[miamicuse]

I just found the buried junction box for my pole/step lights. It was stucco-ed over.

After I chiseled out the stucco and pryed open the cover, I see a junction box in pretty bad shape.

The screw holes on this box are shot after 45 years.

I wonder if I get a weatherproof extension ring, something like this.

mount the ring onto the concrete directly (can't use the messed up holes on the junction box), then put a cover over it. Would that work?

It's going to be a real pain to take out this box to replace with a new one.

 

[sparky48]

Don't know how you would mount that particular extension box directly to the concrete as it's the same size as the box that is buried in the concrete. They do make or at least used to an extension that had a lip extension around the perimeter (pic) that would possibly make it easier to mount to the concrete. Are you sure you can't run a threaded screw tap into a couple of the existing screw mounts. It might just be worth a try. The 3 on top don't look to bad or the center one on the bottom. Good luck.

 

[miamicuse]

I tried the three holes at the bottom, all three were literally turning into dust as I thread a screw in carefully. They are thoroughly corroded/oxidized. The three top ones are ok.

I am thinking if I use an extension ring, I can make a "permanent" connection to the box and never mess with taking the ring off, just need to open the cover to the extension ring whenever I need to.

I am now thinking of using a bigger 2 gang extension ring like this.

I have patched the stucco around the box.

I think with this bigger ring, I can use the top center hole to attach to the existing box behind. Then I will enlarge the four outside holes of the extension ring if necessary, so I can use Tapcon screws to attach to the masonry directly. That will leave the four holes for the blank cover.