Advice on chasing leads into solid wall for TV

[morqthana]

Have you considered doing the horizontal part inside the skirting?

Or a wireless TV.

 

[trojanhawrs]

@ebee The OP's intention is perfectly acceptable in the eyes of the wiring regulations - if you think it's bad practice then that's your opinion. I personally think a bit of common sense can be applied in assessing the likelihood of someone fixing things to the wall below knee height, or adding more sockets to a wall already littered with them.

 

[budest]

If that were the case then yes 100%, but for a 38x25mm trunking you'd need to chase out about 26-28mm (which would likely still be OK with 140 thick walls). I'm confident you would get all 4 cables through a 38x16 trunking with the lid off. You might want run a leg down from each box to maximise your bend radius (2 into each).
Just make sure you're happy with what's going in there, pulling new cables with connectors through's not going to happen, if you're going to use trunking rather than conduit I'd glue the lid on when you're done so a tug of the cables doesn't rip your wall back open.

Thanks again for your informative posts, mate.

I have decided to go for 25mm x 16mm trunking with the clip on lid as it's plenty for what I need it for - having bought a 2m length and tested it at home. I hear ya about not being able to add additional leads with connectors but given my needs, 2 x HDMIs, a Coax and an ethernet cable this trunking is ample, even thinking ahead, so I'm happy enough. This also airs on the extreme side of caution regards wall depth. I'm just being sure to be sure, as I can't have my OCD being triggered

D-Day is Friday, so I will post back with updates. If you hear nothing, then the house has collapsed, and I'm in the pub!

 

[budest]

Have you considered doing the horizontal part inside the skirting?

I have, as I have to take the skirting off any way to lay flooring, but as I'm using a chaser it's too big and bulky to ensure chase stays behind skirting. That said, surely a horizontal chase behind the skirting is the same as a horizontal chase further up the wall?

 

[trojanhawrs]

I have, as I have to take the skirting off any way to lay flooring, but as I'm using a chaser it's too big and bulky to ensure chase stays behind skirting. That said, surely a horizontal chase behind the skirting is the same as a horizontal chase further up the wall?

He's probably thinking there might be a gap at the bottom you can run your cables in, unlikely on a wet plastered wall though.

Thanks again for your informative posts, mate.

I have decided to go for 25mm x 16mm trunking with the clip on lid as it's plenty for what I need it for - having bought a 2m length and tested it at home. I hear ya about not being able to add additional leads with connectors but given my needs, 2 x HDMIs, a Coax and an ethernet cable this trunking is ample, even thinking ahead, so I'm happy enough. This also airs on the extreme side of caution regards wall depth. I'm just being sure to be sure, as I can't have my OCD being triggered

D-Day is Friday, so I will post back with updates. If you hear nothing, then the house has collapsed, and I'm in the pub!

Good luck! If they're still building on your site might be worth finding one of the plasterers and chucking him a few quid to patch it up.

 

[JohnD]

I have, as I have to take the skirting off any way to lay flooring, but as I'm using a chaser it's too big and bulky to ensure chase stays behind skirting. That said, surely a horizontal chase behind the skirting is the same as a horizontal chase further up the wall?

There is not usually plaster behind skirting. If there is, cut it away. A very superior way to fit it is to screw 18mm sq battens to the wall horizontally. One at exactly the height of the top of the skirting, and one about 18mm above the floor. Pack or shave them to be flat and level. You may have to tidy or fill the plaster, which should meet the top batten with no gap. Between them you can run phone, alarm, co-ax, LAN and speaker cables (but not mains voltage). If the plaster is exceptionally thick, use larger battens to match.

You only need a few small countersunk screws to fix the skirting to the battens.

If you have a hardwood floor, you can stain and varnish the skirting to match, and use brass screws. Otherwise just paint it white.

 

[trojanhawrs]

@JohnD If they've plastered to the floor, they've done that for air tightness which you're immediately undermining by breaking it out. I also don't know why you'd bother battening it out where you could just run the cables under the plaster.

 

[morqthana]

Because if you batten it out you can argue that the cables are not concealed, they are just in large surface mounted wooden trunking. Then you can put mains ones there if you want.

 

[ebee]

Because if you batten it out you can argue that the cables are not concealed, they are just in large surface mounted wooden trunking. Then you can put mains ones there if you want.

That might be pushing credibility somewhat? but I can see some logic therein!

 

[pete01]

^^ which is just nonsense

If you drilled into a coax or HDMI cable there is zero risk to life

I dunno I'd miss Emmerdale

 

[ebee]

I dunno I'd miss Emmerdale

Murdochcat said:
^^ which is just nonsense

If you drilled into a coax or HDMI cable there is zero risk to life.

Well I would accept near zero or perhaps even zero itself on a good day but Persons/Livestock/Property for a starter for 10 and then the main possible disadvatage of losing the TV or whatever and then having to perhaps spoil the decor too, an inconvenience that shopuld be considered perhaps.

Whichever way yoiu consider it then surely it must lay somehere between Not the Best Idea/A Bad Idea on a scale of 1 to 10 ?

I would certainly consider it as something to avoid in normal circumstances.

 

[endecotp]

I have, as I have to take the skirting off any way to lay flooring, but as I'm using a chaser it's too big and bulky to ensure chase stays behind skirting. That said, surely a horizontal chase behind the skirting is the same as a horizontal chase further up the wall?

I meant, using skirting that has a cable slot in the back - so that you don't need to chase into the wall.

 

[JohnD]

I've never had a house that's had skirting, with plaster behind it right down to the floor.

 

[budest]

I've never had a house that's had skirting, with plaster behind it right down to the floor.

I will get a look on Friday when I take the skirting off and I'll report back.

 

[morqthana]

And if it's been glued on you may indeed find that you don't then have plaster all the way down to the floor