position of back boxes

[Alan Steven]

Hi,
I have recently had my house rewired and am in the process of plastering around the sockets. A relative, who is helping me and is slightly more knowledgeable in these matters than myself, has queried the fact that some of the backboxes are not completely recessed, or at least that the fronts of the boxes concerned are not flush with the wall surface. Should I be querying this with the electrician or is there if the front protrudes slightly?

Alan

 

[EFLImpudence]

Yes, query it - not right as it is.

Did the electrician think the walls were to be plastered?

I would also say the hole in the plasterboard is too big; you shouldn't have to fill around it - except for excusable damage.

 

[John D v2.0]

It's probably going to stop the sockets sitting flush unless you skim the whole wall, so I'd recommend querying it.

 

[securespark]

Looks like stranded cable in that socket in the first picture.

Is the front of the socket in the second picture damaged?

 

[Alan Steven]

Skimming the wall after the work had been done was never mentioned when we discussed the original requirements. I actually plan on removing the wallpaper and painting. To help my discussion with the electrician, what is the impact of the back box sticking out. Presumably, its front should be level with the wall surface?

 

[JohnW2]

To help my discussion with the electrician, what is the impact of the back box sticking out. Presumably, its front should be level with the wall surface?

Usually just slightly below the finished wall surface.

The impact is only really cosmetic/aesthetic, but I wouldn't want that in my house.

It's so obvious that it is sticking out that, as others have implied, I can but presume that the electrician was thinking that the wall was going to be skimmed, even if that had not been discussed/mentioned. Either that or he is an idiot!

As Secure has said, it does look as if at least some of the cables have stranded conductors, which one would not expect. You might want to also ask the electrician what cable he has used, and why.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Alan Steven]

Skimming the wall after the work had been done was never mentioned when we discussed the original requirements. I actually plan on removing the wallpaper and painting. To help my discussion with the electrician, what is the impact of the back box sticking out. Presumably, its front should be level with the wall surface?

Or rather level with the wallpaper or paint.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Yes, as said, the socket (probably) will have a space between it and the wall when fitted.

It may have a small rebate that fits over the backbox but not all do.
Yes the backbox should at least be flush with the wall, if not a millimeter or two below.

It's difficult to tell from the pictures how much they actually protrude.
As I said, the hole in the plasterboard is far too big.

 

[EFLImpudence]

As Secure has said, it does look as if at least some of the cables have stranded conductors, which one would not expect. You might want to also ask the electrician what cable he has used, and why.

It might be a nice radial in 4mm².

 

[JohnW2]

It might be a nice radial in 4mm².

It might.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Lectrician]

Looks like 4mm and 2.5 :-/

 

[securespark]

That's what I did think...

Maybe a leg of the ring goes through insulation?

 

[Alan Steven]

Apologies for the novice's questions.
i) What is the significance of the stranded conductors? Is this good or bad?
ii) What is the significance of the cable type? What is good and what is bad?

 

[chivers67]

It's Stranded 4mm nothing to worry about as such though a rule of thumb is insulation up to but not touching which isn't the case as you can see a tiny bit of exposed copper. It's good practice to earth the back box lug with a link that I can't see. It's not a disaster before someone chirps up but most decent electricians would do this. (though the left had back box fixing will effectively earth the box once screwed in)

 

[JohnW2]

Apologies for the novice's questions.
i) What is the significance of the stranded conductors? Is this good or bad?
ii) What is the significance of the cable type? What is good and what is bad?

To expand on what chivers has said ...

(i) .... as he said if it's 4mm² 'twin and earth' (standard house-wiring) cable, that would be fine - that is stranded. However, socket circuits are most commonly wired with 2.5mm² cable. 2.5mm² twin and earth does not have stranded conductors (just single 'solid' cores) - but 2.5mm² flex (i.e. 'flexible cable' - not usually used for fixed house wiring) does have stranded conductors

(ii) ... As above, house wiring is usually in 'twin and earth cable'. If it were flex, that would probably not be unacceptable, but it would be unusual (and most electricians would not do that).

So, if you want to ask your electrician about this ... if he says that it is 4mm² twin and earth, then that's fine. If he says it's flex, you might ask him why he has used that.

Kind Regards, John