New wiring behind skirting boards?

[DICEGEORGE]

Wiring behind skirting boards
could be easier than a channel in plaster
or drilling holes in floor joists,
but how to do it?

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/Rewiring_Tips
says: "Wiring can be run in modified wooden skirting board incorporating sheet steel between wood and cable."

Easy to cut a rough horizantal channel in the plaster or brick or stone behind the skirting, but what kind of steel could cover it? Isn't an RCD good enough to protect it?

Andy why shouldn't I replace the existing 1970's sockets
which are in the skirting board?

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/Electrics,_Socket_Chasing_(Flush_with_wall)
says
"Decide where you need your socket,
bearing in mind that they should not be placed on skirting boards or in bathrooms."

george

[spuorg...@gowanhill.com]

On Tuesday, 14 February 2017 15:08:25 UTC, DICEGEORGE wrote:
> http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/Rewiring_Tips
> says: "Wiring can be run in modified wooden skirting board incorporating
> sheet steel between wood and cable."

If it's an earthed protective barrier complying with relevant BS / EN standards (like conduit)

Sockets can be in skirting boards if
- there's enough height from the floor the flex from the plug won't be kinked or crushed
- the sockets won't be kicked or bashed by vac cleaners etc
- the back box comes tight up to the front face of the skirting so the socket is fully enclosed in non-combustible enclosure

Owain

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <f2bcf177-cc36-42ad...@googlegroups.com>,

DICEGEORGE <diceg...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Wiring behind skirting boards
> could be easier than a channel in plaster
> or drilling holes in floor joists,
> but how to do it?

If you have a suspended wood floor, I'd say it would be more work to run
the cable behind skirting boards. Making them fit neatly after removing is
far more difficult than re-laying floorboards. It will also cost you more
in cable.

--
*If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest have to drown too?

Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Robin]

And as a short-term bodge I've been known when replacing a socket in
skirting board to fit it upside down. I expect that is a very naughty
thing to do - although I'm not sure why if the plugs are moulded on (so
no IP rating problems) and I've never seen manufacturer's literature
mandate "this way up" for sockets:)



--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

[Graham.]

Quite.
I don't think it's really a bodge, it's more just going against
convention.

Other countries don't seem to be as anal about this.
Also, if you look at a selection of wall-warts you are likley to find
some from the Far East with labels stuck on in such a way as to
suggest the manufacturer thought our earth pin pointed down.


--

Graham.
%Profound_observation%

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <26b6ac993rujq6dhj...@4ax.com>,

Graham. <graham...@mail.com> wrote:
> Other countries don't seem to be as anal about this.
> Also, if you look at a selection of wall-warts you are likley to find
> some from the Far East with labels stuck on in such a way as to
> suggest the manufacturer thought our earth pin pointed down.

I've got wall warts with the cable exit on top and underneath. Usually the
wrong way for where it is used.

--
*How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.*

[Harry Bloomfield]

Dave Plowman (News) submitted this idea :

> If you have a suspended wood floor, I'd say it would be more work to run
> the cable behind skirting boards. Making them fit neatly after removing is
> far more difficult than re-laying floorboards. It will also cost you more
> in cable.

Just for completeness - You can also buy floor outlet sockets, as often
used in office premises.

They just fit in a hole cut in the floor, usually concrete, but...

[Brian Gaff]

Its to stop the idiot that nails and screws things to skirting boards.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
bri...@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"DICEGEORGE" <diceg...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:f2bcf177-cc36-42ad...@googlegroups.com...

[Tricky Dicky]

When we moved into our last house it needed a re-wire with quite a number of sockets mounted on surface boxes secured onto the skirting. The inserting and extraction of plugs caused much of the skirting to move this in turn caused the wiring to move against the floorboards and quite a few were worn through the outer insulation and nearly through the inner insulation. All the skirting trunking I have seen does not allow the mounting of sockets in the trunking instead they are mounted directly above the skirting trunking.

Richard

[spuorg...@gowanhill.com]

On Tuesday, 14 February 2017 18:53:44 UTC, Tricky Dicky wrote:
> All the skirting trunking I have seen does not allow the mounting
> of sockets in the trunking instead they are mounted directly
> above the skirting trunking.

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/Surface_wiring_tips#Skirting_boards

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/Surface_wiring_tips#Dado_Trunking

Owain

[DICEGEORGE]

50mmx50mm galvanised trunking like this?
http://www.discount-electrical.co.uk/section.php/110274/1/50mm-x-50mm-galvanised-steel-trunking
or is there any smaller?
- its only for one cable for a ring main!
[george]

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <3f474fb8-e750-4f05...@googlegroups.com>,

I'd be worried about the standard of construction of the rest of the house
if inserting and removing plugs from a skirting mounted socket causes the
skirting to move. ;-)

--
*Why isn't 11 pronounced onety one? *

[Tricky Dicky]

Regards Dado trunking, well it's name implies where it is ideally used. The photos provided as evidence of its use as skirting trunking amply demonstrate why it should not be used this way it's profile puts the various sockets and the connectors that go in them right in the firing line for vacuum cleaners, furniture and somebody's size 10s. Just because it can be used this way is not necessarily best practice.

The Kent trunking I concede is a dedicated skirting trunking but it must be about 200mm tall, low profile and the sockets are mounted in the upper half certainly above the height of the sort of skirting found in most modern housing. Tower have a skirting system which is a direct replacement for modern skirting but supply adaptors to allow cables to exit the trunking into sockets mounted in surface boxes above the skirting trunking.

Richard

[spuorg...@gowanhill.com]

On Wednesday, 15 February 2017 03:14:19 UTC, Tricky Dicky wrote:
> The Kent trunking I concede is a dedicated skirting trunking
> but it must be about 200mm tall,

Actually it's only 150 mm tall and 35mm deep.

Owain

[DICEGEORGE]

OK the sockets can go a foot vertically above the skirting in the wall,
cables coming down to behind the skirting,
so no risk of movement or fire
and all wiring is in permitted zones,
but i still dont know what kind of steel conduit to use
or a steel strip over the cable behind the old wooden skirting?

( The fool who might later drill or nail through the skirting is me! )

[george]

[DICEGEORGE]

Photo of the beams and old wires here:
https://dicegeorge.wordpress.com/2017/02/15/orange-skirting-board-to-do-wiring-where/?iframe=true&theme_preview=true

I dont want to cut or drill into the oak joists if at all possible,
but slipping the wires in the gap between warped rafters and the floorboards doesnt seem right to me.

[george]