On Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:35:13 -0700 (PDT), benpost wrote:

this is what it looks like now, as you can see i brushed on 50/50 pva.

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=31434ba&s=4

the back box sits deeper than the level of the wall surface, which
might make it harder to fill around it?

i've got a plasterer skimming a ceiling later he uses thistle multi
purpose stuff. should i ask him to tidy it up or have a go myself with
standard filler?


I've you've got a plasterer in already, I'd ask him to do it - much less
effort in return for, presumably, beer tokens.

how do you mean the bonding plaster holds the back box? i need to
sort that out too, because it had a single nail in the centre but it
wont hold any more.


The plaster usually comes around the edges of the box "holding" it in.
However, I would make the nail hole a bit bigger, put a plug in it, and
then screw the box in place. (I would never use a nail to hold a back box
in place but it's just not secure enough.)

This doesn't help you now, but whenever I'm taking off a socket, if it
looks like anything is stuck to it (for example paint from the wall), I
always score around the socket with a stanley knife - to ensure I don't
pull anything away. It might be that in your case there was a good deal
more stuck to the socket than that, or that your wall was just itching from
the chance to crumble away.