it when I can spend some time and not muck it up.

I also found a Sanus wall mount that does a much better job holding the flatscreen tightly against the wall. It doesn’t articulate, but that doesn’t matter with our install. $59 at Best Buy and it locks the TV in mechanically vs. relying on Velcro, like the Peerless unit I’m returning.

This allowed me to fit a 43” screen on a saloon wall and have it totally out of the way with no exposed wiring. I’ll post pictures one of these days.

Thanks again, all.