Rewire specifications

winston1 · 29 Feb 2020

Are you in a wheelchair?

Do these this apply?

Part M requirements apply if:

a non-domestic building or a dwelling is newly erected
an existing non-domestic building is extended or undergoes a material alteration
an existing building or part of an existing building undergoes a material change of use to a hotel or boarding house, institution, public building or shop

xdrive · 2 Mar 2020

winston1 said:
Are you in a wheelchair?

Do these this apply?

Part M requirements apply if:

a non-domestic building or a dwelling is newly erected
an existing non-domestic building is extended or undergoes a material alteration
an existing building or part of an existing building undergoes a material change of use to a hotel or boarding house, institution, public building or shop

No I'm not in a wheel chair. I've decided to go with what feels right.

I'm happy with applying regs standard.

Thanks for all the help.

skenk · 2 Mar 2020

350mm away from internal corners is mentioned in the Scottish building regs

securespark · 2 Mar 2020

crystal ball said:
as I get older and stiffer

I wish!

xdrive · 12 Mar 2020

Done most of the boxes. I've left them protruding by 3mm so once skimmed will level up to it. (Just thought it would be better

)

Do electricians prefer earth on bottom or top. I have fitted boxes in but on sockets some I have positioned with earth at top. Not done switch yet but was going to face earth on bottom.

What is preferred? Cheers

Thanks

DetlefSchmitz · 12 Mar 2020

I prefer to put them so that, when standing in front of them, I can see the screw for the earthing point, without contorting myself.

crystal ball · 12 Mar 2020

securespark said:
I wish!

Ooooh matron, seriously there are tablets you can get

securespark · 12 Mar 2020

Yup. Even so, I wish!

ajohn · 13 Mar 2020

xdrive said:
Done most of the boxes. I've left them protruding by 3mm so once skimmed will level up to it.

Providing you can find a plasterer that can apply a 3mm skim. I've had 3 in and not a single one of them did.

xdrive · 13 Mar 2020

ajohn said:
Providing you can find a plasterer that can apply a 3mm skim. I've had 3 in and not a single one of them did.

How thick or thin was the skim?

ajohn · 13 Mar 2020

xdrive said:
How thick or thin was the skim?

It varies. First one did apply 2 coats - what they had in a bag so not much. decent result though. The other 2 didn't. One left some areas just a fraction of a mm thick that splintered and lifted when the mist coat went on. The other maybe 2mm max but varies and obviously well under that in places.

The problem in my case is down to the walls not being dead flat. It seems all plasterers that can apply 2 coats correctly just make videos on youtube. A typical plasterer can do a decent job on well erected plasterboard and going on my experiences will leave around a 1mm coat. This is why they fall short of skimming walls with a bit of a wavy surface.

Personally I would suggest you fully recess the back boxes and also get the plasterer to clear out what they manage to get in them. Leave that to set and then get it out - likely to flake and chip leaving some really fiddly filling to do. Leave them proud - pass - they'll probably just run it up to that thickness around them. Might work out, I'm not sure.

The problem seems to be that they just want to get in and out as quickly as possible and just don't have the skill to correct walls that are a bit out. It is near impossible with just one coat.

denso13 · 13 Mar 2020

ajohn said:
Personally I would suggest you fully recess the back boxes and also get the plasterer to clear out what they manage to get in them.

+1 for this. I don't think they'll be happy with boxes sticking out when trying to skim.

ajohn · 13 Mar 2020

denso13 said:
trying to skim

Trying seems to be the correct word. I had an elderly plasterer in a long time ago. Turned up with his 5ft straight edge. Not to scrape plaster with but to hold it off a little to check how even his work was. He had to stand there for about 20min before the finishing coat went on. Also talked about his previous job. Went something like " The kids today. Mix in the house and plaster dust gets all over the place and they never put enough on just to make an extra few quid." He'd had to redo the lot.

In all cases I have finished up with a flatter wall so a 2nd coat would have left a reasonable thickness but may have meant hanging around waiting for the first one to part dry. One even did a very wet mix so when he got to his version of polishing just moved the stuff about - loads went into the back boxes. This is the coat that has lifted and splintered.

xdrive · 14 Mar 2020

I spoke to a plasterer with excellent feedback. He said best go with flush but not to worry about few mm. No more than 3mm though.

Thanks for all the input.

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Rewire specifications

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