Tiling around electrical sockets?
Pete Dawson
I am about to tile (first ever tiling attempt!) an area above a new
kitchen bench and up to a cupboard. There are two electrical sockets in
this area.
Question? Should I just tile around the sockets, seems potentially very
fiddly. Or, unscrew them, tile to just under them and screw back down on
top of tiles if the screws are long enough. Suspect this may be just as
fiddly but would look better??
Any advice welcome....
Pete
Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot
"Pete Dawson" <peter.dawsonA...@no.spam> wrote in message
news:3DCAD42F...@no.spam...
I think it's best to tile under them. At least then you can get the socket
off the wall again, if needs be. If you cut up to the socket you'll have to
grout the gap or it'll look 'orrid. Unless, of course, you have a 'lectric
tile cutter, then you can get a nice clean edge around the socket.
Si
Inge Jones
peter.dawsonA...@no.spam says...
> Question? Should I just tile around the sockets, seems potentially very
> fiddly. Or, unscrew them, tile to just under them and screw back down on
> top of tiles if the screws are long enough. Suspect this may be just as
> fiddly but would look better??
Definitely look better! IMHO it really looks bodged when someone hasn't
bothered to remove a plug or switch face for decorating or tiling. I
even saw one where the wall had been replastered around a light switch
)-:
Dave Plowman
Pete Dawson <peter.dawsonA...@no.spam> wrote:
> Question? Should I just tile around the sockets, seems potentially very
> fiddly. Or, unscrew them, tile to just under them and screw back down on
> top of tiles if the screws are long enough. Suspect this may be just as
> fiddly but would look better??
Much easier and neater to tile behind them. You'll probably need longer
screws - the sheds sell them.
--
*Okay, who stopped the payment on my reality check? *
Dave Plowman dave....@argonet.co.uk London SW 12
RIP Acorn
Bill
ys.c...@no.spam> writes
>Hi,
>
>I am about to tile (first ever tiling attempt!) an area above a new
>kitchen bench and up to a cupboard. There are two electrical sockets in
>this area.
>
>Pete
>
Tile to just under them and screw back down on top of tiles and there
are longer screws available for just this purpose.
Good luck with the tiling.
-- Bill
Bodger
"Pete Dawson" <peter.dawsonA...@no.spam> wrote in message
news:3DCAD42F...@no.spam...
It's less fiddly to tile under: any rough edges get hidden and it looks
neater whatever. If you are not confident about cutting with a normal tile
cutter you can use a special tungsten carbide tile cutting thingy in a
hacksaw frame.
Bodger
Pete Dawson
Hey, thats unanimous then! Thanks to all posters.... Hadn't thought about the
sockets hiding the rough edges....
What a cool NG...
P
nightjar
"Bodger" <bod...@bodgmailnochance.com> wrote in message
news:aqeri1$irj$1...@news8.svr.pol.co.uk...
...
> It's less fiddly to tile under: any rough edges get hidden and it looks
> neater whatever. If you are not confident about cutting with a normal tile
> cutter you can use a special tungsten carbide tile cutting thingy in a
> hacksaw frame.
or a stone-cutting disk in an angle grinder. However, do make sure that the
tile is (1) well supported and (2) well clamped down. I recently came back
after a few days away to find my factory manager with a very large bandage
around his left thumb. He had been holding the tile down with his left hand,
while using the grinder in his right. The disk snatched, the grinder ran
away and he ground a slot in the side of his thumb, only just missing the
bone.
Colin Bignell
stuart noble
Pete Dawson wrote in message <3DCB05A9...@no.spam>...
>Hey, thats unanimous then! Thanks to all posters.... Hadn't thought about
the
>sockets hiding the rough edges....
the socket is in the middle of a tile. Easier said than done with existing
sockets of course.
Alan Darlington
Hi Peter,
I agree that it's much neater to tile behind the socket but before you
do you'll need to check one more thing. It's easy to get longer
screws but are the cables to the socket long enough to allow the
socket to come further away from the wall?
Regards,
Alan
use...@isbd.co.uk
this but that does seem rather silly. I'll hold a (small) power drill
with one hand but not an angle grinder, even a mini one.
--
Chris Green (cgr...@x-1.net)
stuart noble
>Well I thought I was sometimes a bit 'uncareful' doing things like
>this but that does seem rather silly. I'll hold a (small) power drill
>with one hand but not an angle grinder, even a mini one.
one hand, tile in the other. There's such a lot of clearance in the slot it
cuts that you'd have to try very hard to get it to kick.
IMM
"Pete Dawson" <peter.dawsonA...@no.spam> wrote in message
news:3DCAD42F...@no.spam...
Take off the sockets and get longer screws from the local electrical shop.
Tile "under" the sockets. Get yourself the B&Q rotzip thingy for £70 it is
superb for this type of work and will do many other tasks of ceramic, metal
and wood.
Dave Plowman
<nightjar> wrote:
> I recently came back after a few days away to find my factory manager
> with a very large bandage around his left thumb. He had been holding the
> tile down with his left hand, while using the grinder in his right. The
> disk snatched, the grinder ran away and he ground a slot in the side of
> his thumb, only just missing the bone.
Just as well he's only a manager, then.
--
*The average person falls asleep in seven minutes *
Jonathan Curtis
tiling before you even lay the first tile so that there are no thin strips
near the socket. My preference is to start by tileing around the socket and
then and then let that, to a degree,dictate the rest of the tiling layout.
You obviously need to make sure that there will be as few as possible thin
strips elsewhere!
