Drywall guys often skim mud over the edges of electrical boxes and inadvertently fill the fixture screw holes. Before they can fill them, though, I fill them first. I use inexpensive wax toilet-seal rings to do the job. The wax is soft, and it’s easy to press a dab into the screw holes. Any compound that covers the box edge pops right off and leaves the holes free and clear. The wax also lubricates for easy screw entry.
—Mike Guertin, East Greenwich, RI
Edited by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #226
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Nice tip. Saves a lot of aggravation.
It also brought back to mind another one. Petroleum jelly also works well.
We had to spray paint a huge line of metal lockers, and the old painter wiped petroleum jelly on all the handles, and key holes. when the paint dried, we wiped them off, and they were fine. Way cheaper, and way, way faster than tape.