Reinstating a proud socket-front

[cjanker]

Hello.

It seems the previous owner of my house had a couple of double-sockets installed sometime in the dim and distant past. He used knockout boxes, sunk into the wall, with the socket fronts thus being proud of the wall.

Subsequently, he thickly replastered the wall on which the sockets are located, such that the sockets are now flush with the wall.

This was fine until recently when I decided to repair some plaster on the same wall, extending to the area surrounding the sockets. As a result, I am now looking to put in new sockets but would like them to be proud of the wall again. And I don't want to take the plaster off.

Is it safe to do this simply by putting spacers on the two screws that hold the socket front to the box? If not, is there an easy way to dig the knockout boxes out and bring them forward so that the fronts can sit proud on the wall again? Or is there some kind of 'collar' I can buy to sit between the box and the front?

Many thanks for the assistance.

 

[homespark]

I would say you need to reskim the plaster around the sockets so that the plaster covers over the edge of the backbox. Once set, chip off the excess plaster and use longer machine screws to fix the socket front.

 

[daytona]

you could buy surface extension boxes,cant remeber the exact size of the smallest one but its pretty skinny

17mm anyone?
EDIT
tbh im not sure i really understood the question