Re-wire idea - advice sought

[charlie30]

Hi flameport,

The internal walls are breezeblock, and can be chased easily. The material though solid is easy to cut, and I had planned to chase from the floor up to the socket heights.

Fortunately my lighting circuit is fine, the switches for these have already been chased in. The lighting circuit is concealed in metal pipe in the ceiling itself, which I found strange as this is ideally how all other circuits should have been installed originally.

I do like the idea of steel conduit around the base of the walls and will investigate this option.

I may not have been very clear on this, the floor is being raised anyway throughout the flat. We have done this to our kitchen already and found it a very good solution to the existing poor state of the floor. The kitchen's walls were plasterboarded over (dot and dab) to accomodate the wiring. My electrician is coming back to do 2nd fix in the kitchen next week and I will float all these ideas to him, no matter how floored they are!

Cables in the floor won't achieve much - how are the cables getting from the floor to the sockets on the walls?
How is the lighting going to be done? No use putting lighting cables in the floor.
To avoid inevitable damage from nails etc., they should be in steel conduit. However if doing that, why not just put steel conduit around the base of the walls and fit extra thick skirting to cover it? No need to refit doors then.

It is likely that the plastic skirting with sockets in it was used for a very good reason - the walls will be a solid concrete slab which you won't be able to cut into.

The usual options for concrete box properties are:
1. If steel conduits were fitted when the place was built, pull new wires through and keep the sockets in the same positions, possibly adding extras (singles to doubles, etc).
2. If the walls can be chased, run cables at ceiling level and fit coving to cover them. Vertical chases down to the sockets.
3. If the walls are solid concrete, surface fix the new wiring and line the whole place with plasterboard (preferably the type with insulation on the back).
4. Concrete ceilings without conduits only have one option - line with plasterboard.

 

[charlie30]

ban-all-sheds, 50mm, unless protected?

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[sparkydude]

Hi Just wanted to throw my two penneth worth in, Who says your lighting is fine???? you as its buried in steel pipe or your electrician who has tested and inspected the wiring ??

If its steel conduit then it may have been re-wired with new cables, but then again it might not , take his professional oppinion on this and do not form your own .

Nick

 

[ColJack]

stick some big coving up, then the cables can run in the 150mm behind them... simples...