- Wall Boxes

Material & Tools Needed

Hammer / Finish Nails / Nail Set / Brad Gun
Miter Saw / Miter Box
Adhesive / Caulking Gun
Tape Measure / Pencil
Caulking (paintable latex)
Sandpaper- Medium Grit
Utility Knife
Chisel
Paint / Paint Brush

Planning and Layout

Planning is the most important part of installing wall boxes. Identify all the problem areas such as wall sockets, cable, and phone jacks and plan your boxes around them. All of the boxes do not need to be the same width, but they do need to maintain the same spacing between each other. Likewise the spacing from the bottom of the chair rail to the top of the box should be the same as the space from the floor to the bottom of the box. Finally, your spacing between the sides of the box and the wall or other obstacle should be about 70% of the space in between boxes.

Use masking tape to mock up your boxes on the wall to help you decide the best sizes to make them.

Painting

Paint your door casing and allow them to dry before you start installation. Touch ups can be done once your installation is complete.

Measuring & Cutting

Every single cut for this part of the project is done with a 45 degree miter angle. The left side of each piece will be cut with the miter angle set at 45 degrees to the right. The right side of each piece will be cut with the miter angle 45 degrees to the left.

Since almost all of the boxes are the same height, you can use one of your vertical pieces as a template so you can quickly cut all of the vertical pieces you need for the full project. You can do the same with any of the horizontal pieces that are the same length.

Securing The Casing to the Wall

Before mounting the molding to the wall, apply a 1/4" bead of polyurethane adhesive to all sides of the molding where it will contact the wall. It is also good practice to put adhesive where the moldings connect at the top of your doorway. You can use any adhesive that is rated for use with polyurethane (check the back of the label) -- we have had great success using Red Devil Construction Adhesive, Loctite's Powergrab and PL Premium Polyurethane Adhesive, all of which work well and are readily available at most home improvement stores.

Use small finishing nails or a powered brad gun to secure the molding while the adhesive sets. Make sure to use a nail punch to sink your finish nails below the surface. If you are using a powered brad gun, adjust the power so that the gun drives the brads just below the molding surface.

Now that you have all of your molding installed, spend a little time with some latex painter's caulk and fill in all those little seams and nail holes. Run a bead of caulk around the entire job to make it look nice and neat. Latex painter's caulk cleans up with water and is very easy to smooth out with your finger. Touch up the paint as needed.