safe zones can you help

[UKMICKY]

Chasing out for the electrics in my kitchen above the work surfaces to keep costs down before electrician comes in January to put in new ring and have hit a problem in the shape of a small window.

To keep the runs in the safe zones im cutting the chase so the cable will run straight out of the side of one back box into the side of the next.

However i have a small window directly between two of the sockets which would require the cable to be run down about 5 inches and around the bottom of the window and back up 5 inches to continue the line to the side of next socket.

The floor is concrete so i cant go down and under floor boards and i cant go up as i have another small window. If i were to go under around the window will that be acceptable , if not could it be made acceptable with the appropiate conduite. He was going to run cable in white plastic looking stuff

I've tried calling electrician but he is on his christmas holidays.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

If you can't go up or down, it will need to be mechanically protected or buried at least 50mm deep in to the wall.
So mechanical protection can be by form of, for example metal conduit or an earthshield or armoured cable.

You could go under the worktop, then have the cable showing and not buried, ie clipped direct or run in surface mounted trunking.
Coming up and down beneath the outlets.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I've tried calling electrician but he is on his christmas holidays.

In all decency you should wait until he is back.

You'll be expecting him to sign a certificate to say that he did it all, and that includes choosing and creating the cable routes, so it's only right that you defer these sorts of decisions to him.

 

[ajrobb]

or buried at least 50mm deep in to the wall

I thought there were depth limits for horizontal chases, so might not be simple. I like the idea of taking it down under the counter and running on the surface. If the electrician doesn't like it, he doesn't have to use it, so accept you might be wasting your time.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I thought there were depth limits for horizontal chases.

No it applies vertical chases too, but the 1/6th and 1/3rd rule must be appied to, concerning the depth of chase in relationship with the brick/block work.

 

[ajrobb]

I thought there were depth limits for horizontal chases.

No it applies vertical chases too, but the 1/6th and 1/3rd rule must be appied to, concerning the depth of chase in relationship with the brick/block work.

So yes, there are shallower limits for horizontal chases that make it unlikely in typical masonry to get the top of the cable at least 50mm below the surface outside prescribed zones.

 

[ColJack]

or whack it in steel conduit..

you could always stud out the entire wall with 2x2 .. this gives you plenty of room to put cables and sockets etc...

 

[sparkwright]

This is a kitchen, but you don't say if you have a continious run of kitchen floor cupboards between the sockets. If you have, chase down, then run the cable across surface, then chase up.

If there aren't any low level cupboards here, perhaps you have a low level socket somewhere along this wall. If you do, you can chase the horizontal bit in line with the low level socket. This would make the cable in a safe zone.

You can have horizontal chases within 150 mm of the ceiling. You may be able to run the cable in a ceiling void.

 

[UKMICKY]

Thank you all.

I will try to post a picture or diagram.

The electrician told me what to do but i had plaster board stacked up in front of the small window so he didnt realise the problem.

The steel conduit is an idea though as i do have some that came out of the wall we knocked down or he could just buy new.

 

[UKMICKY]

I came up with a solution to the problem ,it was either the electrics or the window and the electrics won so i got rid of the window

It was 12'' wide and 30 inches high ,it wasn't double glazed,was rusty and looked horrid so i bricked it up and now have everything running in safe zones.

One more thing please.

The work surface down lighters which you place behind the pelmets how do most people power them. Do most people give them a dedicated socket and switch.

As I was thinking putting a fused switch powering a hidden socket above the cupboards.

 

[riveralt]

The work surface down lighters which you place behind the pelmets how do most people power them. Do most people give them a dedicated socket and switch.

As I was thinking putting a fused switch powering a hidden socket above the cupboards.

Follow the instructions given to you by your electrician, since he will be signing off your work or wait until he comes back from his holiday.

 

[bernardgreen]

Mine are run from the lighting circuit. Reason is that they will still be lit if the power to the sockets is tripped by an accident on the work surface when loss of lights will add to the problems. ( such as boiling water spilt onto the base of the kettle and someone's hands )

 

[UKMICKY]

Just wondering as its easier to cut out the socket holes now rather than wait for him to come in the new year, that way i get the dusty jobs over and done with.

And in the words of the wife please no more dust.

 

[UKMICKY]

Mine are run from the lighting circuit. Reason is that they will still be lit if the power to the sockets is tripped by an accident on the work surface when loss of lights will add to the problems. ( such as boiling water spilt onto the base of the kettle and someone's hands )

Thats an idea.

Another question

The electrician said that under the regs he has no choice but to run a new ring just for kitchen and couldnt just extend the old ring..

Is a new ring required

 

[bernardgreen]

The floor area served by a ring is limited so he may have to install a new ring for the kitchen. But the advantage of being able to isolate the kitchen power and still have power in all other rooms makes it sensible to have the kitchen on its own ring.