Mounting electrical boxes to concrete


  #1  
Old 02-09-16, 06:21 PM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 98
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Mounting electrical boxes to concrete

Are the basic masonary (blue) screws with the PLASTIC ANCHOR you hammer in acceptable to mount a box to concrete?

as opposed to the tapcons or metal anchors I bet most guys prefer.
 
  #2  
Old 02-09-16, 06:26 PM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,939
Received 3,951 Upvotes on 3,544 Posts
I prefer Tapcons but they don't allow any wiggle room if the drilled hole is a little off so the plastic anchors are perfectly acceptable. Recommendation..... use three.
 
  #3  
Old 02-09-16, 06:40 PM
A
Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: USA
Posts: 1,499
Received 92 Upvotes on 84 Posts
Masonry (blue) screws are synonymous with the brand name Tapcon. If you use a plastic anchor you don't use a masonry screw - you use the screw that came with the kit (usually a standard machine screw).
 
  #4  
Old 02-09-16, 07:49 PM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 98
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
the one I am refering to are phillips blue coated screws that use a green plastic plug....
 
  #5  
Old 02-09-16, 07:59 PM
PJmax's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Jersey
Posts: 64,939
Received 3,951 Upvotes on 3,544 Posts
Usually when you use the plastic anchors.... they come with their own screws that are just steel with no coloring.

Name:  anchor.jpg
Views: 1589
Size:  3.0 KB


The screw below is a tapcon and goes directly into masonry with no anchor.

Name:  tapcon.jpg
Views: 1441
Size:  2.7 KB
 
  #6  
Old 02-10-16, 04:52 AM
pcboss's Avatar
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Maryland
Posts: 13,976
Received 194 Upvotes on 170 Posts
Plastic anchors and machine screws should be fine for most usages.
 
  #7  
Old 02-10-16, 05:44 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 98
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Are you generally using the name brand "tapcon" to describe all masonry screws?

What I used were 3/16 x 1-1/4 phillips blue coated masonry screws (not tapcons). I assumed they were not self tapping like the tapcons. So I used the green plastic plugs labelled for that size of screw and I used the right bit to drill for the plugs. The plugs were more cylinder like not like the ones pictured below that you see in the kits

I used them on 4 boxes and a few straps in my basement. Should I be concerned that I didn't use the right material?
 
  #8  
Old 02-10-16, 07:12 AM
I
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Near Lansing, Michigan
Posts: 9,785
Upvotes: 0
Received 45 Upvotes on 43 Posts
No concern, those expanding anchors are just fine for normal mounting of boxes and conduits on masonry. For a panel, I'd use something more substantial like Tapcon (or equivalent) or stainless steel lags w/ lead anchors. Even still that's probably more than is really necessary.
 
  #9  
Old 02-11-16, 11:07 AM
E
Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 647
Received 5 Upvotes on 5 Posts
a 10mm plastic expanding anchor has a pull out strength of over 1 ton.
 
  #10  
Old 02-11-16, 02:42 PM
CasualJoe's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 9,871
Received 185 Upvotes on 166 Posts
Many many years ago I used to buy 1/4" plastic anchors in boxes off 100 and #10 X 1" panhead sheet metal screws also in boxes of 100.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: