Any time we use retro boxes, the wall plates never seem to sit flush to the wall due to the retro ring sitting on top of the dry wall vs. behind it with a new work box. One fix is to simply use white caulk to fill the gap, but I'm curious if anyone else has found any other solutions.

we cut out the drywall the 1/8th of an inch to get our boxes to fit flush. We usually only see the problem when using Crestron keypads as their frames are so thick that the faceplates don't wrap around them properly.

Man, sometimes the simplest solution is the best. Thank you. Cannot believe I didn't think of that.

Some plates do it more than others. Leviton doesn't really have much of a gap at all, Pass & Seymoure has a pretty noticeable gap.

If you're away from a stud, you can use this type of old work box and you won't have that problem:

[Link: alliedmoulded.com]



If you next to a stud, you can use this type of old work box:

[Link: smarthomeusa.com]



And if you're wanting to do it cheap, you can use the normal plastic, or metal, "P" rings that can be taped into position, or hot glued, from the backside.

[Link: erico.com]

which retro boxes?

This.

The Carlon ones are thick.
Arlington LV1s (and LV2s) do not really have this problem.

Disregard if your locale makes you use closed back boxes.

+1.  The orange Carlon pieces suck.  Arlington are nice.

+1 on the Crestron. What a pain!

I like these.
Do any of the national distys carry those?

Arlington LVx FTW!

I've never had a problem with plates fitting the orange Carlon rings. Are you using the smallest sized plates?

Pretty sure the Erico's can be found at A*I. I buy them at one of our electrical suppliers as I found them for slightly less and they have a better location for us.

I like the Erico's when I need them but usually the Arlington's do the job just fine.

The Arlington boxes (LV1's and LV2's) are what we are currently using. Anytime we retrofit volume controls (Snap) there is always a small gap. Those Erico boxes look like a great idea.