House with concrete floors

[Chrishands]

Hi, where on earth do you run cables in houses with solid concrete floors and solid brick walls with no cavities at all?

 

[Guest125]

Hi, where on earth do you run cables in houses with solid concrete floors and solid brick walls with no cavities at all?

Surface.

 

[Chrishands]

surface mounting is horrible domestically!

 

[davesparks]

Concrete ceilings would normally be battened and plasterboards these days, older buildings will have steel conduit in the concrete.

Walls would usually be chased in to as per usual, or may be battened out if cast concrete.

 

[Darkwood]

What do you mean solid brick walls with no cavities? .... you don't run cables down the brick cavities anyway?

In answer their are several methods from surface to false floors and battened out ceilings... it is was it is and you need to discuss with your customer.

 

[Leesparkykent]

Suspended/battened ceilings and chase the wall or surface in trunking

 

[shanky887614]

chase cables into the wall i doubt they will leave it as bare brick inside.

put in a false ceiling if they don't want surface (its upto the client)

i know how i could do it and hide the cables but what do you think op.

you can p-clip cables to the wall if you like or trunking/conduit, personally i might chase it or might not depending on finish on walls

 

[Chrishands]

The house doesnt have battened ceelings, the floors and ceeling are solid concrete. no floorboards to lift, i can see how chasing the walls is easy, but how do you deal with running cables in a ceeling. Good strong house, but a nightmare to run cables

 

[shanky887614]

The house doesnt have battened ceelings, the floors and ceeling are solid concrete. no floorboards to lift, i can see how chasing the walls is easy, but how do you deal with running cables in a ceeling. Good strong house, but a nightmare to run cables

read again, drill ceiling and put in your own battens and then plasterboard.

drilling through concrete floors is not a problem

 

[davesparks]

The house doesnt have battened ceelings, the floors and ceeling are solid concrete. no floorboards to lift, i can see how chasing the walls is easy, but how do you deal with running cables in a ceeling. Good strong house, but a nightmare to run cables

Then the owners will have to look at having the ceilings battened down and boarded then plastered, decorated etc if they want new cabling hidden.

 

[Darkwood]

You need to read the advice given several times... get other trades to price up the batten and boarding, plastering etc .present them with a quote and await confirmation... this is how it is done, its the trade you chose to do so stop fretting that its nightmare .... it is only so because you haven't done it before...once you done it then it second nature and you get a tick on your experience ladder.

 

[Chrishands]

You need to read the advice given several times... get other trades to price up the batten and boarding, plastering etc .present them with a quote and await confirmation... this is how it is done, its the trade you chose to do so stop fretting that its nightmare .... it is only so because you haven't done it before...once you done it then it second nature and you get a tick on your experience ladder.

Yes that's true, I've just posted another post about gaining more experience.

 

[shanky887614]

You need to read the advice given several times... get other trades to price up the batten and boarding, plastering etc .present them with a quote and await confirmation... this is how it is done, its the trade you chose to do so stop fretting that its nightmare .... it is only so because you haven't done it before...once you done it then it second nature and you get a tick on your experience ladder.

like darkwood says, its easy enough to do.

core drill/sds drillbit from upstairs down tight against the wall (so its covered by plasterboard and then skirting)

then its just the same as any job, (use a grinder/wall chaser or you will be cursing trying to chase the conctete)

 

[ruston]

Another point is that you just can't go wily nilly hacking into structural concrete walls and ceilings.

 

[Knobhead]

The house doesnt have battened ceelings, the floors and ceeling are solid concrete. no floorboards to lift, i can see how chasing the walls is easy, but how do you deal with running cables in a ceeling. Good strong house, but a nightmare to run cables

read again, drill celing and put in your own battens and then plasterboard.

drilling through concrete floors is not a problem

Then the owners will have to look at having the ceilings battened down and boarded then plastered, decorated etc if they want new cabling hidden.

The house may not have battened ceilings or floors but it’s the only way you’ll do this without surface trunking. It’s the customer’s choice, do they want the house to look good after the work or not?
Concrete ceilings are a structural nightmare so don’t even think of chasing in to them. There was a good thread on this subject a while ago, I can’t remember the outcome. I do remember the guy wanted to cut in to the ceiling with a Stihl saw.

 

[Leesparkykent]

The house may not have battened ceilings or floors but it’s the only way you’ll do this without surface trunking. It’s the customer’s choice, do they want the house to look good after the work or not?
Concrete ceilings are a structural nightmare so don’t even think of chasing in to them. There was a good thread on this subject a while ago, I can’t remember the outcome. I do remember the guy wanted to cut in to the ceiling with a Stihl saw.

Really, what a plonker lol

 

[Leesparkykent]

Look at MF ceilings, hilti concrete nail gun to put the track, etc up. The rest is put together with tek screws all cut with tin snips/gilbows. Really quick and cheap

 

[Darkwood]

like darkwood says, its easy enough to do.

core drill/sds drillbit from upstairs down tight against the wall (so its covered by plasterboard and then skirting)

then its just the same as any job, (use a grinder/wall chaser or you will be cursing trying to chase the conctete)

I miss the days of smashed knuckles and a rawl-drill when the site had no power, everything by hand and yes you built your arm muscles up pretty quick in them days

 

[shanky887614]

I miss the days of smashed knuckles and a rawl-drill when the site had no power, everything by hand and yes you built your arm muscles up pretty quick in them days

i have never seen a rawl-drill, all battery nowadays or genny if power goes off.

to be fair in conservatories i stick to hammer and chisel on the dwarf walls and might get the grinder out if they have supplied one of those $hit lounge plates

 

[ruston]

The house may not have battened ceilings or floors but it’s the only way you’ll do this without surface trunking. It’s the customer’s choice, do they want the house to look good after the work or not?
Concrete ceilings are a structural nightmare so don’t even think of chasing in to them. There was a good thread on this subject a while ago, I can’t remember the outcome. I do remember the guy wanted to cut in to the ceiling with a Stihl saw.

