How to cover up a cable partially exposed over a skirting board?

[sbailey]

I'm in the process of renovating a 1970's bungalow with a garage underneath. The electrical consumer unit is in the garage and there are multiple hidden cables in plastic conduct fully chased going from the floor to the ceiling in living room above the garage taking the electrical cables to the attic where they supply the rest of the bungalow. My understanding is the cables do not meet modern standards as they are not in a safe zone, there is no switch or socket on the wall and they are not over 50 mm deep or in metal trunking. But as these are existing cables and we are not doing a full re-wire is it okay to leave them as they are?

Further to that there is one cable which looks to have been added later for the cooker which is only partially chased in the wall and then exposed over the skirting board see pic. Ideally I would like to hide that cable and fully chase it in the wall so if I carefully added a socket at that point in the wall and extending the ring main up to the socket I could safely fully chase the cooker cable correct? However as the cooker cable in continuous from the consumer unit to the cooker I wouldn't be able to thread it through the socket backbox without cutting it and joining it in the backbox is this okay?

 

[littlespark]

Sorry, not much help, but could you put the sofa in front of it?


don’t cut the cooker cable. Just chase it into the wall.

Are there sockets on the other side of the wall? As zones can be applied to both sides

surprised if it’s buried plastic conduit in a 70’s house? Either metal conduit or metal capping.

having the Cu changed to add spd and rcd protection where needed would make even if cables aren’t in zones

 

[cloverman]

To be honest with you, If you are in the process of renovating the bungalow anyhow it would make sense to me to do a full rewire whilst you are at it !

 

[Dartlec]

I'm in the process of renovating a 1970's bungalow with a garage underneath. The electrical consumer unit is in the garage and there are multiple hidden cables in plastic conduct fully chased going from the floor to the ceiling in living room above the garage taking the electrical cables to the attic where they supply the rest of the bungalow. My understanding is the cables do not meet modern standards as they are not in a safe zone, there is no switch or socket on the wall and they are not over 50 mm deep or in metal trunking. But as these are existing cables and we are not doing a full re-wire is it okay to leave them as they are?

Further to that there is one cable which looks to have been added later for the cooker which is only partially chased in the wall and then exposed over the skirting board see pic. Ideally I would like to hide that cable and fully chase it in the wall so if I carefully added a socket at that point in the wall and extending the ring main up to the socket I could safely fully chase the cooker cable correct? However as the cooker cable in continuous from the consumer unit to the cooker I wouldn't be able to thread it through the socket backbox without cutting it and joining it in the backbox is this okay?

Adding a socket or switch is a good way to ensure the cooker cable is then in the safe zone yes, though it would be better to chase the cooker cable into the wall behind the new socket box rather than trying to joint it. Having more than one circuit in any one backbox is never a great idea (though sometimes unavoidable on 2 way stairay lighting) and jointing cooker wire properly can be tricky anyway without plenty of space.

If I'm understanding you right that the other cables are separate then they don't comply as you suspect.

Existing work doesn't have to be brought up to current standards (though safe zones have existed for a long time now) unless you carry out work on that circuit.

Are you renovating to sell, or to live in? If you are staying there then I wouldn't worry too much about it, since you know they are there and probably don't plan to fix any pictures on that wall....

If you are planning to sell or rent and an EICR was carried out (requirement to rent, possible if a potential purchaser requested it), it would almost certainly fail if these cables were noticed, so now might be a good opportunity to do something about it.

Are the circuits in question on an RCD currently? This may not be the only case of cabling outside safe zones.

 

[UNG]

Use a multi tool to cut the skirting and remove a section so the cable can be chased in behind the skirting. If cut at an angle then it should be quite easy to piece the skirting back together and hide the joint

 

[pirate]

If you are renovating, in the full sense of that term, I would have thought it would be ideal to have re-wire, new CU etc before going on to the kitchen and bathroom etc. As it is a bungalow it is even easier, and with a garage below, it's a dream for a re-wire, especially while the house is unoccupied.
If you are just "flipping" the house, or intending to rent out, either way some attention to upgrading of the electrics will be advantageous.

 

[telectrix]

as dartlec says, fit socket as you suggest but run cooker cable behind socket back box rather than through it.

