Question about electrical wiring extension

[earnest]

Hi, an electrician suggesting drilling through 2 rooms, at the corner to add another plug.

Would this be fine? I would prefer bringing it from the top vertically. Any red flags with this suggestion?

             | room 2
             |
             |
             x
---------new-|
              door
-------------|

 

[Spectric]

Need more clarity, best practice is for cable runs to be vertical so they run upto or down to a socket, you can run cables horizontally between sockets providing they are in what is termed the permitted zone but personally I have always run vertical. You can have sockets back to back on each side of a wall but it sounds like this may not be what they are thinking going by in the corner.

at the corner

So if you have a socket in one room then fitting another in the room behind then that is ok, it does becomes a problem in new builds with thin stud walls as there can be insufficient depth to get a decent job. Just running a cable through a wall and then horizontal to a new socket is bad practice, just fit an extra socket where the cable comes through the wall.

 

[earnest]

So these are 2 perpendicular walls, the suggestion was to drill through the wall, diagonally, from the existing socket.

 

[Spectric]

the suggestion was to drill through the wall, diagonally, from the existing socket.

Why diagonally, is there a reason you cannot go straight through square to the wall to a new socket ?

 

[earnest]

Why diagonally, is there a reason you cannot go straight through square to the wall to a new socket ?

do you mean to follow the horizontal line across to the wall? there is a door there, i think it was the easiest approach with the least damage to the brick walls.

 

[Spectric]

do you mean to follow the horizontal line across to the wall?

No, just drill straight through the wall from an existing socket and not diagonally.

there is a door there

Yes vertical drops overcome any issues with doorways.

 

[Chris West]

The code calls for a zone of safety for wires run inside walls, they are to run vertically or horizontally from sockets and switches but not at an angle. Reason being that someone is less likely to drive a nail or a screw into a wall and accidentally hit a wire if it is understood the wires are in one plane or the other. Of course, this isn't fool proof but that is the rationale.

 

[earnest]

No, just drill straight through the wall from an existing socket and not diagonally.


Yes vertical drops overcome any issues with doorways.

I probably messed up the drawing.

The sockets are in different rooms, will attach a picture shortly

 

[Spectric]

If you have a socket in one room then drill a hole through the back of that socket into a room next to that room then put a socket there is ok.

 

[Chris West]

You are right to ask this questio. This link may give you some guidance. https://www.surreytechservices.co.uk/news/what-are-electrical-safe-zones/

 

[Dabop]

Drilling diagonally is fine (and is actually done quite often) and is quite legal (although it is a definite 'art' to getting it right lol- it's a lot harder to get the other end to 'pop out' just where you want it... been there, done that...)

Both sockets will have to be in the same 'plane' horizontally (or very close to it) and the existing 'safe zones' will cover that cable anyway...

from https://bepractical.co.uk/electrical-safe-zones/

 

[earnest]

Rooms 1, 2, 3 are all separated by brick walls. The suggestion is to drill through the walls of room 1 and 2 to extend the wiring from the existing socket A to new socket B.

I think I would have preferred to bring it from the ceiling considering room 1 is being renovated and all the ceiling is taken off and will be plastered again.

Hope this makes more sense now, apologies for confusion

 

[Spectric]

Looking at that drawing it is almost like going diagonally through the door frame and is something I would not consider because it is just as easy to drop a new cable down like you prefer. Also the new location B is right in a doorway, it would be more beneficial further along the wall in room 2 and that would require droping the cable down but I suspect trying not to drop the cable down is why that location in the doorway has been thought off.

 

[earnest]

Looking at that drawing it is almost like going diagonally through the door frame and is something I would not consider because it is just as easy to drop a new cable down like you prefer. Also the new location B is right in a doorway, it would be more beneficial further along the wall in room 2 and that would require droping the cable down but I suspect trying not to drop the cable down is why that location in the doorway has been thought off.

thanks. it is more through the brick wall next to the door rather than through the door frame etc

 

[Dabop]

It is legal (and not uncommon) to do it diagonally like that...
You said the walls are brick???- single skinned or double skinned???

Single skinned would require a chase cut through it to fit an outlet from the ceiling and then some way of disguising it afterwards (or a surface mounted conduit), a double skinned brick wall 'may' be able to be rodded, but sometimes even they can't be gotten through- it isn't uncommon to find 'spillage' inside them of mortar, which can block access- in which case again a chase would need to be cut...

A noisy, slow and VERY messy job...
Where a diagonal drilling is far quicker, and way less messy...