Can I put a piece of twin and earth on some concrete?

[g0nz0uk]

Hi,

I need to put a new socket on a wall in my living room, it will spur off and existing socket and it is my closest option (nothing upstairs either), the thing is there is a door way in the way. Instead of going up and over the door am I ok to channel a small path in my concrete floor and lay the twin and earth in there and cement over or do I need to pin it to the concrete and put some metal conduit over the top?

I am only talking the door width and getting it flush with the concrete is my preferred option.

Thanks

 

[DPG]

Out of interest, is there an RCD on the circuit? Daz

 

[davesparks]

I guess it is possible but proper earthed steel conduit would be the minimum protection I'd be looking for.
Not steel capping as I suspect you mean when you say conduit

 

[Rockingit]

I think technically there's no reason : it's beyond the defined scope of zones and there's even a cable method for it, too. But....really?! It'll take an age to do, not give any real advantage and is just a complete dogs of a solution.

 

[Meggerman]

522.8.7 A wiring system buried in a floor shall be sufficiently protected to prevent damage caused by the intended use of the floor.

20mm plastic round conduit would be sufficient, it will have to be RCD protected anyway as socket outlets and earthing steel will be a pain for you and unnecessary in my honest opinion.

 

[davesparks]

Plastic conduit just under the surface of the floor in a doorway doesn't sound like a very good idea at all.
doorways are a high traffic area and the making good to the floor will always tend to move a bit in relation to the floor unless keyed in very well.
And of course fixing any threshold strip in the doorway for whatever floor covering will quite possibly go straight through the cable.

 

[Walter Mitty]

And of course fixing any threshold strip in the doorway for whatever floor covering will quite possibly go straight through the cable.

That would be my concern. Maybe not you but if you move?

 

[Knobhead]

DIY bodge job?

 

[Meggerman]

DIY bodge job?

The OP is not an electrician

 

[davesparks]

Neither are half the people around these parts, doesn't stop them trying though

 

[Knobhead]

The OP is not an electrician

No help from me then.

 

[g0nz0uk]

No help from me then.

Sorry I didn't realise this was for qualified electricians only, I will google another site I guess then.

I was gogin to say to the other helpful chaps forget that idea, my wife wants an electrician to sign it off.

Would I be instead be able to take the skirting boards off (Oh dear I hear you say) which I have done already due to the room getting re-plastered and cut some of the plaster board away that the new skirting would hide as there is breeze blocks behind and running it along the wall or fixing it against the breeze blocks and over the door again against the breeze blocks to the socket?Othererwise how would a pro come and do it?


This single socket is for a mall mounted TV, I have managed to cut the plaster and fit metal clad box against the breeze block wall then drop the 2.5mm twin and earth down to where the removed skirting is.


Just want to do as much I can so the electrican can sign off and most importantly keep 'her' happy.


Appreciate your time on this guys. Let me know if I need to go elsewhere...

 

[Spoon]

No need to go elsewhere mate. There is a DIY section on the forum for questions like this. I'm not sure if you posted it in there from the beginning...
If it gets posted in the General section then we assume you are an electrician.

 

[telectrix]

OP. there ARE SPECIFIED ZONES WHERE YOU CAN AND CAN'T INSTALL CABLES. BEST TO GET ELECTRICIAN TO COME AND QUOTE. HE SHOULD BE HAPPY TO LET YOU DO THE CHASING AFTER HE TELLS YOU WHERE.

 

[Flanders]

As Tell says there are zones for running cables in and an electrician would not be able to sign the work off if you do it.

 

[g0nz0uk]

As Tell says there are zones for running cables in and an electrician would not be able to sign the work off if you do it.

Cheers guys

 

[BlueToBits]

Please someone correct me if I am wrong. AFAIK, It's out of the 'safe' zone so it needs to be a minimum of 50mm below the surface AND deep enough to not be damaged by anything it is likely to encounter or experience because of its location (threshold strip for instance). It does not need to be enclosed in any form of conduit once it has reached this depth, but may need mechanical protection and an RCD protected metallic shield to get to this depth. The same could be attributed to cables behind skirting, however getting the depth to avoid nailed timber wedges may be an issue.

OR

The cable must be RCD protected and have a conductive earthed shield or armour, and can be buried at any depth providing adequate mechanical protection is afforded. The OP would seem to have has several options assuming it was already RCD protected. FP200 buried just below the surface covered with a length of steel trunking lid, or T&E through an earthed steel 20mm conduit would probably be the easiest,
It may not be conventional, or follow custom and practice, It may not even be 'wise', but is it precluded by regulation?

This situation is likely to be non-notifiable, but would warrant a Minor Works Certificate.

 

[siimon]

The cable must be RCD protected and have a conductive earthed shield or armour, and can be buried at any depth providing adequate mechanical protection is afforded. The OP would seem to have has several options assuming it was already RCD protected. FP200 buried just below the surface covered with a length of steel trunking lid, or T&E through an earthed steel 20mm conduit would probably be the easiest,
It may not be conventional, or follow custom and practice, It may not even be 'wise', but is it precluded by regulation?

I find this concept of burying conduit and then earthing it a bit confusing. Sorry if I'm going a bit off-topic but can someone in the know explain to me when it is and isn't acceptable to stick things in the ground and connect them to your earth system? I've read somewhere that earthing (and by implication bonding) should all go back to the CU and never into the 'real' ground, but never really understood why. Something to do with earth leakage protection? My gas pipe to the boiler is bonded back to the CU but I'm only allowed to do that because my gas supply pipe is plastic according to my spark.

I now wonder what happens if wildlife eats into the plastic on a buried armoured cable, does that degrade RCD protection?

Sorry if these are dumb questions.