Home DIY

a neighbour is stripping hers out

Did they say why?

I didn't talk to her about it, but (via me Julie) the neighbour is planning on "putting down floorboards", directly onto the concrete, presumably.

they should use something like this between the concrete and flooring

Does anyone know a good plasterer in East London?

If I've got a big, big, big bookcase in the office, am I safe to put a similarly big bookcase against the same wall in the living room? I have visions of it crashing through the floor and landing in the flat below.

Modern building (2008ish), four floors, I'm on top floor.

Finished my bike shelf project today:

http://www.lfgss.com/thread121459.html

Really pleased with it...

Ooh. Any more details? And nice toolboxes... I was looking at Clarke but they have so, so many different ranges.

Some fine furniture there, is that walnut?

There are more details in the thread but let me know if you want to know more.

As for the toolbox, it's great. I got it from Machine Mart for not too much money. I would advise getting some rubber drawer liner at the same time. It cuts all the noise and stops the tools scratching it.

Some fine furniture there, is that walnut?

Yup. Solid walnut except for the two backboard inside each square which are 20mm veneer to keep some weight off. Still 13Kg though.

Solid in all respects.

Very nice that Soul, good job.

Can anyone advise me on my fusebox?

I've finally worked out where all the wires go, then created this high quality diagram in Paint:

The one marked as cellar wasn't actually going anywhere, I think it was powering an old electric shower in the bathroom, so I've appropriated it to power some plugs in the cellar.

The boiler and oven are both gas, so I'm not really concerned about those, as all they are really powering is the wattage to ingnite the gas.

The cellar and the ring main are the ones I'm concerned about. I've called it the ring, as in ring final, but I can't find a wire returning to the fusebox. The same for the cellar fuse. The cellar cable is a big thick cable, I would guess 4mm². The 'ring' is definitely 2.5mm².

If the 'ring' is actually radial, I believe it should be fused with a 20A fuse, not a 30A. Same for the cellar.

This would make sense, as the fusebox is rated for 60A, so it's currently overloaded, at least in theory. 20A for each would be fine as I won't be running more than 3840W off each (based on W = A x V - 20%).

Could these both really be radial? Could I be missing something? The fusebox is on the wall in the hall high up, with the wires running down through some conduit and into the cellar. If there are return wires, surely they wouldn't be run through the ceiling or through the wall, would they?

So if I am right and they are radial then my actions should presumably be:

• Replace 30A fuses with 20A ASAP
  
• Consider having 'ring' and cellar circuits turned into ring finals
  
• Consider replacing my fusebox with one of those modern 100A 'consumer unit' things, although there be dragons because I'll need a sparky presumably and our old 60A job is mounted on asbestos :/
  
  
  

Make sense?

Fox,

Good start the first thing I have to advise you is that any work on an electrical system has by law to be carried out by a qualified electrician there are exemptions but what you are proposing is not covered by them.

Your fuse box will be rated at 60 amp because within safe parameters that is what the maximum the cable feeding your house can take not the total of all the fuses/ MCB's

Yes run the cellar as a ring main - you will need an electrican to certify the work.

No don't replace the fuse box unless it is a very old 25 years plus hard wired box

Any other queries feel free to PM me

Zebs

Thanks - don't worry this is stuff that I would leave to a professional, it's a bit too advanced for me.

The box is from 1986 so at least 27 years old :(

Is there a way of telling if it's hard wired or not? And would swapping the fuses for 20A as a first step make sense?

On part P certification, are you saying that I could run the ring main myself then get it certified?

I'm not clear if a sparky can certify someone else's work?

Hardwired is where there is a thin fuse wire which burns out if there is to much current going through the cable i.e. someone is getting electricuted. MCB's Mini circuit Breakers trip if the same thing happens and have a switch on them so you can easily reset them. On top of this all new fuse boxes (which maybe a reason to change your fuse box) have RCD's Residual Current Devices which work on the difference between the feed and return current these are connected to banks of MCB's and are the ones that make the whole house go dark when they go.

Yes a sparky can certy someone elses work

While there are electricians chatting - why would one socket in a two-socket fitting stop working? And how would I fix it?

Probably a woodlouse in there. Stick a fork or metal skewer in there and wiggle it around a bit to coax him out/ impale him.

Edit: Do not do this^!!! It will result in your death. Obviously woodlice can only be coaxed out with a wooden implement such as a chopstick/cocktail stick.

Hardwired is where there is a thin fuse wire which burns out if there is to much current going through the cable i.e. someone is getting electricuted. MCB's Mini circuit Breakers trip if the same thing happens and have a switch on them so you can easily reset them. On top of this all new fuse boxes (which maybe a reason to change your fuse box) have RCD's Residual Current Devices which work on the difference between the feed and return current these are connected to banks of MCB's and are the ones that make the whole house go dark when they go.

Yes a sparky can certy someone elses work

Thanks Zebra, appreciated. Yes ours is hardwired unfortunately. We have plans to redo the back of the flat and the wiring needs sorting first so sounds like we'll have to bite the bullet.

Sparky I'm not an electrician but I do know that 2 gang sockets have one live and one neutral connection, so if one socket is working it'll probably be a broken socket.

Given a white 2 gang socket is £1.59 in Screwfix, I'd probably just turn off the power, take the socket out and reconnect the new one exactly as the old one was.

The turning off the power bit and the rewiring exactly as it was bit are pretty important by the way!

30 ovens is just excessive

Probably a woodlouse in there. Stick a fork or metal skewer in there and wiggle it around a bit to coax him out/ impale him.

I don't think I would ever crack this sort of joke no matter how obvious it is from the context, but then I'm boring.

Don't do this, kids, IT'S NOT A GOOD IDEA. :)

Thanks Zebra, appreciated. Yes ours is hardwired unfortunately.

These will directly replace fusewire carriers with mcb's for Wylex boards

I suspect my (7.2Kw) cooker is unfused.

Sparky sounds like the socket is broken would a good idea to get a new one Screwfix are doing the better quality MK double sockets for about £4.50 at the moment
Thanks Mr Sword I was going to suggest that though it would still leave you with a fuse box without an RCD which is the best protection.

I know but a fuse box replacement requires a full house electrical check which, judging by the fact they still have Wylex fusewire, will probably throw up so many faults a full or partial rewire will be probably be required.

Could always add an external 63A 30mA RCD between the consumer unit and the supplier cutout, not ideal admittedly.

Could always add an external 63A 30mA RCD between the consumer unit and the supplier cutout, not ideal admittedly.

not something to suggest to a householder, unless the householder instructs a JIB approved electrician to do this for them.