 

[sbailey]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

Just to the clarify all the circuits are all RCBO protected. Ideally I don't want a full rewire due to the cost, I have had a local electrician take a look at the house and he didn't recommend the house needed since the bathroom and kitchen are both fairly modern and have been rewired in the past and he checked the lights circuits have earth cables. He did recommend however the CU was changed to a metal one as it is currently plastic but he recommend we did that after we had finished all the renovation work because when the CU is changed all the circuits will be tested. Currently the only planned electrical work is the doubling up of some single sockets, new faceplates on the sockets and light switches and two extra sockets in the bedroom.

Adding a socket or switch is a good way to ensure the cooker cable is then in the safe zone yes, though it would be better to chase the cooker cable into the wall behind the new socket box rather than trying to joint it. Having more than one circuit in any one backbox is never a great idea (though sometimes unavoidable on 2 way stairay lighting) and jointing cooker wire properly can be tricky anyway without plenty of space.

If I'm understanding you right that the other cables are separate then they don't comply as you suspect.

Existing work doesn't have to be brought up to current standards (though safe zones have existed for a long time now) unless you carry out work on that circuit.

Are you renovating to sell, or to live in? If you are staying there then I wouldn't worry too much about it, since you know they are there and probably don't plan to fix any pictures on that wall....

If you are planning to sell or rent and an EICR was carried out (requirement to rent, possible if a potential purchaser requested it), it would almost certainly fail if these cables were noticed, so now might be a good opportunity to do something about it.

Are the circuits in question on an RCD currently? This may not be the only case of cabling outside safe zones.

The plan would be to sell in a couple of years so ideally we would like it to pass EICR.

Rather than a full rewire would it be plausible to install new cables from the CU via a chase in a safe zone to the attic and then connect them into the existing lighting and socket circuits. Thus meaning the cables outside the safe zone can be removed. The only issue I see is there are currently 2 socket, 2 lighting circuits so quite a few cables to run up how many cables can you put in a single chase?

Thanks again for all your replies, I have got a local electrician coming to take a look soon hopefully but just wanted some other opinions.

 

[telectrix]

how many cables can you put in a single chase?

as many as you want as long as the chase is wide enough and all cables therin are within prescribed zones. (i hate the term safe zones, as nothing is safe where kitchen fitters and builders are within a crooked mile.

 

[Dartlec]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

Just to the clarify all the circuits are all RCBO protected. Ideally I don't want a full rewire due to the cost, I have had a local electrician take a look at the house and he didn't recommend the house needed since the bathroom and kitchen are both fairly modern and have been rewired in the past and he checked the lights circuits have earth cables. He did recommend however the CU was changed to a metal one as it is currently plastic but he recommend we did that after we had finished all the renovation work because when the CU is changed all the circuits will be tested. Currently the only planned electrical work is the doubling up of some single sockets, new faceplates on the sockets and light switches and two extra sockets in the bedroom.

The plan would be to sell in a couple of years so ideally we would like it to pass EICR.

Rather than a full rewire would it be plausible to install new cables from the CU via a chase in a safe zone to the attic and then connect them into the existing lighting and socket circuits. Thus meaning the cables outside the safe zone can be removed. The only issue I see is there are currently 2 socket, 2 lighting circuits so quite a few cables to run up how many cables can you put in a single chase?

Thanks again for all your replies, I have got a local electrician coming to take a look soon hopefully but just wanted some other opinions.

Wiring does last a long time when it's PVC and not the nasty rubber, so the wiring may well be good for a while yet - if everything is on RCBO and not tripping then that's always a good sign. Sounds like you did the right thing by getting an electrician to look at it.

It is possible to run new cables and then have a 'connection' box in the loft to reconnect to existing wiring. It needs someone who knows what they're doing to be methodical enough to do it properly, but might well be a neat solution to your conundrum (assuming existing wiring passed all tests, etc)

It is quite possible that a rental EICR would miss the cables being there, or limit verifying them, so that it would pass, but there is always the risk that it would fail - it would fall to the inspectors judgement. If everything is RCD protected then one view could be that it's not 'dangerous', just annoying if someone puts a nail through one. There are certainly lots of houses out there without cables in safe zones.

You could always make a feature of them and put a glass cover over the front so they are visible

The plastic CU isn't necessarily something that has to be upgraded if in good condition imo, though if you can reuse the RCBOs it might be worth doing.

 

[Petej999]

To be honest with you, If you are in the process of renovating the bungalow anyhow it would make sense to me to do a full rewire whilst you are at it !

If a rewire is actually needed that is

 

[littlespark]

If a rewire is actually needed that is

Maybe been done by now, @Petej999

 

[Petej999]

Maybe been done by now, @Petej999