Drywall Cutouts With Wiggle Room
Cut holes in drywall with a back bevel, then trim the front edges if needed with the sheet in place.
On larger drywall jobs I normally use a rotary tool to cut out around electrical boxes and duct holes after a sheet of drywall is hung, but sometimes on smaller projects I find it easier to use a keyhole saw to cut out the hole in a sheet before I hang it.
Cover plates and vent grilles will hide smaller imperfections if the hole is cut a little too big. If the hole is too small, you end up with two options: You can either set the drywall back down on the floor and trim the hole bigger, or you can try to muscle the sheet in place, potentially damaging an edge to such an extent that it may need joint compound, and possibly even compound and tape, to repair.
In order to give myself a little wiggle room and avoid this problem, I cut out the hole with a slight back bevel so that the opening on the back side is larger than the front. That way, even if the hole doesn’t line up perfectly, I will still be able to hang the sheet and trim an edge after it’s in place.
—Oakley Goodwin, Somerville, Mass.
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller.
From Fine Homebuilding #312
