Something we didn’t consider when buying, there is only 1 single socket in a lot of the rooms! And in the study the phone line is on the opposite wall to the plug!

So the need to add sockets has taken priority over updating the rest of the general 70’s/80’s/90’s-ness of the decoration.

But with 2p and half a mars bar as the budget, and already having to pay a plasterer to go over all the artex, paying an electrician to do the whole job is out of the question, at least for the the simple bits. The whole house is brick/block, there’s not a single stud wall to make life easy, and paying an electrician, electrician rates, to do the channeling definitely out.

So I was thinking we could run maybe 4 wires from the consumer unit in the garage on the side of the house,
1) livingroom, hallway and study
2) dining and conservatory (kitchen is fine).
3) rear bedrooms
4) front bedrooms (bathroom is fine)

All those areas can be reached from inside the garage and drill straight through the wall.

I could then replace the skirting with that hollow stuff and run the wires in that around the rooms, drill through a few walls and only having to channel the last 250mm or so upto each socket? The other option is to do it properly and channel everything, rip up floorboards etc, but we’d rather avoid that much mess!

Leaving the only jobs to pay the electrician for:
Isolating all the old circuits (not complicated, but a bigger penalty for failure if we miss one!)
re-wiring the lights (if needed, we’ve not figured out what’s on what fuse yet and if they share circuits with any of the exiting plug sockets)
Connecting the new consumer unit

I’d rewire each room properly as you decorate it adding as many sockets as you need, then get BC to sign off the whole lot when you’re done (which could be many years hence).

your plan worries me.

Do it properly or dont **** with it and live with what you have – but prioritize getting it sorted.

adding load to already old wiring – scary prospect

“I could then replace the skirting with that hollow stuff and run the wires in that around the rooms, drill through a few walls and only having to channel the last 250mm or so upto each socket? The other option is to do it properly and channel everything, rip up floorboards etc, but we’d rather avoid that much mess!”

– think about it long term.

Do it now before you decorate it NEEDs doing – an that hollow skirting looks shit – obvious and screams bodge when you come to sell…..if you decorate before you do any of this it will bite you when it needs doing or worse……

Ive got this tee shirt – only i already budgeted for it before i started as i knew it hadnt been touched since the 50s.s before i bought it. – found original bakelite circular back boxes behind the modern switches !

I agree with trail rat. Don’t do a cowboy job… Putting electric cables where folk wouldn’t expect to find them is lethal.
I had a similar problem, but with living in a bungalow everything was more accessible – I ended up cutting the chases in the walls myself, ready for the electrician.

“Something we didn’t consider when buying, there is only 1 single socket in a lot of the rooms! “

Didn’t it get a mention in the survey report?

“But with 2p and half a mars bar as the budget, and already having to pay a plasterer to go over all the artex”

I’d get the Artex tested for Asbestos before you go cutting chases in to the wall for new sockets. It’d be highly irresponsible to plaster over it, then let someone hack away at in the future without even knowing that they may be at risk of exposure to Asbestos containing materials.

Health risks of Artex

It doesn’t sound like you’re familiar with electrics.

Houses are wired with a ring main. Usually 1 for down sockets, 1 for up sockets. Down lights and up lights will have their own fuses/breakers.

A ring main doesn’t seem to make much sense to a novice but what it does is increase the current that the cabling can support. So if you were to add sockets you should always extend the ring to include them, not just spur off and have a line of sockets being fed from one point.

And get somebody in to help who can give you a part P certificate.

I’m not a sparky myself, but I can do minor jobs under supervision. What I do is call my mate (qualified electrician and lecturer of apprentices) who tells me in pedantic detail what to do. I then do it and he comes in afterwards to check my work, tests it and writes out the certificate. I also have to listen to him go round the whole place pointing at stuff muttering “not up to current standard” but it’s a small price to pay.

I would find a willing sparky, and then agree with him that you will do the dirty work and he can come in, terminate and test everything and sign off.

There are regs for everything so cable sizes will need to be agreed, and get him to draw socket locations for you as they have to be certain heights etc.

“I would find a willing sparky, and then agree with him that you will do the dirty work and he can come in, terminate and test everything and sign off.”

Thats what i did – find him first – his knowledge is invaluable- the hard part is finding a spark whos willing to do a rewire – most want the easy money of new build wiring on price rather than the hassle of retrofit.

The fact youwant to do the dirty work will make things easier for you. Dont be tempted to leave the old wiring – rip it all out. It makes things easier and safer in the future.

Didn’t it get a mention in the survey report?

They all work, there’s just not enough of them.

