Running Cables

[Bubbauk]

Hey everyone, need some help running some cables.

First one is I am moving my adsl router into my meter cupboard so it is as close to my main phone point as possible, I am then going to run some cat5 cable up the wall into one of the front rooms, getting it into this room isnt a problem as there is already a huge hole where all the electric cables run up.

I need to then get the cable into the room beside it, I thought it would be a case of lifting the floorboards and running it into the room but not 100% sure on this as the floorboards seem very long and actually go under the wall?

The floorboards run from the front of the house to the back so I would assume the joists run the other way, the cable only needs to run about 1 meter from one front room into the other front room.

There is no issue with the wiring itself and fitting the network points etc as I have done this many times but have never ran cables around a house like this before.

I also need to get power to my garage, I was thinking of running some twin and earth cable from my boiler house with a plug on one end and a socket on the other, power will be mainly for lights and small devices like a heat gun, drill etc although potentially I will want to run a compressor and at some point down the line a welder, I would assume for the compressor and welder I would need to get some proper power sorted out but in the mean time will the twin and earth suffice?

Any help or advice on how to do this would be appreciated.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Woah there on the garage power.

1. Is the garage attached to the house, or separate
2. The power requirements for lighting is completely at the other end of the scale to the requirements for a compressor or a welder. Which is it to be. lights or welder. If a welder, what is the spec?

 

[Bubbauk]

Woah there on the garage power.

1. Is the garage attached to the house, or separate
2. The power requirements for lighting is completely at the other end of the scale to the requirements for a compressor or a welder. Which is it to be. lights or welder. If a welder, what is the spec?

Hi, thanks for the reply, garage is seperate from the house, welder is a long way away, I am talking 2 years or more but would like some light before then. I love working on cars and ideally would like to get into welding eventually and would probably just be minor things I would imagine. Compressor could be pretty soon possibly within the next 6 months although would be the smallest out there, something like this I would imagine.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_218740_langId_-1_categoryId_165727

I have done a bit of research myself but when it comes to electrics I would like to double check things and make sure its done right, if its not too expensive how much would a spark charge me to get it done right?

Thanks again
David.

 

[flameport]

the floorboards seem very long and actually go under the wall?

Probably fitted before the skirting, they may go under the wall if the wall is hollow. The solution is to cut the board above a joist so you can remove a short section.

I was thinking of running some twin and earth cable from my boiler house with a plug on one end and a socket on the other

Think again. T+E is not suitable for fitting into a plug of any kind and it isn't suitable for use outside or underground either.

 

[Bubbauk]

the floorboards seem very long and actually go under the wall?

Probably fitted before the skirting, they may go under the wall if the wall is hollow. The solution is to cut the board above a joist so you can remove a short section.

I was thinking of running some twin and earth cable from my boiler house with a plug on one end and a socket on the other

Think again. T+E is not suitable for fitting into a plug of any kind and it isn't suitable for use outside or underground either.

Hi, thanks for the reply, I will get another look at the floorboards next week and see what I can do, so do I just cut the floorboards with a jigsaw? I would think this could cut into the joist also and assume this is a bad thing?

Is the power something I should just leave to a spark and how much roughly would I be looking to spend?

 

[Taylortwocities]

Hi, thanks for the reply, I will get another look at the floorboards next week and see what I can do, so do I just cut the floorboards with a jigsaw? I would think this could cut into the joist also and assume this is a bad thing??

You need to use a circular saw set at exactly the thickness of the boards. If you go deeper you may cut any cables & pipes that may be under the floor.
Don't cut the joist.

Is the power something I should just leave to a spark and how much roughly would I be looking to spend?

It depends on all sorts of things and is not a DIY job.
You need to think for sure what you want to power. A simple oil free compressor is at least 1.5hp and will pull over a kW.
The size of cable etc will depend on a lot of things - including the distance of the garage from the house.
A registered spark is essential unless you are experienced with electrics.

 

[Bubbauk]

Thanks for the help, will get a proper electrician in then, dont want to burn down my new house or even worse kill myself, will have to wait a few months until I have some spare cash as there are more important things to be done, will just have to keep running an extension out of the living room window everytime I want to have light in the garage!

Regarding the cable run, I read on another forum its possible to use a hole saw to cut a couple of holes and feed the cable through for such a short run then just plug up the holes although not sure how I would go about this. I may have to buy a circular saw though, I do like buying tools

How do I know how deep the floor boards are?

 

[Monkeh]

Regarding the cable run, I read on another forum its possible to use a hole saw to cut a couple of holes and feed the cable through for such a short run then just plug up the holes although not sure how I would go about this.

You can get specially designed holesaws which cut a rebate to allow a cover plate to simply be dropped into place.

 

[flameport]

For only a couple of floorboard cuts, get one of these:
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/30120/
They are useful anyway, as a circular saw won't fit if you need to cut close to a wall or corner.

A jigsaw will be useless, as you won't be able to make the cut above a joist, so when the board is fitted back, there won't be anything to support it.
Jigsaws are also excellent for instantly slicing through water and gas pipes concealed under the floor.

 

[Monkeh]

Those things are a slow pain in the butt to use though, IME.