Conduits, singles and concrete floors

[JulianC]

Evening all.

Next door neighbours' son has just bought a house and I've just been down for a look at the electrics for him. The house is a 1950's terrace with concrete floors both upstairs and down! Chap wanted, amongst other things, a lot of surface mount switches and sockets sinking into the walls. I whipped a light switch box off for a look to find it covering a steel-lined recess in the wall. Upon further investigation it looks like a lot of cables exiting the CU (old steel Wylex type with plug in MCBs) are singles and disappear off into steel conduits running down into the ground floor and up to the upstairs. I therefore suspect the steel lined recess behind the light switch was fixed to the end of a run of conduit.

Has anyone any experience of similar installations? (Concrete floors and singles run in buried conduits). The house only has a single socket ring and I suspect (3 wires in the breaker) that there is a downstairs ring with a spur to upstairs (which only has 2 original sockets by the look of things). I will be suggesting a rewire with 2/3 proper socket rings but am concerned how easy it will be to get T/E to each point. Presumably the conduit runs will be jointed under the floors? What are people's thoughts on using singles in a domestic situation? (It's not something I've come across before)

Thanks and soz for the long post!

 

[bugsy]

Dont use the old conduits except prehaps for the switch drop's, run all the cable to the first floor and drop to the ground floor, might sound a lot of work but will be quicker than messing about with the old conduit ( which might even be split conduit which is a nightmare.)

 

[rocker]

I thought he said the first floor was concrete as well.

 

[bugsy]

I thought he said the first floor was concrete as well.

He's in the ***t if it is

 

[rocker]

He's in the ***t if it is

That was my initial prognosis....

 

[pennywise]

out with the chasing tool!! hope he hasn't got attached to the floor covering or would sir prefer the mini trunking its all the rage

 

[bugsy]

out with the chasing tool!! hope he hasn't got attached to the floor covering or would sir prefer the mini trunking its all the rage

Don't give idea's ,

 

[pennywise]

Ok Ok cornice trunking and decorative skirting trunking, Finding the central heating pipes with a chaser may give you a headache

 

[bugsy]

Ok Ok cornice trunking and decorative skirting trunking, Finding the central heating pipes with a chaser may give you a headache

Id love to see your on site guide

 

[pennywise]

In what sense

 

[bugsy]

In what sense

Finding pipes with your grinder

 

[Phil]

once did a pob in the north east, concrete ceiling and floors to all levels. stunk of dogs but made a nice wage off it hourly just there till it was done , food digs and drink all paid for strangely enough took a while to complete

 

[pennywise]

I see I have had the lucky pleasure of going through a pipe with a grinder, it was running diagonal across a wall in a room with no rads or water services not fun at all.

 

[rocker]

Finding pipes with your grinder

I threw my stud finder away, my grinder finds pipes much more efficiently.

Plus my stud finder kept beeping whenever it went near me.

Bada bing.

 

[DurhamSparky]

old one are the best aint they! lol

 

[Guest123]

Ask your friend if he's thought about counter battening the ground floor ceiling.......give you a nice void to work in then.

 

[JulianC]

Cheers all. I think in the cold light of morning, it's going to be a lot of chasing - taking advantage of the 150mm zone below the ceiling to get my cables round the ground floor. I'll suggest a nice bit of coving to hide my dodgy replastering.....