Got stuck for 3 hours on a simple wall plate because of a hidden nail

I was doing a standard install in an old house in Portland last week, just swapping out a coax plate. The screw wouldn't bite, so I figured the drywall anchor was shot. After messing with it forever, I finally pulled the whole plate off and found a tiny finishing nail, maybe from an old picture frame, driven straight through the back of the box. It took me way longer than the whole rest of the job to drill that thing out without wrecking the box. Anyone else find weird stuff blocking wall boxes in older places?

3 comments

3 Comments

felix_henderson541mo ago

Honestly that sounds like a skill issue more than a weird find. In Portland craftsman homes, finding old nails in boxes is super common. You should have checked for a blockage before trying to force the screw. A decent magnet or just pulling the plate first would have saved you most of that time.

grant.sam1mo ago

Yeah, I get where @felix_henderson54 is coming from, but man, sometimes you just get in a rhythm and miss the obvious step. It's easy to call it a skill issue after the fact, but we've all been there, rushing to finish a job. That feeling when you finally figure out the simple thing you missed is the worst. Solidarity with the original poster, because old houses are full of those little time-sucking surprises.

hugo_bennett1mo ago

Felix calling it a skill issue is a bit harsh... sometimes you just assume it's a bad anchor and go with the obvious fix. Pulling the whole plate first isn't always step one, especially if the screw is partly in. Old houses have a way of hiding the real problem until you're already deep into it. That tiny nail could have been bent or rusted in a way a magnet wouldn't even catch. It's just one of those frustrating things you learn from.