On Monday, September 28, 2015 at 11:11:53 AM UTC-5, wrote:
On Mon, 28 Sep 2015 05:35:53 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

I spent the weekend helping my Dad prepare his house to be put on the market.

One of the tasks was to remove the light fixtures from a bathroom. After
removing the fixtures themselves, I was left with the mounting plates shown
in the following picture.

http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/q...pssjkqsr1x.jpg

When I removed the plates I found that the electrical boxes were not attached
to the studs, instead they were attached directly to the back of mounting
plates using a threaded tube and strap, similar to this setup:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...j/DSC03039.jpg

The threaded tube came through a hole in the center of the mounting plate
and was secured with a nut. The mounting plates themselves were screwed
through the wallboard into a stud. Obviously, when I removed the plates, the
electrical boxes came out with them.

Is this an acceptable method of installation?

I am not sure how he got through the rough but if it was "securely
fastened" on the final it is legal.

If the hole in the wall is the regular size, use an old work box and
get on with your project.

It looks a lot like the bathroom before we remodeled,
Pink tile and all.
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/new%20room/New%20bathroom.jpg

My beard is longer. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Bearded Monster