horizontal cable???

[sentinal73]

Hi all,

I've had an electrician round to give me a quote for some additional sockets and he has noticed that when the house got re-wired previously (June 2003) that in the kitchen there is a wall where a cable is channelled out horizontally

The wall in question is solid and the kitchen floor is concrete. A hole has been drilled from the dining room side of that wall at the bottom, a channel chased out vertically to socket hieght at the kitchen side and then a horizontal chase to the sockets. There are 2 sockets in total

My question is, the electrician said this was wrong, that you cant do horizontal wires. But how else can you do it, if the kitchen is already installed?

thanks

 

[JohnD]

you can channel cables horizontally, this is perfectly acceptable and is quite common in a kitchen where it is usual to have a number of sockets and switches in a row above the worktop.

however, you said the cable goes up vertically, then turns horizontal. If there is a socket where the cable enters from underneath, then turns sideways towards the others, that is OK. If not, there is nothing to indicate the route of the buried cable, and this is not acceptable, since there are no clues to prevent anyone drilling into the wall and hitting the concealed cable.

can you post a pic?

 

[sentinal73]

thanks, no its just a vertical cable then turns horizontal without a box being there. Its currently patched up with plaster so you can see where the cable run is

I plan to re-route the cable in time as i would like to remove the wall.... it was just a question really as i thought that horizontal cables are fine, like you say in kitchens where sockets are etc

thanks

 

[ebee]

I must admit that verticals are my preffered option and I try to avoid horizontals.
However, sockets in a row are ok and obvious.

The permitted zones, as per the regs , are verticals, horizontals between two, and 150mm (6") of corners formed by two walls and 150mm from ceiling (I don`t like those either but they are permitted)