Plastering over electrical cables

[mo7]

I obtained a quote to get my house rewired (the external walls are bare block at the moment).

The electrician says he will put the wires on the wall with plastic capping - the plasterer can then just plaster over it (hardwall) - the thickness of the hardwall and skim should be around 12mm so the wire will a) be covered and b) the thickness of plaster above the wire - although thinner- will be strong enough.

I dunno why he doesn;t want to chase them in even a little bit - which seems to be common practice.

Would doing the above be OK?

There are some internal walls which are being skimmed only so I imagine he will need to chase those as skim will obviously not be thick enough to cover a wire.

 

[flynnyman]

Yes sounds the norm

 

[smoother09]

Get him to chase them in bud he's just been lazy and making the job harder for us fellas. Plus that plaggy trunking is **** for hardwall u can push it through with your fingers

 

[DickBros]

It sounds standard to me for the blockwork with the channelling. He'll most likely just chase out the existing plaster on the other walls so why would he chase the blockwork on the new? By building regs he could even just plaster over the cable.

 

[flynnyman]

I did a job the other day and the chases were perfect and the trunking fitted snug but like what's been said about the plastic trunking bonding didn't stick to it so the chases would of been better wider to give the plaster something to stick to, it was done so I just pregrit them. But on a full wall being floated It will be sound but also worth pre gritting them for piece of mind, maybe an over kill but hey ho

 

[Jbeesy718]

I usually float n scrim over the the trunking then skim.

 

[superspread]

Get them chased in

 

[Carljenk]

I usually float n scrim over the the trunking then skim.

Snap

 

[Wezly]

The sparkys we follow, chases and tubes every thing, never any building out and always coils their cables into the box.

If they aint doing it like that, i'm not plastering it.

 

[smoother09]

Here here!! U end up using so much more gear on walls that should be straightforward and if u get a **** sparky that don't pin it back properly you end up pulling ya hair out. Walked off jobs with this shite in past arrrrghh!! Lol! :RpS_scared:

 

[mo7]

hmm, so sounds like it is acceptable/common but maybe not ideal.......?

I am awaiting his quote so will weight it all up. He seemed pretty good otherwise so it wouldn't be a deal breaker.

 

[potatoe]

push him to chase them out. better job. no real biggy if he doesnt hell be passing on additional work to the plasterer through added depth and not having the coverage over trunking. ive had it crack with sand and cement. hardwall is more forgiving. ish. chase it andthe boxes.betterjob. electricians run ther cables and can be clueless.

 

[BobbyJack]

And once your done pissing around with sparkies cables as he's too lazy to sort them, fill in all the patress boxes with skim. :RpS_thumbsup:

 

[markj]

The sparkys we follow, chases and tubes every thing, never any building out and always coils their cables into the box.

If they aint doing it like that, i'm not plastering it.

Or fill up the boxes so they cant find them lol

 

[Jbeesy718]

Did a full house recently got a call back saying they'd had a rewire ffs went round to fill chases in, what a mess whole house was dabbed n sparkles still chased into block work ceiling down aswell and the holes for sockets were huge had to make up about an inch deep and around all the sockets. The guy could see I wasn't happy. Bought me afew beers as a sweetener!

 

[CTPlastering]

Did a full house recently got a call back saying they'd had a rewire ffs went round to fill chases in, what a mess whole house was dabbed n sparkles still chased into block work ceiling down aswell and the holes for sockets were huge had to make up about an inch deep and around all the sockets. The guy could see I wasn't happy. Bought me afew beers as a sweetener!

U didnt get payed for the patches after a full house has been reskimed ? Lol

 

[spunky]

Hardwall won't blow on plastic conduit, there feeding you horror stories because it's never flat as it should be and you have to use more gear, you may get a plasterer offer to dab plasterboards instead of hardwall, at the end of the day if you have to chase out and sink the wires it will be a lot more expensive than a plasterer quoting to use a bit more hardwall sand cement etc

 

[Jbeesy718]

U didnt get payed for the patches after a full house has been reskimed ? Lol

Yeh I got paid wa just a mega pain in the arse sorting the ****** sparkys **** work out on my lovely fresh walls.

 

[keithuk]

Hardwall won't blow on plastic conduit, there feeding you horror stories because it's never flat as it should be and you have to use more gear, you may get a plasterer offer to dab plasterboards instead of hardwall, at the end of the day if you have to chase out and sink the wires it will be a lot more expensive than a plasterer quoting to use a bit more hardwall sand cement etc

Good to see you back Dave ,hope all is well with work and family :RpS_thumbup:

 

[superspread]

Hardwall won't blow on plastic conduit, there feeding you horror stories because it's never flat as it should be and you have to use more gear, you may get a plasterer offer to dab plasterboards instead of hardwall, at the end of the day if you have to chase out and sink the wires it will be a lot more expensive than a plasterer quoting to use a bit more hardwall sand cement etc

Welcome back ,it will do if it's only 2/3mm thick on top of it
which is all it will be at the most,,99times out of 100 they never sit flat

 

[puddove]

And once your done pissing around with sparkies cables as he's too lazy to sort them, fill in all the patress boxes with skim. :RpS_thumbsup:

sounds good to me :RpS_thumbsup: I think the sparkies will soon get the message

 

[spunky]

Welcome back ,it will do if it's only 2/3mm thick on top of it
which is all it will be at the most,,99times out of 100 they never sit flat

Thanks mate I'll agree to disagree

 

[mo7]

When oyou say flat you mean the electrician doesnt install the plastic conduit so it is totally flush with the wall?

I assume if it is flush and enough ardwall is on top it hsould be OK.

What is the minimum amount of hardwall/skin I would be looking for?

How long after plasting woudl i know it has gone wrong? Will the plasterer know or will I have to wait and see? Obviously i can tell the plasterer first so will see what they say.

 

[scottie5]

The thickness of the hardwall will generally depend on how true the block work is, round about 13mm as a rule.
I've never had a problem over plastic capping with hardwall if your concerned and theres sufficient coverage over the capping span it with a narrow strip of eml or a bit of flattened out angle bead nailed into the block work on either side.
If the cappings closer to the surface get you plasterer to bed some scrim tape on top of the hardwall before he skims it.
Honestly don't see much of a problem.