Advice on making good the walls after new wiring

[pmxcrw]

Hi everyone,

I've just purchased a new flat and want to install some extra sockets in some of the rooms, as well as concealing existing exposed wiring. The flat has solid (concrete) floors so I can't run the cabling under floorboards.

I think the best plan is to chase the cables into the plaster on the wall. I am happy with sorting out the wiring work, but was wondering if someone could give me advice about how to handle the plastering.

My thoughts were that I could chisel out a channel in the existing plaster, a few centimeters wide running from the existing sockets. The plastering is currently in very good condition so I was hoping to cut the channels just above the skirting board, lay the cable (and install the new sockets) and then make good the plaster work.

Is this possible to get a good finish as a DIY project, considering I have no plastering knowledge / experience and only have weekends available to work on this or would I need to pay a plasterer? If it is do-able on my own could someone recommend what products I would need and point me in the direction of some websites etc giving instructions? Would it be possible to do this using a filler (if I left some good plaster between the skirting and the channel then a normal filling knife would get a level finish, but would it have the same texture / finish as the existing plaster when its painted? If it's not feasible as a DIY project could a plasterer just make good the damage or would they need to skim the entire walls to get a decent finish?

Hope someone will have the time to give me some pointers, and many thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[roughcaster]

Welcome to you,
If you are cutting chases out of the wall for cables with just a chisel,chances are you will do more damage than you anticipate to the plaster unless you pre-cut the wall first with a cutting disc,then carefully break it out.If you do a neat enough job,then there is no reason why you couldn't patch up the plaster yourself.It depends what kind of job you are looking for.On the other hand,once all of your cable work has been done, it would not be a major job for a plasterer to come in and wipe it all out in one go, and there should be no need for skimming walls.Do cables need to be in conduit nowadays

Roughcaster.

 

[joe-90]

Stick the cables under the skirting board.

 

[pmxcrw]

Thanks for the advice guys. I thought that a sharp chisel would have made a clean job of it but will defer to your better judgement. If I were to replaster myself, would a pre-mixed "polyfiller" be suitable or would I be better advised to buy a bag of plaster. I imagine I would need quite a few tubs of filler (at least in the size sold at B&Q etc); not worried about the cost so much as the quality of the finish (when I've used fillers in the past to repair cracks etc I've found that the area the filler is applied to is visible even after repainting the entire wall).

I wouldn't have thought about laying them under the skirting board. Is it possible to remove without destroying the skirting, or would I need to lay fresh skirting (the flat is art deco and I don't think I would find a matching skirting board to replace any damaged sections). Would the skirting come away from the wall easily or would there still be damage to the plaster?

Again, thanks for the help

 

[JohnD]

Stick the cables under the skirting board.

Don't do that

the cables should be run in direct, horizontal or vertical lines between the visible outlets. This called a safe zone because a person later drilling or nailing into the wall can reasonably forecast where they are.

If you are putting in additional sockets it is easy to chase out horizontally from your old socket to your new spur.

A disk cutter makes a LOT of dust but is handy in an unoccupied house with no furniture, carpets or decoration.

I like to tap along the edges of the new chase with a sharp electricians bolster, making each pass deeper. with luck the central piece will fall out in big lumps. You can then repair it, using plaster (which is easier and cheaper than fillers), in two goes - leaving the first slightly recessed below the level of the finished wall (use a brush if necessary to rub it back while soft) and then a thin Finish layer, where you press your trowel hard against the old flat plaster above and below the chase, and it will push and scrape the new plaster flat and smooth,

 

[Richard C]

You don’t need to use an angle grinder/cutter; this will create so much dust that you (or your partner) will spend the next 2 weeks trying to clear it all up! I always use a sharp, 1 inch cold chisel to take it out rather than use a bolster chisel as this concentrates the load from the hammer blows on the plaster & reduces damage/cracks in the surrounding blockwork/plaster.

Make sure you follow the electrical ‘safe zones’ for the wiring (as JohnD says) & I always use steel capping (not plastic) over the cables before re-plastering. You should only need to create a trench of around 2 inches wide at most (depends on the number of cables) & even a very beginner should be able to re-plaster over that! Don’t use DIY fillers (crap), unless I’m re-plastering the entire wall I always use Bonding plaster & finish out to the surrounding wall; it is possible but you have to polish the hell out of it!