Stihl lol , Doesn't bear thinking about does it.

Boarding it out will probably work out economically if they insulate the building at the same time. As you and others have said it is the only sensible way to do it

 

[Chrishands]

Look at MF ceilings, hilti concrete nail gun to put the track, etc up. The rest is put together with tek screws all cut with tin snips/gilbows. Really quick and cheap

i want to put Downlighters in kitchen eventually and the mf ceeling looks really good, would make this possible. how much is this and can you get it from general wholesalers?

 

[Leesparkykent]

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Cant beat one of these for sinking a back box on soft block but pony on hard block/brick

 

[Leesparkykent]

i want to put Downlighters in kitchen eventually and the mf ceeling looks really good, would make this possible. how much is this and can you get it from general wholesalers?

build base, CCF (part of travis Perkins), etc.3.6m MF5 Ceiling Section - crawleyplasteringsupplies.co.ukwww.crawleyplasteringsupplies.co.uk › Metal Systems
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This website will give you a rough idea on price.

 

[Knobhead]

I miss the days of smashed knuckles and a rawl-drill when the site had no power, everything by hand and yes you built your arm muscles up pretty quick in them days

I got in to trouble over a rawl drill. As apprentices two of us were told to replace the lighting in the intake substation. 20MW passing through it and not a single socket. All the fittings and conduit to run and all we had was the dreaded rawl drill.

Once the foreman was out of the way I connected a 110V drill in to the metering transformer and off we went.
What I didn’t know was every time the drill started the works metered load went down. The NWEB used summation metering and noticed one of the three feeders loading jumping up and down.

As the foreman put it, 9/10 for ingenuity, 10/10 for stupidity.

The company had to stump up for an auxiliary 5KVA 250V supply for the substation.
We were all glad of that during the miners strike, the shift electricians were based in the intake controlling the power distribution throughout the works. The place used to be like an icebox. Now we could have a kettle and a couple of oil filled radiators. (And the television, and, and, and)

 

[D Skelton]

I've only had to batten out ceilings a hand full of times but in each case we just used bog standard roofing batten (timber). Cheap as chips from TP. I'd imagine it would be cheaper than MF lengths. Someone I'm sure will be along to correct me though lol.

 

[Knobhead]

The roofing battens are fire proofed and a preservative impregnation.

 

[trev]

If it has to be on show then the only way to do it is in pyro. Nice shiny pyro, it'll look great. Bugger the expense

 

[Knobhead]

Why is a trainee taking on a job like this?

 

[Engineer54]

So how has the existing lighting, sockets, cooker, etc, circuits been installed?? It's probably an all conduit installation, so the only problem would be any additional lighting and socket outlets that's required....

 

[Deleted member 72666]

Why is a trainee taking on a job like this?

My guess is that it's his house (after reading post 21).

 

[Chrishands]

Why is a trainee taking on a job like this?

where does a trainee learn things? by asking questions. and getting real answers without criticism

 

[D Skelton]

where does a trainee learn things? by asking questions. and getting real answers without criticism

Or by working under the direct supervision of someone skilled enough not only to answer these questions, but to watch whilst he puts into practice what he's learned.

The internet can only do so much.

 

[Pete999]

Tell your client all the options, and let them decide

 

[R G]

The house doesnt have battened ceelings, the floors and ceeling are solid concrete. no floorboards to lift, i can see how chasing the walls is easy, but how do you deal with running cables in a ceeling. Good strong house, but a nightmare to run cables

Have come across flats like this in the past , talk to the customer and try to get them to accept wall lights , run surface trunking thats agreeable in areas that can be battened out at a later date , and chase in the remaining areas , its all about how you get this over to the customer and that your giving them the best options available , however if your a trainee this a job you should never be doing without supervision and would not install confidence with the customer , who would defo want someone who can explain and show their competence in this sort of a job , in short get help to do the job , you would benefit also ...

 

[Geordie Spark]

Pass the job onto somebody who knows what they're doing in return for a small financial consideration. ..... Easy money!!

 

[vernam616]

Coving trunking or skirting trunking, had to do this a few times in flats in the past

Then yt2 drops down/up to sockets/switchs etc..

And a yt2 out to the middle for a light, there is a product on the market which has a spout entry for mounting pendants/battens onto

Im not going to lie and say it looked as neat as a conventional method of chasing the walls, but it looked a tidy job for the circumstances/price

 

[Leesparkykent]

Coving trunking or skirting trunking, had to do this a few times in flats in the past

Then yt2 drops down/up to sockets/switchs etc..

And a yt2 out to the middle for a light, there is a product on the market which has a spout entry for mounting pendants/battens onto

Im not going to lie and say it looked as neat as a conventional method of chasing the walls, but it looked a tidy job for the circumstances/price

Ceiling rose pattress adaptor

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Concrete floors and walls are a picnic, try prefab houses made out of something that resembles a cross between a Toffee crisp and a Cruchie Bar! Now that is a laugh

 

[simpson93]

how is it wired at the moment ??

 

[Engineer54]

how is it wired at the moment ??

I asked the same question in post 29 yesterday!! Seems he doesn't want to tell or answer the other questions he's been asked by others....

 

[armbands0]

We did a concrete ceiling home approx a year ago, the existing cables ran in the air gap between the ceiling slab and the roof slab.
A plasterer battened the ceiling (14 drill bits later) we installed the cables, he plaster/celotex boarded and skimmed it.

Job done, now a warmer house also.

Also done some toffee crisp walls, clay lump and internal flint. Hated every type.

Good luck with the project