New builds

[The Medway Handyman]

They are building new houses around here like you wouldn't believe & I get lots of work in them.

Couple of things I've noticed;

The lighting seems to be junction box rather than loop in ceiling rose. Much easier to change light fittings, but I wonder why?

Is it cheaper or faster to fit a junction box style system?

Radiators basins are often connected using small bore plastic pipe run behind the dot 'n' dab plasterboard.

Finding the bloody things it a nightmare, especially when people want a curtain pole fitted above a window with a rad below, or a mirror above a washbasin.

I did actually refuse to fit a curtain pole today where the window had a light switch one side & probably the pipes on the other - not worth the risk.

Power cables are easy to avoid because of the rules & regs involved - but are there any rules for running plastic pipes?

I've got 2 detectors, but dot 'n' dab confuses them.

[John Rumm]

Not especially - includes an extra set of connections for a start. However it is handy if you are going for lots of designer light fittings that are not designed with space to accommodate the usual loop in wiring connections.

Not that I am aware of. There are things you can do to make stuff easier to find later - but needless to say these don't usually get done by commercial installers.

Cutting a section out of the PB is sometimes the only safe way... once you have a nice gap, stick a block of wood in and fix right through it.

[dom]

I'd have thought this was a job for that inspection camera you linked to last week.

Drill a 13mm diameter hole just deep enough to break through the plasterboard, perhaps set up a drill bit with a collar-stop just for this purpose. The resultant hole should be small enough to plug with filler.

[Ben Blaukopf]

What do they do about access to the junction boxes? Are they using bullet-style ones?

Run the hot tap and use an IR camera? That would at least give you a clue as to where the hot pipe was.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Ben Blaukopf used his keyboard to write :

A normal IR camera will not pick up the heat from a hot water pipe. What might work through PB would be a no contact IR thermometer. Scan it across the face and look for a hot spot.

[John Rumm]

You would need to run the rads as well to be sure. Might be a bit of a pain in mid summer.

[ARWadsworth]

They are probably looping at the at the switches and are very unlikely to be using a junction box. I usually do a mixture of loop at the lights and at the switches when doing a rewire.

[Jonathan]

Our electrician did this as a matter of course to make it easier for us to change light fittings if we waneed. much more likely to do that than change the switches.

Jonathan

[Andy Wade]

That seems to be the modern way. Is anyone making switches with neutral linking terminals yet?

[ARWadsworth]

I certainly use that method for some lights that I install. It can often save cable and time.

Not that I know of.

[Owain]

I think Crabtree made a 1-way to 2-way converter switch, with the terminals in the same positions as a 1-way switch so you didn't have to stretch the wires, and a parking terminal for the line wire to/from the new 2-way switch.

Ah yes, Special Two-Way Switch, List No 3150. suitable for replacement of underslung or silent toggle 1-way switches. (Crabtree Electrical Handbook 2nd Ed, Walsall, 1947)

Owain