Sealing bricks for back box, Victorian house?

[Harry Bloomfield]

A normal, galv box, of decent quality should be perfectly adequate. I have never come across bare steel boxes, though in the very distant past they used black painted metal boxes, which could rust in time. If there is moisture in the wall, my concerns would not be about the box rusting, rather than risk of moisture on the live cables.

 

[robodelfy]

Have a look outside. Find where the socket is and look at the corresponding area on the outside.

Look for signs of damp on the wall, either from above or below.

Is there a broken or blocked gutter, perished flashing or broken/ missing roof tiles? What is the DPC like?

It's a terraced house, so it's the wall that joins with the neighbours house. I asked the neighbour, they have no damp issues.

Outside looks ok, nothing I can see. Some cracks in the paint/render but nothing major.

I'm wondering if it's more historical. When I bought the house years ago the roof was screwed, including no lead work between the houses, so this could have meant moistures coming down the wall, but why would it only effect the corner of the bottom room.

There are the hot and cold water feeds in this corner, and I noticed a tiny leak from one pipe from the boiler, just a drip.whether this could have affected that corner I don't know. But I don't see how it could have rusted out a bac box.

 

[robodelfy]

A normal, galv box, of decent quality should be perfectly adequate. I have never come across bare steel boxes, though in the very distant past they used black painted metal boxes, which could rust in time. If there is moisture in the wall, my concerns would not be about the box rusting, rather than risk of moisture on the live cables.

I know what you mean, I'm just unsure what could be causing it. The bricks seem fine, I might be over reacting as it was just one rusted box. It could be historical. It's just hard to know

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I know what you mean, I'm just unsure what could be causing it. The bricks seem fine, I might be over reacting as it was just one rusted box. It could be historical. It's just hard to know

Is the party wall a single brick or a double, or double with cavity?

Your neighbour would be less affected by moisture in your wall, in the latter example.

 

[robodelfy]

Is the party wall a single brick or a double, or double with cavity?

Your neighbour would be less affected by moisture in your wall, in the latter example.

I don't know. But it cant be single brick as I can see the wall is too thick. Their house is more modern too, so I imagine it was added on after. So it must be double brick, possibly double brick with cavity but in not sure how to tell?

 

[motorbiking]

Are you doing a lot of work and is your plaster shot? It doesn't look like it. But if you are. Its a days work to strip back to brick and install Celotex PL4025, which will give you 25mm of insulation, foil backing etc. PL4025 on the party wall and PL4060 on the external walls. Will make a big difference.

 

[robodelfy]

Are you doing a lot of work and is your plaster shot? It doesn't look like it. But if you are. Its a days work to strip back to brick and install Celotex PL4025, which will give you 25mm of insulation, foil backing etc. PL4025 on the party wall and PL4060 on the external walls. Will make a big difference.

Thanks, I'm just so behind already and I have various tradesmen booked in. Tenants meant to be moving in. I hadn't planned on insulating everything.

At some point I do want to look into it, and I know some people insulate the outside which of course affects the whole house rather than one room

 

[sparkwright]

A plastic back box, (also known as a pattress ), will do the job.
It may be a little deeper than a metal one by about 2-3mm but it would blend in with the socket face and not smack you in the eye when you looked round/plugged something in.
No modification necessary.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/2g-surface-box/89406

Surely this is completely unsuitable for the job in hand?

 

[RF Lighting]

Yes that surface box is completely unsuitable for flush mounting.

A flush galv box is the right product to use. If you are really concerned about corrosion perhaps you can paint the box with red oxide or some sort of bitumen based paint.

 

[robodelfy]

Yes that surface box is completely unsuitable for flush mounting.

A flush galv box is the right product to use. If you are really concerned about corrosion perhaps you can paint the box with red oxide or some sort of bitumen based paint.

Yeah I wouldn't use those standard plastic boxes. I did read in another thread someone used a dry wall plastic box successfully for the same reasons. Still, seems brittle.

I think I will just chip out the hole a bit deeper, and mix up some waterproof ad mix with cement and just line the cavity with it. It's the bare brick that lets moisture through. This is the best I can do for now I think, and could paint it also as you say

 

[RF Lighting]

Wrap the box in DPC so it is not in contact with any damp masonry

 

[HERTS P&D]

Thanks, I'm just so behind already and I have various tradesmen booked in. Tenants meant to be moving in.

Nightmare landlord alert!



Andy

 

[robodelfy]

Wrap the box in DPC so it is not in contact with any damp masonry

Yeah I read this could make the box sweat and maybe cause other issues. I think I'll try and dig it out further and render inside with waterproof admix.

 

[robodelfy]

Nightmare landlord alert!



Andy

I'm normally alright! It's been a crazy time

 

[Adam_151]

Yes that surface box is completely unsuitable for flush mounting.

A flush galv box is the right product to use. If you are really concerned about corrosion perhaps you can paint the box with red oxide or some sort of bitumen based paint.

I think you used to be able to get flush plastic boxes, but I only ever seem to come across them on on 1970s installs, deffo not a surface box or dryliner mi-used. Never seen them for sale. I'm not sure why they dont still do them (unless I'm mistaken). I cant have been the only one to have seen them?