Sockets above kitchen worktop

I have used dado trunking now for several applications but I am not aware of a low profile type which I think you are going to find hard to source. The back boxes for all the ones I have used have all been 35mm deep to cover all circumstances and there is usually a gap behind the boxes and the back of the trunking. You then have to add the thickness of the socket front plate to the protrusion unless you intend to use the low profile sockets for which you will most likely need 35mm back boxes.

Richard

Yerss. My solution in one area of the kitchen that had a non straight wall., was to make a false wall out of MDF that stood proud of the actual wall by enough to get back boxes and cables into it.

The cavity is bounded by a wall at right angles and kitchen cabinets and worktop through out

MDF takes emulsion and tiles extremely well.

The Natural Philosopher wrote: ... snipped

MR MDF does, not so sure about the regular stuff

I just bought whatever the builders merchants had

Its a first rate material if you don't let it get wet.

Many thanks. All the sockets in the Screwfix catalogue claim to require a 25mm back-box. Although some articles do suggest 35mm would making fitting easier.

For me the low profile aspect is important. I can't believe there's not a demand for it.

An interesting idea or perhaps use plasterboard.

My hope was for a simple system that negated any need for cutting of plasterboard and tiles etc.

You could possibly use what is called bench trunking which is triangular in section and sits at the back of the worktop against the wall. This is often used on lab benches but I am not sure about kitchen use, perhaps some of our more knowledgable on the regs. might confirm its compatibility?

Maybe I haven't understood, but why not just sink a back box in the wall?

In my experience always fitting a 35mm back-box for sockets make fitting much easier, and perhaps also for switches. I've had experience where the actual socket can fit in a 25mm back-box but it only left a few mm between the socket and backbox for the wires that have to attach to the back of the socket.

Yes, I can do that. I was trying to find an easier method where I could perhaps mount a PVC trunking to a wall, say about a row of tiles, which I could fit sockets at convenient intervals without cutting through tiles and plasterboard.

Probably mainly dictated by the 13A plug where the earth pin is 23mm long.

Can't see any trunking which takes sockets that is slimmer than 50mm, would look a bit to much laboratory/workshop spec to me for a kitchen.

. . . or inhale its dust.

Ah yes. Full face respirator when machining. You do eventually cough it up, but its not good

Sawing and drilling its mainly OK

what is available is triangular backboxes/trunking. It would look a lot r neater than rectangular stuff.

The only thing about the triangular bench trunking is its price! For some reason it comes at 4/5 times the price of standard Dado rectangular trunking both for the trunking and the accessories. I am surprised nobody picked up on that from my previous post.

Richard

Some of the trunking is tapered top and bottom rather than rectangular but still at least 50mm deep.

Triangluar probably would have to be fitted at the back of the worktop taking possibly at least 150mm plus a clearance for the plug and lead from the worktop depth. This would mean that some worktop appliances could not be pushed back fully to the back wall.

Possibly in a kitchen near a worktop it may be best to have sockets mounted on a vertical surface well above the worktop in case of accidental spills of liquid.

Look up 'shallow screed trunking':

You'd likely have to make your own fixings for socket screws, but you could eg tile the front.

Although once you've got to this point, it might be easier to just make your own trunking out of timber. Run some battens horizontally along the wall, then screw a strip of ply or similar on top. Then cut holes using a multi-tool whereever you want a socket. You could tile the strip (which would blend it but make it harder to add new sockets later) or paint the strip in some finish to blend with the tiles, at which point you can easily just cut in more sockets.

If this wasn't recessed (ie the whole tiled wall brought forward to make it flush) you could make it into a little shelf for putting small items like spice jars on.

The nice thing about this is that (subject to the usual separation rules) you can run other wiring in there besides mains - eg TV, audio, data, etc. And if you ever want to reconfigure the kitchen (eg switch from gas to induction hob) then a new cable can be pulled for that without disturbing anything.

Theo

Some sockets have the wires coming out of the back, others have the wires going in the side - the latter are better in a low profile box.

The trouble with office-style dado trunking is you need space for the accessories (which can include network ports, which may be deeper) but also the cabling to run behind them (could be dozens of ethernet cables). Cat5/6 cable is 6-8mm, allow a few more mm for cable clips etc, and you're starting to feel tight if you're much under 50mm.

Theo