Kitchen sockets: stylish new design

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You don't need to. Simply make it large enough and slop in a dollop of quickset mortar. Wedge the box in place until it dries.

[Bert Coules]

Dave,

And then mark for the securing screw, remove the box and drill and plug the hole, you mean? I have tried that in the past with reasonable results; perhaps I'll give it another go. Thanks.

Bert

[IMM]

It woudn't.

< snip the rest of the babble >

[RichardS]

I tend to drill the securing holes & plug before the dollop of plaster - as you tighten the screws pullng the box home it squeezes the plaster out & it can be scraped off flush. All rock solid & secure once it's set.

[Bert Coules]

Richard,

That makes sense, thanks; though I do recall on some past attempts that the brickwork had crumbled so much that drilling a hole before putting in the mortar was simply impossible. Probably I've just been unlucky with my walls. I take the point that it can be damaging to try to remove the box once the plaster's in and set, though.

[Christian McArdle]

Yes, I've used 20cm from worksurface to bottom of socket for mine (which is the same thing given 90cm standard worksurface height). It seems to be a reasonable compromise between having excessively trailing leads and not having the sockets blocked by the worksurface contents.

Christian.

[Fitz]

How do these work? Do they literally just smash into the wall creating a socket sized rectangular hole? Is it a one step process or do you need to pre-drill or do any extra chiselling out at the end?

cheers

-- Steve F

[Bert Coules]

Steve,

It's a three (and possible a four) stage process:

Having marked out the position of the box, you drill a central hole which will eventually take a wallplug for the securing screw.

You then use a two-inch circular face cutter (supplied in the full kit) to cut a round hole to the depth needed by the box. The cutter has a central guiding rod which fits into the pre-drilled hole.

With the SDS drill set to hammer only, you use the box cutter (which also has a central guide rod) to cut the edges of the square (or rectangular) hole to the correct depth. If you're lucky, the masonry between the edges and the round hole will just break away. If you're unlucky you move on to stage four, and...

Chisel away the excess brick.

I found that the system works well. It does, though, produce a fair old bit of noise, vibration and dust.

Bert

[Owain]

"Bert Coules" wrote | That makes sense, thanks; though I do recall on some past attempts | that the brickwork had crumbled so much that drilling a hole before | putting in the mortar was simply impossible. Probably I've just | been unlucky with my walls. I take the point that it can be | damaging to try to remove the box once the plaster's in and set, | though.

If you have a bank of sockets etc to mount, join the back boxes together rigidly with conduit couplers and bushes etc into a single rigid assembly. (Check distance between boxes to allow room for faceplate overlap). Work against a raised lip on a workbench and you will have the top of the boxes in a straight line as well as the backs on a plane surface. Then cement the whole lot into the all in one go.

If you mount your sockets a multiple-of-tile-size apart and know where your tile joints will be on the finished wall you can get a nice regular tiling pattern with no socket edge sitting close-but-not-quite on a grout line.

Owain

[Mike Clarke]

According to the OSG (Appendix 8):

"The Building Regulations require switches and socket-outlets in dwellings to be installed so that all persons including those whose reach is limited can easily use them"

It quotes a height between 450 and 1200 mm from the ground. Looks like a piece of bureaucracy which makes little allowance for the actual use to which the relevant device is to be put. It does go on to say that this does not apply to kitchens and garages but to rooms that visitors would normally use, but I can think of several sockets and switches in our living room and bedrooms that visitors would have no need to touch.

[Bert Coules]

Owain,

That is an excellent suggestion. Thank you.

Bert

[Andrew Gabriel]

This is a reference to Part M of the building regs. It only applies to new builds, not to modifications and extensions, although you are of course free to apply it if you want to. The heights quoted are examples and not strict rules, and might not be appropriate in all cases. In partcular, beware the 450mm min height could be quite a trip hazard for a socket outlet, and think carefully about any additional consequences of tripping at that location, such as falling through a window or down steps.

[IMM]

Same here. These angled sockets under teh cupboards are ideal. Most sockets over worktops are behind toasters and coffee jars. A silly place to have them.

[Lurch]

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 14:29:58 -0000, "Owain" strung together this:

Nice idea, which I have done before but only on council jobs, more particularly in schools, rather than anywhere else. It's not quite as rigid a structure as you imagine, although it's still fairly rigid, it does need levelling up before fixing. Distances between shouldn't be a problem as couplers are 35mm long, way more than a couple of overlaps.

[Lurch]

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 09:17:11 -0000, "Bert Coules" strung together this:

No, that's the daft persons way! Leave the cement to set then drill, plug and screw through the box.

[Bert Coules]

Lurch,

And how exactly do I plug the wall with the box in situ?

Bert

[Bert Coules]

Lurch,

How about mounting a row of sockets on a timber board or batten and burying that in the wall?

Bert

[Andrew Gabriel]

Use bonding coat plaster -- that will hold the box in the wall sronger than the screw would have done anyway. It can be useful too if the brick behind has cracked to 1000 pieces in sinking the hole, so there's nothing to screw into.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If you use enough mortar so it squidges up the sides, you'll not need any fixing screws.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

An 'expert' on electrics and taste now. Does your hacksaw make a good job of cutting cable too?