chasing concrete walls

[dawsirn]

hi,
does anyone know if there is any building regulation to do with chasing concrete walls?
about to do complete re-wire of my house and there will obviously be alot of chasing to do.
never had to do it before so not too sure what the deal is with it. and besides if its to solid i'll probably clip direct to old plaster and dot and dab over but rather not.
cheers

 

[telectrix]

if it's plastered, is that not enough depth for cables? socket boxes, obviously will have to be sunk deeper, unless you are willing to put up with surface mount

 

[cbw]

oh bloomin heck! Hate concrete walls!!!!! GOOD LUCK!!!!

 

[Damon]

Just did a commercial building like you said just clip direct then plasterers dot n dabbed but had to chip out for deeper back boxes etc....I was just a sparks mate on that job so just did as I was told, Mind you I am considering doing my house the same way too as the walls are a mess and much easier to put plaster boards over rather than chase out numerous locations and then patch up....Thats okay isnt it?

 

[dawsirn]

if it's plastered, is that not enough depth for cables? socket boxes, obviously will have to be sunk deeper, unless you are willing to put up with surface mount

haven't properly checked depth of the plaster yet. doesn't seem too promising on 1st impressions.

 

[telectrix]

hate dot and dab. won't have it if done free. walls should be walls... brick, concrete etc, not paper and dust

 

[dawsirn]

i guess the main thing i need to know is would i be compromising the structural integrity of the walls if i'm chasing them?

 

[nickblake]

hate dot and dab. won't have it if done free. walls should be walls... brick, concrete etc, not paper and dust

great on new builds save chasing the boxes in 12.5mm dab 12.5 mm plaster board = 25mm back box as long as you remember you still need to cap the cables ........... now lath and plaster ..differnat kettle of fish

 

[nickblake]

i guess the main thing i need to know is would i be compromising the structural integrity of the walls if i'm chasing them?

a chase that depth should not compromise the structual integrety normal chases are about 25mm plaster thickness can be around 15mm depending on who did the plastering !!! oh and you should try chasing stone walls !!!

 

[telectrix]

as long as it's not like the council concrete walls i came across a while ago. 2" thick, if that, internal walls. back to back boxes plastered in, touching.

 

[nickblake]

as long as it's not like the council concrete walls i came across a while ago. 2" thick, if that, internal walls. back to back boxes plastered in, touching.

know the type two back boxes back to back bolted together and glued in you mean , last rewire was like that 2" block walls it was a pain

 

[telectrix]

know the type two back boxes back to back bolted together and glued in you mean , last rewire was like that 2" block walls it was a pain

exactly that. tried first one, made a mess, so subsequent ones, drilled straight through, bolted boxes together, then plastered in solid. left till next day. good earth continuity though.

 

[nickblake]

And people think electrical is easy , the amount of engineering thats some times requred is unbeliveable

 

[andekoch]

buildin regs let you chase up to 1/3 wall thickness for a vertical chase and 1/6 wall thickness for a horizontal chase. note that if the wall is a double skin the depth of the chase refers to the one skin only.
had a nasty job a while ago with hollow block walls so each back box had nothing behind most of it. had to resort to using the plaster to hold in the boxes since nothing else to fix onto.

 

[SimpleSimon]

My first ever chasing job was brick wall. Went in thinking I'd be a day and ended up being three. :/
I'll be better prepared next time for a hard days graft.

 

[pennywise]

If the internal Walls are really thin, I try and offset back to back sockets so you get at lest half a boxes width supported by wall even if you do go right the way through on the bit that is directly behind the other socket.

 

[telectrix]

And people think electrical is easy , the amount of engineering thats some times requred is unbeliveable

second that , nick. had to fit a remote control fan in a conservatory. nothing to fix to. ended up fabricating a clamp out of unistrut, zebedees and threaded rod. 4 hours to fit a fan!

 

[Amp David]

Dot and dabs ok when done with a decent amount of dabs. Its when you get a wall with 8x4 sheets and only 6 dabs that its becomes rubbish IMO.

Worked on a house once a thought the wall was a standerd stud wall as when tapping the board the wholes board flexed, cant believe the board stayed stuck to the wall as hardly any adhesive had been used.