Wiring behind skirting

Whilst browsing skirting I’ve learnt you can spec a cutout behind for running cabling. Is this an only thing to do? In the converted garage there is a mains loop tacked to the the top of the skirting and I’ve been wondering what to do to improve it before the kids get too old. Solid concrete floors so a pain to chase.

Putting cables there is not good practice and not allowed in the building regs. Hidden cables need to be in safe zones. You could put it in conduit, not especially pretty but easier than routing it properly (which would be the preferred option but much harder work)

I wouldn’t use wooden skirting, but you can get plastic trunking that looks like skirting and is ok to run cables in.
See it all the time in offices, often has separated channels to run power and comms cables .

Isn’t that skirting intended for speaker cables and similar rather than power cables?

Cable Safe Zones by Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr

To echo above data cables yes.

Power cables no.

I’ve loked at a wall i wanted to chase and eyed the angle grinder.

Decided against it and used a cold chisel in stead. Low and hold a diagonal lighting cable from somewhere to somewhere else.

Which now means no wall is safe.

Do it right.

the stuff you see in offices has the sockets on the front face – hence is a safezone by design.

just running your sockets from regular place to the skirting means its outwith safezone.

its a convenience thing in offices as layouts change often and its much easier to run stuff in trunks than to hide it in the wall.

fwiw if they have cut corners on something like that – what else have they cut that you cant see ….

Worked in a few houses where both water pipes and cables are run behind the skirting and also behind the door frame arictrave, you have no idea its there till it goes bang or you have water pouring out.

House a few months ago had a cable coming out of the wall and buried behind the skirting board that also had dry rot, so needed replacing, the cable was live and no plug socket attached to the live tails, luckily i saw it just before i crowbared the rest of the skirting off.

If you go ahead, youll know its ther but nobody else will know, and it may well injure them or kill them if they ever drill into it.