Home DIY

Not for extension of an existing circuit. You just need to follow the rules for the installation. Use the correct rating of cable, British standard sockets, correct polarity of connections, work only on a dead circuit etc. etc.

As I said earlier, your biggest concern will be routing the wires. You will need a socket directly below the tv socket at the same height as the existing sockets. Definitely no diagonal cable runs (although that would be more trouble than it's worth in your walls).

You might find a face plate that accepts ready made cables on the rear for hdmi connections, rather than having to make the connections in the back of the socket with bare wire. There are modular face plates that have lots of options for av connections.

Proper old school! I guess you've not used the new style of cable gripper that fits to the end of a rod, really useful and pulls very easily.

I usually manage to get behind a skirting ok. It's hardwood floors that create a lot more of a problem.

Earthborn paints are also very, very good.

Wicked. This was exactly what I was after, thank you. Leyland Super Leytex it is.

One of the things which made me realise that the F&B estate emulsion isn't actually a normal emulsion is that I have a damp patch on the wall which I realised I'd likely have to seal later, but the F&B paint has completely sealed it. I would prefer the walls to breathe, but never mind.

Ah sorry, I didn't think my post had posted as the photo wouldn't upload. Thought you were referring to the paint comment! But the house is plenty drafty elsewhere - will it really make that much difference?!

That is definitely true. Absolute matt is great for ceilings or places you are unlikely to mark, but it's a bit of a nightmare with kids or in, say, hallways where you are likely to bump and knock it. It's just so, so expensive. Can't justify when the colour-matching with an alternative paint is so good. We used 'shirting' for our white.

Feel like a bit of a mug now after reading about LG being better than F&B. Spent a few hundred quid on this a while back and am waiting to have the energy to continue decorating with it. After doing the guest bedroom it was a lot of work to get a good finish with the estate emulsion in strong white.

Painting the yellowed light cords in my flat: Safe, or will I die in a fire?

Replace the cord?

If you have no issues reaching them (which I guess not since you're considering painting them) I'd suggest just replacing them.

Haha you know Jim as well? Good bloke.

They are good. I had some supplied by a client to cover a wall which had been lime rendered, apparently it's a very different base which breathes more naturally on lime. Certainly a very fine finish although I did give it 3 coats to get to a truly solid colour on new render. Nice to paint with too. Very expensive apparently.

Funnily enough my wife used to work for Jim a while back. He has a cracking business..

Right, so this routing mains spurs thing... The TV is going to be a couple of meters diagonally away from the nearest mains socket. I'm hoping that covering the vertical distance isn't going to be a problem, but how should I run the spur horizontally? Am I going to have to hire a wall chaser? And once that's done do I have to put the cable into a conduit in the channel then plaster over it? Is it going to look like ass?

It does sound like a massive ball ache. The cable needs to be more than 50mm below the surface of the wall. No need for conduit, you can use it if you like though.

No need for a wall chaser, you can cut that channel by hand or use an SDS chisel bit in an SDS drill that has the no rotation function.

What about surface mounted conduit painted to match the walls? Much easier.

I considered the surface mount route, but I really want it to be invisible.

I think I'll have a poke around inside the existing plug sockets, and see where the cables are coming from. I suspect they go through the false ceiling and then down through the channels in the breeze blocks. If that's the case, I may see if I can run another cable down from the ceiling to the TV.

Thanks for the advice

False ceiling, I didn't see that coming. Looking in there would be a good starting point. Does the room have solid floors?

Yeah poured concrete floors. And it turns out I was wrong about the false ceiling. That's all concrete too. I just checked.

I don't know how apartments like this are normally built. Do they pour concrete onto conduits?

That would be my guess but I've not been involved in that type of work. I deal with victorian property almost exclusively.

Just poking my nose in here about the 50mm depth thing - is that only where you're running cable outside of the standard vertical/horizontal zones, or is it for all non-RCD-protected cable?

Consequently, this advice from B&Q is legal or no? http://www.diy.com/help-ideas/how-to-run-a-new-electrical-cable/CC_npcart_400235.art

Thanks!

You're right. I was being a little overzealous. As long as it runs horizontally or vertically or in the corners of the room/top of the walls it can be less than 50mm. It does then need to be RCD protected.

Non RCD protected needs to be more than 50mm deep.

I'm usually working with stud walls so I'd drill the centre of the stud in any case.

Part P Section 2.3.3.

I does get confusing because we all tend to make assumptions based on experience. I work in a lot of houses that don't have RCD protection so I usually assume the worst case scenario. However it would be easier to fit an RCBO if there's currently no RCD than comply with the 50mm depth requirement in lots of cases.

The B&Q example doesn't really mention RCD protection but maybe assumes it based on the wider range of households that have it. The rule regarding RCD protection is possibly more recent than the B&Q wiki too.

What would be the legal position if your house doesn't have RCD protection, the cables are already there, but exposed, and you just want to bury them in the wall?

Ah thanks for that.
In my situation I'm in a flat without RCD protection. The electrical installation is from the 80s but looks to be professionally done and compliant with the regs of the time. I've added a couple of sockets to the ring (not spurs) and moved various light switches and ceiling roses, all the while ensuring that all cable runs are vertical or horizontal in the special zones, and in plastic trunking which is then plastered over - ie the same standard as existing. However the existing installation isn't greater than 50mm deep (e.g. from the floor upto a socket it's just about 20mm depth, the thickness of the bonding plaster + skim coat), but should I have chased in further for my additions? I'm simply adding to circuits rather than creating new ones, so kind of assumed I was ok in a grandfather rights sort of way. Chasing in any more than I did would have entailed getting right into the brick and not just taking off the bonding plaster, a massive ballache, but of course if it's gotta be done it's gotta be done...