I was replacing old outlet in my house and came across an outlet that is screwed directly into the studs. Also the stud and the junction box were cut to fit the outlet. The new outlet is too big to fit in this space. I am afraid to put a new outlet in here as it could be a fire risk.
What should I do with this? Should i cap off the wires and put a blank wall plate? Or is there some way I can salvage this and put an outlet in here.
There is a wall (fireplace) to the left and a sliding glass door an inch or so to the right.
Best Answer
It looks like you are up against a corner on the left, which means you can't simply shift the outlet into the box location. In a perfect world you have enough cable to move the box to the other side of that stud. You would then simply repair your drywall. (We've since learned that there's a door to the right, just out of frame, making this impossible.)
Otherwise I would find a shallow box and cut the stud back so that the box can sit partially or completely in front of it. Since you are right near a corner you can safely take a third to a half of the stud out without concern. It may not strictly meet code, but experience tells me it won't be a problem.
A good way to do that is with a nice sharp spade bit of 1 inch or so. Just make a series of straight-in bores in a grid pattern to cut the wood away. Mark your depth on the side of the stud before hand so you know how deep to go.