Plastering over a cable recessed in the wall

[raybarrow]

Hi Folks,
When we had the downstairs shower installed, years ago, the electricy cable ran up a wall in the back passage (used to be the outside of the house) to the mainswitch so its' outside the shower room. The breezeblock wall was chased out but never filled in (don't ask).
So we have a channel, approx 6mm wide, 3mm deep, 70mm long, in the wall with a visible shower cable in it. The cable is properly clipped to the wall, not dangling loose.
I want to make it look a bit more presentable without going mad, the house will be going on the market next year hopefully.
Can I just get some ready to use plaster and fill it in or do I need to protect the cable with something plastic, metal?

Ray.

[swill453]

So we have a channel, approx 6mm wide, 3mm deep, 70mm long

Those dimensions seem tiny. Are you sure it's mm and not cm?

Scott.

[Lootman]

I want to make it look a bit more presentable without going mad, the house will be going on the market next year hopefully. Can I just get some ready to use plaster and fill it in or do I need to protect the cable with something plastic, metal?

I may be in a minority here but, assuming that the cabling is to code, then as a buyer I might prefer that the wire is visible. I can then conceal it myself if I want, or not do.

Having been in my current house for a dozen years, I know where all the wires and pipes are buried in the wall. But a new buyer would not know and so will have to do what I did - find out by trial and error. Sometimes by driving something into a wall and hitting a live cable (only happened once but not fun).

And of course it is much easier to fix or replace exposed and visible cabling than it is to excavate a wall to find the cable and work on it.

[DrFfybes]

Personally I wouldn't just hide it - it is an exposed cable with nothing at the end to say it is there, which could cause problems down the line.

You could get some plastic trunking and glue the 'cover' half over the cable.

[fisher]

Personally I wouldn't just hide it - it is an exposed cable with nothing at the end to say it is there, which could cause problems down the line.

You could get some plastic trunking and glue the 'cover' half over the cable.

I agree, but instead of using plastic, I would use a length of galvanised steel channeling. You can fix it using pan head screws and plugs (see link below). Then coat it in pva and plaster over it.

https://www.wickes.co.uk/TTE-Galvanised ... lsrc=aw.ds

https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/how- ... you%20need.

[raybarrow]

Hi,

raybarrow wrote:
So we have a channel, approx 6mm wide, 3mm deep, 70mm long


Those dimensions seem tiny. Are you sure it's mm and not cm?

Ooops! Yes cm not mm.

Cable ends in a fused mains switch, at head height, so it's obvious something it there. Then it runs straight up to the ceiling where there is trunking so I don't think covering it up would cause a problem for a new buyer.

Thanks,
Ray.

[88V8]

....I don't think covering it up would cause a problem for a new buyer.

Given the galloping incompetence and laziness of most potential buyers, I think that anything which smacks of 'project' should be avoided at all costs

+1 for the galvanised. As it's breeze, you may be able to attach it with small masonry nails.

V8

[jaizan]

I also strongly recommend the galvanised steel channel, which you can get from Screwfix etc. It's so cheap & good that there is no point in bodging it.

I was recently redecorating and after stripping wallpaper put on by the previous occupants, I noticed a long crack going up the wall. Closer inspection showed the plastic channel protecting the cable going to a socket was almost at the surface of the plaster. As the plastic is slightly flexible, the plaster was cracking.
I replaced it with steel, at a slightly increased depth. I could have probably got away with replacing it with steel at the same depth, as it's a far better material for the job.
I found I could attach it with plasterboard screws which screw directly into the concrete blocks. I have used nails on other jobs, but the plasterboard screws seemed to give a far better fix.

[csearle]

Can I just get some ready to use plaster and fill it in or do I need to protect the cable with something plastic, metal?

As far as the wiring regulations are concerned you can simply bury the cable in the wall any way you choose provided that it has a reference. A reference could simply be the cable emerging from the wall or could also be an accessory. Either way the cable must run orthogonally (up, down, left, or right) from the reference. Additionally the cable must be protected by a 30mA RCD.

Putting cables in conduit is best, but not mandatory. It is only there so that the plasterer's trowel doesn't accidentally damage the cable. Neither plastic nor metal capping will guarantee a keen driller won't put a hole through a cable.

Chris

[88V8]

Can I just get some ready to use plaster and fill it in or do I need to protect the cable with something plastic, metal?

As far as the wiring regulations are concerned you can simply bury the cable in the wall any way you choose provided that it has a reference. A reference could simply be the cable emerging from the wall or could also be an accessory. Either way the cable must run orthogonally (up, down, left, or right) from the reference.

Ha! Much of our power cable is surface but some, serving the storage heaters, is buried in the pointing. It's what you did in the 60s in a 400yo house with no plaster on the stone walls. The cable follows the wider bits of pointing in the coursed rubble walls, meandering drunkenly yon and hither.
There is also at least one cable that runs up/down, that one was buried in a corner, as the builders found when knocking out the cement pointing. Bang! 'It was only the red and earth so we taped it up', and indeed everything works except that when the new CU was installed we found there is a break in the earth of what is supposed to be the ring circuit
Never mind... ring circuits... fangulations...

V8

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Can I just get some ready to use plaster and fill it in or do I need to protect the cable with something plastic, metal?

As far as the wiring regulations are concerned you can simply bury the cable in the wall any way you choose provided that it has a reference. A reference could simply be the cable emerging from the wall or could also be an accessory. Either way the cable must run orthogonally (up, down, left, or right) from the reference. Additionally the cable must be protected by a 30mA RCD.

Putting cables in conduit is best, but not mandatory. It is only there so that the plasterer's trowel doesn't accidentally damage the cable. Neither plastic nor metal capping will guarantee a keen driller won't put a hole through a cable.

Chris

Well you kept that information to yourself for way too long

I've drilled through the odd cable in my time. We have an RCB consumer unit which has come in useful on the odd occassion

AiY(D)
Keen driller

[JonnyT]

There is no requirement to use any boxing whatsoever in the regs. It's purely used for 2nd fix so the plasterers will be mindful not to damage it.

Note there are also 'safe' areas where you should never drill such as vertically and horizontally from sockets etc.