Jon
Pete Dawson <peter.dawsonA...@no.spam> wrote in message
news:3DCAD42F...@no.spam...
Dave Liquorice
>> ...and he ground a slot in the side of his thumb, only just missing
>> the bone.
>
> Just as well he's only a manager, then.
He still has to sit on something though. B-)
--
Cheers new...@howhill.com
Dave. Remove "spam" for valid email.
Dave Liquorice
> ...are the cables to the socket long enough to allow the socket to
> come further away from the wall?
If they are so short that and extra 1/4" to 3/8" is going to be a PITA
how on earth did the socket get fitted in the first place?
Dave Plowman
Dave Liquorice <new...@howhill.com> wrote:
> If they are so short that and extra 1/4" to 3/8" is going to be a PITA
> how on earth did the socket get fitted in the first place?
Some electricians seem to delight in making the tails as short as
possible. Could be those few inches of cable per house add up over the
years.
--
*Funny, I don't remember being absent minded.
Dave Liquorice
> Some electricians seem to delight in making the tails as short as
> possible. Could be those few inches of cable per house add up over
> the years.
Wow, yeah. A whole 50 drum of 2.5 that costs about a £10...
stuart noble
Dave Liquorice wrote in message ...
On Fri, 08 Nov 2002 23:12:43 +0000 (GMT), Dave Plowman wrote:
> Some electricians seem to delight in making the tails as short as
> possible. Could be those few inches of cable per house add up over
> the years.
>Wow, yeah. A whole 50 drum of 2.5 that costs about a £10...
Short tails is a classic d-i-y blunder. I should know..
Dave Plowman
Dave Liquorice <new...@howhill.com> wrote:
> > Some electricians seem to delight in making the tails as short as
> > possible. Could be those few inches of cable per house add up over
> > the years.
> Wow, yeah. A whole 50 drum of 2.5 that costs about a £10...
And a box of grommets costs less. As do screws and wall plugs. Doesn't
stop many of them omitting the former and using anything they can find
round the site for the latter...
I did some work on a 'new' house recently. Well, it was about 15 years
old, but had only had one owner and not been touched wiring wise from new.
No grommets or earth sleeving. No tails from sockets to boxes. Boxes
'fixed' with any old nails or screws. Only one depth of box (25mm) used
throughout regardless - even for the cooker socket.
Think the money saved had to pay for the helicopter.
--
*Proofread carefully to see if you any words out or mispeld something *
Tony Williams
stuart noble <stuart'no...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> Short tails is a classic d-i-y blunder. I should know..
Old stone walls, put the cabling in, stapled
down, poking out where the switches and points
will be. All nice and tidy, plenty long enough.
Then the plasterers come in and, (because of the
wavy walls), end up with 3" thick plastering,
and I have to say a certain cavalier attitude to
the cabling.
Results? Short tails, some tails well away from
where they were left, and two tails disappeared
completely. :-((((
--
Tony Williams.
Peter Scott
edges aren't going to be seen it doesn't matter if they are rough. For
tricky shapes
I have sometimes cut one side of the inside of an 'L' with a holesaw- a kind
of
round abrasive blade fitted in the hacksaw frame. Then scribe the other with
a normal tile cutter and crack off. You need to support the tile on a board
with a slot
cut into it whilst using the holesaw or it'll split. Needs care but it works
a treat.
Peter Scott
Simon Avery
Hello Pete
> PD| Question? Should I just tile around the sockets, seems
> PD| potentially very fiddly. Or, unscrew them, tile to just
> PD| under them and screw back down on top of tiles if the screws
> PD| are long enough. Suspect this may be just as fiddly but
> PD| would look better??
Latter, definately. Just loosen the screws, pull it out a bit and
slide the tiles underneath.
Before I knew better I did a bathroom and didn't do that. I stood it
for three weeks before I removed those tiles and did it again
properly.
--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK
uk.d-i-y FAQ: http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/
Personal pages: http://www.digdilem.org/
Dave Plowman
Simon Avery <SPAM.B.GO...@softhome.net> wrote:
> Latter, definately. Just loosen the screws, pull it out a bit and
> slide the tiles underneath.
> Before I knew better I did a bathroom and didn't do that. I stood it
> for three weeks before I removed those tiles and did it again
> properly.
Surely if doing it properly you'd have removed the sockets completely? ;-)
--
*If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?
Pete Dawson
Simon Avery wrote:
Yeah, thanks mate, I'm convinced.
Pete
John Stumbles
> news:3DCAD42F...@no.spam...
> > Question? Should I just tile around the sockets, seems potentially very
> > fiddly. Or, unscrew them, tile to just under them and screw back down on
> > top of tiles if the screws are long enough. Suspect this may be just as
> > fiddly but would look better??
> It's less fiddly to tile under: any rough edges get hidden and it looks
> neater whatever. If you are not confident about cutting with a normal tile
> cutter you can use a special tungsten carbide tile cutting thingy in a
> hacksaw frame.
I find tile-cutting jigsaw blades work brilliantly for normal thin
tiles - you can cut all sorts of shapes quite quickly. They say to use
low speed on the jigsaw but I managed quite well with a fixed-speed
machine. The blades don't work so well on the thicker ('field'? type -
about 200mm * 150mm) tiles, though the hacksaw blades probably don't
either.
BTW I find normal tungsten carbide masonry drills (used without hammer
action) work fine for drilling holes in tiles, at least for tiles
already fixed to the wall. I suppose they might crack loose tiles -
must give it a try.
John Stumbles
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