Running hdmi/speaker etc cables with a solid floor

[oopsagain]

Hi. I hope somone can advise me. I want to run HDMI/speaker/telephone cables in the floor rather than going up and over. My builder has cut a channel in the screed and says it's ok to set in 1 1/2" x 12" plastic trunking and to then fill round it and over it with a straight cement and water mix. I am not sure he has channelled it out deep enough - there will be only about 1/4" cement above the plastic - and I think it might crack, give way and crush the cables - not to mention ruin the carpet, when we run the sofas/piano over it.

Does anyone have a view as to whether it is acceptable to use plastic trunking in the floor and if so, should I secure the underside of it to the bottom of the cut out channed (Gripfill?) to stop it floating up when I cement round it, and, most critically, how thick does the cement need to be above the plastic? Also, should I give it a quick splash of pva 50/50 before putting in the cement.

If anyone has any thoughts on this I would be grateful.
Thanks.

 

[GRC]

If you go deep enough, won't you run out of concrete? How deep is the concrete floor?

Solution would appear to be;

Remember where the channel is, and lift the sofa/piano etc over it when you move them. You should be finding one place for the piano and leaving it there, shouldn't you? So bring it in, plonk it down and it stays there?

 

[ChrisFrost]

I'd talk to some of the companies who put in underfloor heating. Find out what they do when retro-fitting the pipes in an existing concrete floor.

 

[oopsagain]

Thanks for your responses. I have found that there are about 2" of screed before you get to solid concrete, so I have channelled out to this depth for the speaker and telephone leads and will run these through plastic trunking which I think will be ok as it will have a good inch of cement protecting it. The HDMI, which goes to a different part of the room I think I will run through metal trunking which it seems can be fitted flush with the floor surface - with a removable capping - so that I can access it at a later date. This part of the job is taking longer than anything else! Thanks again.

 

[gregsult]

I saw the other day that they make flat HDMI cables for running on the floor or under carpet. See a sample on Amazon: Flat HDMI Cables. Maybe it's something you can consider for your project.

 

[Hass]

if you run the HDMI in metal trunking won't that cause interference?
something to check.
regards

 

[mattylad]

An Earthed metal pipe should prevent interference.

As to running a HDMI cable in a 1/2" pipe, have you tried getting the end in the pipe? I'm pretty sure that it will not fit.

Try 1" pipe instead.