Socket alteration for dry-walling

[Nemo2000]

I'm having some redecoration done in my hall. One small wall has always suffered from cold/damp for various reasons, so the contractor has proposed to dry-line the wall - I've no problem with that. In that wall, down near the skirting board, is a 2-gang socket which feeds the telephone base-station and the burglar alarm (so can't be relocated elsewhere or simply removed). This socket is fixed in a 2-gang metal wall box and the ring main cables come up from under the floor through oval plastic conduit chased into the wall behind the skirting board .

The builder proposes to cut a 2-gang hole in the new plasterboard wall, put the sockets into a 2-gang drywall box, and bring the cable tails forward to connect into it. So far, so good, but... a preliminary investigation suggests that there (for whatever reason) there may be insufficient slack in the cables to reach the socket in its new position, especially as one cable comes up towards the LH end of the box and the other one towards the RH end of the box, but they will have to brought into the middle to pass thru' the hole in the drywall box. No way am I going to allow him to take up the recently-laid laminate floor to find some slack in the cable (if indeed there is any).

If the cables turn out to be just a little bit too short, then I see two options:-
1. Use WAGOs to splice short extensions pieces of 2.5mm T&E onto each cable and then connect both into the socket, or
2. Use WAGOs to join the two ring main cables together and add one extension piece only to the sockets.
The latter in effect would put the sockets on a spur, but that ought not to be a problem (except that in the future I would not be able to spur anything else of it). The former seems somewhat overkill IMHO simply to maintain the 'ring' integrity.

Have I missed any other options please? Would it be sufficient to just leave the WAGOs inside the old metal back-box or would they still need to be in their own containment?

 

[sparkwright]

It depends if the metal box can be left in the wall, and linger faceplate screws can be used.
Or if there is good reason to use a plastic dry-line box instead.
Is he planning on using tanking/bitumen on the brickwork first?
It's no bother extending each individual wire with a wago if you have room in the box.
Builders tend to be CRAP, utter CRAP, at electrical work - so consider asking for an electrician.

 

[Nemo2000]

I agree with your concluding sentiment

'Fortunately' I think he is planning just to cut the holes in the plasterboard and leave me to do the actual connections, which I would prefer. Overall he's full of assurances that "it will all be fine", but far less forthcoming on the actual details - I think he sees it as some sort of challenge to his expertise. Given that he mentions battens about 25mm thick plus the thickness of the plasterboard, I think any longer screws would be far too long to give a secure fixing (but worth investigating) , so I'm happier to have a drywall box put it.

 

[sparkwright]

Yes, you could remove the metal box, make a bigger hole in the brickwork, leave the wires temporarily joined, board over, and cut the dry-line box out.

 

[pete01]

If the wires are so short that they dont reach far enough forwards the socket could be really awkward to connect afterwards.

 

[Ragnar_AT]

As long as the Wagos are accessible, you could always spur from the Wagos in the future.

 

[SUNRAY]

As both cables come the same direction they could be removed from the wall and the dry lining box mounted lower.

 

[thomp1983]

How's the contractor dry lining the wall?

If he's dot and dabbing or foaming the plasterboard to the existing wall then I'd chisel out the existing cable runs now and temporarily fit both sockets into a surface mounted back box, on the day of the works you can then safely terminate the cables with Wago's and remove the sockets/back box while he carries out the dry lining and then when he cuts the new hole for the drying boxes the cables will be there hanging ready to be fitted into the new dry lining pattress box.

If you suspect the cables will be short then with the cable runs exposed you should be able to comfortably extend with maintenance free junction boxes.

 

[Nemo2000]

Apparently mounting the plasterboard on battens fixed to the wall. Having sadly proved a little bit unreliable so far - not turning up on the agreed days etc - I'm reluctant to start altering anything until I know he is on site. (Gone too far really to get someone else in to finish the work.) Had he carried out a proper investigation before quoting for the work, I would have delayed the start to allow myself more time to prepare the site.