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Discuss Just had full rewire done, cables very close to surface or coming through skim in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

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we just had a full rewire done on a 1920's property. Electrics been completed and signed off with certificate. Making good on wall chase areas done by plasterer hired by electrician. We have just come to decorating and found that in a few areas the cables haven't been chased deep enough and are covered by a very thin skim of plaster, some actually visible through plaster. Has this been a bodge job? shouldn't the cables be capped off with a metal plate or chased to a deeper level?

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Capping is not a requirement, but the cables should be buried deep enough to be covered by the plaster. You say you are ready for decorating - that doesn't look ready for decorating to me - Is there not a plaster skim going over that wall? Daz
 
Being as the cables are installed vertically above the switch, they are classed as in the zone for cables to run and therefore don't require capping. However that cable should have been chased deeper. While the plasterer was skimming, or bonding he runs the risk of damaging the cable with his trowel.
 
Thanks for the info. Yeah this part has to be patched and re skimmed as some of the plaster failed along the seam with old plaster

Did the plasterer put a PVA / water coat on the wall before plastering? This helps the new plaster stick to the old.

Once the PVA / water mix has been applied to the wall and gone tacky to the touch that's when you apply the plaster. Or so I was taught anyway :)
 
A better pic would be good but surely thats not a cable going off to the right is it !

I can only see one cable and it looks like a triple sw !
 
Being as the cables are installed vertically above the switch, they are classed as in the zone for cables to run and therefore don't require capping. However that cable should have been chased deeper. While the plasterer was skimming, or bonding he runs the risk of damaging the cable with his trowel.

If they weren't run in prescribed zones then capping would make no difference at all. Daz
 
well he actually plastered over the wallpaper in a few places so when we have removed the wallpaper its either failed or exposed a seam between them. im going to just re skim over it to take it back to flat again
 
Hope you're taking something off the bill for the dodgy plasterer then if it was the spark who got him in! Daz
 
well he actually plastered over the wallpaper in a few places so when we have removed the wallpaper its either failed or exposed a seam between them. im going to just re skim over it to take it back to flat again
wall paper should have been removed before plastering. should never plaster over paper. a plasterer can have a brain transplant upgrade to a kitchen fitter for £5000. cost recovered on first fitted kitchen ( minus the sparks's charge for repairing drilled cables ).
 
I know, OP was asking is it needed it. If not in a zone it needs to be ran in earthed conduit complying with BS EN 61386-21.

I learned my lesson last time I thought metal capping would be sufficient from @Taylortwocities
irrespective of whether or not cables are mechanically protected as you say, they still must be routed in prescribed zones. just a shame that plumbers, kitchen fitters and builders ain't got a clue about the zones.
 
your cables should be protected by an RCD, capping does little in terms of protection. I prefer to use oval conduit as it allows you to pull out the cable if you need to later on i.e. drilling through it. It looks like the cable was not pinned back when plastering and someone appears to have used an orbital sander on the chase which has probably vibrated loose the plaster/cable. Would suggest carefully working off existing loose plaster and refilling with a good quality filler above the surface of the wall then sand down.
 
thanks for all the advice! so its in a 'prescribed' zone which seems fine then but I still think the electrician should have taken the cables deeper or pinned them down better. because the problem we have is that when the chase has been filled the plasterer has had to come out further than the original wall surface - which can't be common practice can it? I expect the ideal is to keep the wall level otherwise you get lumps in the wall or have to reskim whole wall?!
 
Not a plastering expert myself, but seen lots of good and bad work. Feathering in a chase in a wall, is never going to be perfect, even with a good decorator following on. If there are more than one chase in a wall, better to get the whole lot skimmed.
Always use capping in a chase, for the very reason shown here. But if there's less than 5mm of plaster, it won't be long before it falls off, even with lashings of Febond Blue Grit.
 

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