Ratings & Reviews for Southwire Smart box 1 -Gang Polycarbonate New work/Old work Adjustable Electrical Box

Screws bite tight

Screws make install easier than nails. The screws also allow the box to fit snug and not move.

Nothing

Tougher construction for long life

These are much thicker plastic than traditional old work boxes and that means easier mounting and longevity

Smart box 1 -Gang Polycarbonate New work_SLASH_Old

There's really not a lot to say about a handi box except if it works for your application or not. There's a few different styles for different applications. This one had a unique feature I liked because I have modified quite a few to perform the same function. That feature is the screws being inside the box so it can be attached to a stud through a nice tight hole cut in drywall. This is a great feature for use in old work. I used to snip off all the protrusions on the outside of a box and drill...

Excellent fit!

The box came quickly. Its setup is actually quite convenient. It was easily installed in an existing space to replace an old faulty box. The ease of installation was awesome. Fit right in and squared up snugly. Would recommend for multiple placement projects.

Great product that i uses for my porch. Strudy

Used this product on my porch it allow me to have electrical. To listen to my have outlet to be able to use fans and radio. Thi is a very strudy product that i would use again.

Electrical 1-gang box provides unique feature

I was really looking forward to trying this very different electrical 1-gang box. It is made of a solid polycarbonate material providing greater stiffness than other plastic electrical gang boxes. It is unique in that it does not require any nailing or screwing of fasteners outside of the box. The two screws that attach the box to the stud are inside the box. This design would be very beneficial for adding a 1-gang box to an existing wall without needing to remove a great deal of drywall. I...

Good solid 1 gang box could be improved

I installed the 1 gang smart box in my garage. The screws supplied were in a convent spot to install against the stud, I would prefer a torx head screw instead of philips. The knockout is hard to access and hard to get a wire through. On the other hand, once a wire is in place it’s very difficult to pull it out. The box material is solid and probably more durable than most boxes of similar price. Description says it’s adjustable and I would say that’s a stretch.

smart box/smart looking electrical box

Very ease of installation, screws already in box slots, tabs on back/bottom of box are easy to remove to slide the wiring thru. takes about 30 second to install

Adj. electrical box

Product looks good and came on time. Haven’t been able to install them yet.

Southwire boxes for the win!

Love both the 1 & 2 gang Southwire boxes. Way more sturdy than the cheaper crap, nice deep capacity, and can fit them in tight spot like no other. Rewiring my whole house and even used them where studs were bare as all the basic blue and gray new work boxes are crap by comparison. Maybe 3 or 4 times the price, but in my house it's worth it

Great once you get the hang of the depth

Overall I like these better than tab style old work boxes. It takes a little bit of practice to set the depth correctly, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy. They are so much sturdier screwed into the stud vs using the tabs that press against the drywall. To others saying the wire cable clamps are not the best... they are right, but it's a sub $3 plastic molded box. Take a screwdriver or needle nose and bed the tab a little bit, works fine after that.

Angle of screws could be more accessible

Great idea but angle of screws is just a bit too shallow; bit hit edge of box so it was very difficult to keep a bit on the screw to drive it in smoothly.

trash

Echoing the other reviews. The clamps are needlessly hard to open. The Southwire documentation is terrible. Getting it parallel with the sheet rock is needlessly difficult. This is just a terrible product all around.

Much better than the sheetrock tab boxes

I have always used the old work boxes that have tabs to hold against the sheet rock. They work OK, but can be a pain to get just right and they don't always have good holding power (for light fixtures etc.) These are great as they mount positively to a stud with screws thru the side. I will say I did have some trouble with the included screws and swapped them out for some coarser threaded ones with torx heads to make them easier to drive. All in all a great option for old work installs.

Internal Clamps Are Showstoppers

Thought I'd try one. Nice box, great mounting alternative but internal cable clamps are a disaster. Can't easily feed wire though clamps as they are far too stiff, have to fight feeding wire through! Clamp opening appears to take only one wire. Clamps need a redesign. Carlton old work box clamps are much better!.

Needs improvement

The design is good in that it allows you to replace a box without opening up the drywall, but the execution is a bit lacking. The screws are way too short (only 1.5" total) to actually bite into the stud if you actually want to exercise that "depth adjustment" feature in any meaningful way and the cable clamps are so aggressive that you will have to destroy the entire box if you need to adjust the Romex in any way once you initially pull it through. If I really need to use one then I swap in so...

Remodel

Smart design. This will be helpful when I remove an existing box to add a new ceiling fan.