• Holes for outlets need to be cut accurately when installing drywall.outlet image by Albert Lozano from Fotolia.com
  
  One of the trickier aspects of installing drywall is accurately cutting the required holes for outlets, light switches and anything else that is mounted on the wall. If these holes are too large, too small or off by even a fraction of an inch, you will have problems fitting the drywall. This is particularly troublesome because you will discover that you have a problem while holding a heavy 4x8-foot sheet of drywall in the air.
  
  

Measure Twice

• An old adage among woodworkers that is just as applicable to drywalling suggests that you "measure twice, cut once." Determine where your drywall sheet will go, and measure from where its side and bottom will install to where the outlet is on the wall. Write down horizontal and vertical measurements, and transfer them to the piece of drywall. Using a straight edge, outline the size of the outlet on the piece of drywall with a pencil. The hole for the outlet needs to be larger than the outlet for the drywall to fit over the outlet, but it should be smaller than the finish plate so that the hole is invisible when the finish plate is installed.
  
  

Cut the Hole

• Cut the hole in the drywall using a drywall saw, which is a small handsaw with a pointed blade that can be poked through the drywall with a bit of pressure. If you score over the exterior paper on the drywall with a utility knife before cutting it with the saw, you will get a cleaner cut because the saw won't tear at the paper as much. After cutting three sides of the hole with the saw, you can pop the piece of drywall out, and cut the back paper of the last remaining attached side with a utility knife.
  
  

Install the Screws

• Not all outlets have the same profiles. For some outlets, the rectangular hole that you have just cut will be all that you need. Others have two small screw holes for attaching the finish plate, located just above and below the rectangle of the outlet box. For these, cut a small extension of the rectangular hole at the top and bottom, using either the drywall saw or a utility knife.