Wires and Tiling

[steve9999]

is it ok to tile over wires that have been chased into the wall (wires for lighting) or will the adhesive (mapei) attack the wires. i went to quote on a job and the customer said the sparky said the wires need covering with trunking or it will be attacked by the adhesive. the problem is the trunking would stick out from the wall and not be flat to tile over . is it ok to just cover wires with a few layers of gaffer tape?

 

[chrisroe]

dont be daft trunking is there to protect the cables and whoever is drilling into them

surely a bit of commonsence and you could answer the question yourself

why didnt the sparkey do it and if they will stick out then they need chased into the wall correctly

 

[Spirit]

The primary use for trunking in electrics is to protect the cable from the plasterers trowel. The outer covering of the cable is PVC and is impervious to cement based renders and adhesives. It is therefore perfectly OK to tile over the cables. There is no requirement in BS7671 (Electrical Regulations) to enclose cable in a conduit as long as it is protected by a 30mA RCD or is greater than 50mm from the surface.

 

[Derry]

hmmm yes and no!

I studied electrics for 2 years at college and what the 2 guys above are saying is both right.

You can tile over them and i'm sure that the adhesive will not corrode the cables/wires at all. However, it is potentially your reputation at risk.

If someone was to drill into the wall (be it now or in 5 years time) then it will cause damage and cause possible injury so using common sense is required.

Personally I would be asking why a sparky says it needs covering up but didnt do the job himself?!
If you feel confident then i would trunk it in, you can get slim plastic trunking so it can still be flush without hacking out tunnels of wall.

If at all unsure, get a qualified electrician to have a look. better to be safe than sorry!

Patrick

 

[Spirit]

If someone drills through a tile, I can't see a bit of plastic trunking stopping the bit.

Ps. I am City & Guilds part 2 qualified electrician and employ 2 'C' Certificate sparkies. They both agree with my statement above.

 

[Dan]

I think he just needs a yay or nay on the tape thing.

And I'd say, chase the cable in a bit more, stick some trunking over it (though I'd get the sparky back to finish his work personally) and then tile it as expected. No wires in the way.

 

[Spirit]

No need to tape over the cable, perfectly acceptable, from an electrical point of view to tile straight over.

 

[steve9999]

thanks lads. i was just worried about the adhesive attacking the wires like the sparky said. but i thought that it would be ok as you said.

 

[CJ]

Sounds like a right lazy git of a sparkie to me

 

[Dan]

Perhaps it's the done thing though hey? I'm not a sparky, or a tiler for that matter - what am I doing here even?!?!?! ahhhhhhh I'm on the wrong website again!!!!!