2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 22:24
- Concealed wiring under plaster
- Do-it-yourself wall slitting for wiring
- Installation of hidden wiring under plaster
- Selection and installation of a switchboard
Concealed wiring under plaster
When decorating rooms with concrete, foam concrete, brick or gypsum walls with various building mixtures, the hidden wiring is first pulled in grooves-grooves, which are specially drilled, and then closed by applying a layer of raw plaster. Double-insulated cables and wires are easier to lay in grooves without using any additional protection. An important disadvantage of this method is that the wires cannot be replaced in the future without resorting to violating the integrity of the wall. Electrical wiring, which is made in cable ducts and pipes from materials that are resistant to combustion, does not have such a disadvantage, but this method is more laborious.
Installation of hidden wiring in an apartment begins with marking, immediately after the rough finish. At the same time, on the walls or ceilings, the location of future switches, junction boxes (if used), sockets and lines along which gating will be carried out are marked. Further, in order to mount the socket boxes, you need to drill depressions. The socket-boxes are installed in a recess, which are partially filled in advance with a building mixture based on gypsum, flush with the wall surface. The next necessary step, which will help to make hidden wiring under the plaster, is chasing the previously marked lines to the required width and depth.
Do-it-yourself wall slitting for wiring
Ideally, the width of the groove should match the width of the cable to be laid. Then the cable is immediately tightly "held" in the strobe, while it does not bulge out and does not fall out. To lay a single flat three-core VVG cable, which has a cross-section of cores up to 4 mm 2, usually a groove with a depth of 0.7-1 cm is enough. It is forbidden to groove load-bearing concrete walls. Therefore, in order to carry out such communications, it is necessary to have a sufficient thickness of the plaster layer during rough work.
To install the socket boxes, you need to drill the wall with a perforator using a special nozzle - "crown".
For drilling concrete walls, it is better to use a hammer drill with a higher power, i.e. over 1000 W, however, without having such professional equipment for such purposes, you can use an ordinary household punch. In this case, you will need to change the tool one by one. First, a crown is used. After deepening the crown by 2-3 mm from the concrete surface (the highest power of the perforator used in everyday life is usually not enough), it is replaced with a drill with a diameter of 6 mm.
This drill drills several holes along the entire length of the groove obtained from using the bit. The distance between these holes should be as small as possible, completely enclosing the circle. The depth of drilling with a drill is 2-3 cm. After that, the crown is again installed, which can already go deeper. Thus, the process is repeated until the required depth is reached for installing the socket. Then, using a perforator, the concrete is punched out in the center, and a socket box is mounted in the hole formed.
Often, the drilling process is complicated by the presence of steel reinforcement in the concrete at the drilling site. So, it is better to probe the area to be drilled beforehand using a portable metal detector.
If you plan to carry out the wiring in the cable ducts and pipes in the future, then the next step will be their installation in the already slotted grooves towards the mounted socket boxes. Then cables and wires are laid. In cable channels and pipes, these wires and cables are tightened with flexible steel wire. When performing electrical wiring without pipes and cable channels, wires and cables can be fixed directly in the groove with alabaster (pure plaster). The ends of the wires that fit the socket boxes are tucked into them, and the surplus is cut to a length of 10 to 15 cm. The wall slitting for wiring is completed, now we go to the next stage.
Installation of hidden wiring under plaster
Sockets are often mounted in blocks under one frame. This allows you to combine into one unit not only electrical outlets, but also TV, telephone, Internet sockets and even switches. This will allow you to conveniently operate them, save space and win aesthetically. To mount such a block, special latches are needed, namely, cable channels. Their use allows you to combine a group of socket boxes with each other as follows.
Further, the resulting group is installed in the already prepared grooves. In this case, the holes should be drilled in one row and almost dense (the distance between the holes should be no more than 1 mm), and the central partitions are carefully removed. This contributes to the fact that the unit can not be disassembled, but installed as a whole. During installation and connection, as well as after, the metal frames of the sockets must be in close contact.
Frames and covers are installed at the final stage of finishing work, when wallpaper will be glued or the walls are painted. With a well-done work, the frames and covers of the sockets adhere to the wall evenly, without forming any gaps.
To install a flush-mounted switchboard, it is necessary to groove a rectangular recess with sufficient depth, width and height. With the help of gypsum mortar, the shield body is attached to the resulting niche. This completes the installation of hidden wiring, proceed to the final stage.
Selection and installation of a switchboard
This step is carried out based on the number of teams involved. So, each group has its own machine (RCD), to which they are connected. In addition to the output single-pole circuit breaker, it is necessary to have a common, as well as an input two-pole (single-phase circuit). The phase is connected to one pole, the neutral wire of the input cable is connected to the other.
Example of installation of a switchboard for three groups with one standby.
Having a common switchboard on the staircase, which includes all metering devices (electric meters), you can connect to a group of machines, the power of which is allocated specifically for a particular apartment.
If there is a need for grounding, then the grounding niche (which is part of the shield) is connected to the grounding neutral wire extending from the input supply cable - the so-called three-wire single-phase system. If there is no such wire, but there is a working neutral wire, then it is possible to connect the grounding bus to it at the input to the input machine. The zero common bus is also connected to the zero output of the input machine, which in turn is part of the shield.
The ability to turn off the input machine contributes to the safe work inside the switchboard, for example, replacing the output machines if they fail. Installation of a metering device (electric meter) is carried out in front of the output machine, as well as after the introductory one. This completes the selection and installation of the general switchboard. Now you know how you can make the installation of hidden electrical wiring under plaster, do the wall chasing for wiring with your own hands, and install and connect the outlet and switch in the right place.
Especially for the site DIY repair of a one-room apartment.