I’m familiar with how a ring main works, which is why I was wondering if it was possible/practical to avoid having to go into the walls to install it as it would mean having to rip out the floorbards upstairs to install the whole of the downstairs circuit, then either repeat the process or find the money all once to do the upstairs.

If it was just skirting then doing the ring part of the job could be quite quick and simple and not involve disturbing floorboards, sockets could then be added when we got to that room.

I would find a willing sparky, and then agree with him that you will do the dirty work and he can come in, terminate and test everything and sign off.

There are regs for everything so cable sizes will need to be agreed, and get him to draw socket locations for you as they have to be certain heights etc.

That was/is the plan, the skirting was just to avoid the dirty work.

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Safe_zones_for_electric_cables

read that – – now unless your hollow skirting is made of 3mm steel then your not going to be able to install cables in them.

read that – – now unless your hollow skirting is made of 3mm steel then your not going to be able to install cables in them.

Presumably there’s some distinction between hidden cables and those in the skirting/architrave?

The stuff we were looking at was essentially a posh version of that.

The stuff we were looking at was essentially a posh version of that.

put it 3ft up then and complete the office look.

you live in an office?

*looks behind at a posh version of that in the office – and realises its stil horrible – no matter what veneer they put on it.

thats not what i had in mind when you said hollow skirting – i was thinking something alot less obvious than that – something you might actually want in your house.

edit *

something like that.

That’s **** horrible… and seems like a very easy way to knock a big chunk of cash off the value of your house.

That trunking pictured puts the cables in the safe zones being level with the sockets. Also wouldn’t be hidden as it is clear what it is, less so for skirting.

I’d hold off on the plastering the artex and prioritize this work. Start with the messiest jobs and get as many out of the way as possible before plastering and decorating.

the skirting was just to avoid the dirty work.

I’d have to echo the above, don’t bodge it. Do the chases properly.

The stuff we were looking at was

http://www.hm-online.co.uk/index.php

Not legal in the UK IMO and a bodge. Might as well just plug an extension lead in.

Did you manage to convice the mrs its a matter of safety an urgency and worth your money more than skimming some artex for looks!

Did you manage to convice the mrs its a matter of safety an urgency and worth your money more than skimming some potentially asbestos containing artex which might kill you in about 30 years if you just start hacking away at it and release the fibres bound up in the matrix for looks!

FTFY

Not legal in the UK IMO and a bodge

You can run cables within 15cm of the edge of a wall, although not 100% sure about skirting. If it’s been designed to protect cables then probably OK.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/ftotDz]Cable Safe Zones[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

Sorry , sounds to me like you need a rewire.

You can run cables within 15cm of the edge of a wall.

that’s a funny place to put skirting

Edit due to edit

although not 100% sure about skirting

look at the picture you posted

Do the chasing, mount the socket boxes, run all the cables in back to the board, then get a sparky to come in & wire the sockets & put them into the board.
Might as well stick a new split board in while its off.
The spark will likely need to upgrade the bonding before he touches anything.
Better now than once its all looking nice. I’d put the plasterer on hold if it were me.

Hang on a minute, when did any of this become a safety issue? The existing wiring is fine, safety certificate and everything. Our only concern was that the exiting wiring might not be upto handling more sockets than there currently are.

And the order of doing the work was never in question, anything to be done, has to be done before we decorate. The question was, is it possible to do it cheaper ourselves with hollow skirting than having to start knocking holes in walls (the answer being apparently no).

And artex, leave it, do nothing it’s fine, skim it, it’s fine. Make any attempt to move it and it kills everyone slowly and painfully. Why would you consider removing it to be in any way the ‘safe’ option.

The question was, is it possible to do it cheaper ourselves with hollow skirting than having to start knocking holes in walls (the answer being apparently no).

And artex, leave it, do nothing it’s fine, skim it, it’s fine. Make any attempt to move it and it kills everyone slowly and painfully. Why would you consider removing it to be in any way the ‘safe’ option.

Never suggested removing it.

The suggestion was to have it tested so you understand the composition of it. Then, when you do rewire the property by whatever means, drill into the wall to mount a TV screen / kitchen unit / shelf or bang a nail in for a picture, you are able to either :

a. Hack away at the walls and ceilings to form chases or drill to fix your surface mounted trunking with impunity coz’ your asbestos test confirms that there are no ACM’s present.

b. Given that your asbestos test positively identified the artex as an Asbestos containing material, you can safely remove the artex in the isolated affected areas using an appropriate paste and scrape technique before skimming over the rest.

If you don’t feel like paying for the test then paste and scrape anyway just to be sure.

Understanding the risks and managing them “safely” is the “safe” option.