First fix, installing socket boxes

[craig1]

Hello,

When installing first fix cables directly onto breeze block would you

install the back boxes before plasterboarding, if not how far do you run

the cable/capping upto the socket box height. Is there a set distance in

order to prevent damage when cutting out for boxes. ie to prevent cable

damage and makink it easy to pull the cable into the box.

Thanks!

 

[Har_vey]

Hello,

When installing first fix cables directly onto breeze block would you

install the back boxes before plasterboarding,

Yes.

if not how far do you run

the cable/capping upto the socket box height. Is there a set distance in

order to prevent damage when cutting out for boxes. ie to prevent cable

damage and makink it easy to pull the cable into the box.

When you are re wiring then you would have to cut the brick out with the capping/cable in situ, so that would involve a combination of skill/patience/decent existing plaster and a sharp chisel with a big hammer.

Can't think of any reason why you would want to do it if you have the option to fit the box prior to the board though.

 

[craig1]

Thanks for the info,

Is there a set depth in which the socket boxes are sunk into the block

before the plasterboard is fitted to enable a flush fit after skimming?


craig.

 

[Har_vey]

If they are dry lining then you can normally get away with just fixing the box straight to the surface of the wall. By the time the board is put over the capping it will stand proud of a standard socket box anyway. You would need to sink cooker boxes though because they are obviously deeper.

If you are feeding the cables through the wall and as such have no capping runs, then the standard depth as far as i'm concerned would be the depth of a normal light switch box. That will mean sinking your socket box to about half of it's own depth.

Your plasterer will match the plaster to your box, so it doesn't have to be exact. Just a case of not making his job any more difficult than it has to be. If he is on site, always a good trick to ask him if he has a preference. Of course, if it's bricks you are fitting to, his preference might be worth jack ****

 

[dingbat]

Is there a set depth in which the socket boxes are sunk into the block before the plasterboard is fitted to enable a flush fit after skimming?

It depends!

If you use 25mm back boxes and 12.5mm plasterboard there's a good chance that, with dot-and-dab, the boxes will end up nicely flush without needing to be chopped in.

However, if the plasterboard is to be fixed to battens then you might want to consider using 35mm boxes (or even deeper) to achieve the same ends.

The answer depends on how far the finished (skimmed) surface will be from the original wall surface. Ask whoever is doing the boarding and skimming what they want. (In my experience, every single time I have been requested to sink the boxes half an inch I've come back for the second fix to find them more than half an inch below the finished surface!! This makes it very likely that you will end up with cracked plaster around the sockets)

 

[craig1]

CHEERS!


" merry xmas "