Running power to my shed, but trying to avoid a big trench

[m1ke_a]

My shed is at the bottom of our garden and is approx 25m from the house. 15m is garden, the remainder is paved patio which is one two levels, which has about 1m of height gain through the patio.

I've been putting off hard wiring the shed for too long but do really need to bite the bullet. I already have fluo lights installed and will eventually run 6 double sockets internally on two separate ring mains back to a dedicated CU in the shed. I'm fairly happy with the shed wiring design, it's just the wee matter of getting a cable back to the house..........

I will get a registered sparks to OK the design, install and commission it up etc but I do want to do as much of the manual labour as poss to save cost.

The neatest way is to bury the (SWA) cable but this will take the most work. Pinning the cable around the house perimeter is probably the easiest option but I'm looking at 10mm swa and I'm not sure this'll cope with bending round 90' corners?

Anyone any other ideas on alternate approaches?

TIA

 

[Ali]

I have a similar problem in planning to run power to my shed this summer. another option is a overhead cable run - it might not be pretty but can be effective.

 

[m1ke_a]

I have a similar problem in planning to run power to my shed this summer. another option is a overhead cable run - it might not be pretty but can be effective.

Yeah a friend has suggested this but it'll probably need 2 or 3 tall poles and I'm not sure that's going to work with the neighbours :|

 

[biskit]

Same with my shed. 25 years ago I ran a cooker size cable in any size tube I had (waste pipe, rainwater pipe etc) under ground. Now I'm using the shed as my workshop I could do with a proper cable :? Don't want to run it above ground, it's going to be hard lifting flagstones and relaying them. :x let us know how you go with yours.

 

[Wuffles]

Same with my shed. 25 years ago I ran a cooker size cable in any size tube I had (waste pipe, rainwater pipe etc) under ground. Now I'm using the shed as my workshop I could do with a proper cable :? Don't want to run it above ground, it's going to be hard lifting flagstones and relaying them. :x let us know how you go with yours.

In your situation, couldn't you just connect a new wire to the old one (LOADS of tape and cable ties etc) and drag it through if the pipework you used before was loose enough?

It's a risk mind you, but certainly worth a punt before lifting flagstones or running it overhead.

 

[biskit]

Same with my shed. 25 years ago I ran a cooker size cable in any size tube I had (waste pipe, rainwater pipe etc) under ground. Now I'm using the shed as my workshop I could do with a proper cable :? Don't want to run it above ground, it's going to be hard lifting flagstones and relaying them. :x let us know how you go with yours.

In your situation, couldn't you just connect a new wire to the old one (LOADS of tape and cable ties etc) and drag it through if the pipework you used before was loose enough?

It's a risk mind you, but certainly worth a punt before lifting flagstones or running it overhead.

Yeah I know what your saying :roll: I'm worried that the pipes being of different sizes things'll get all hooked up. I'll have to give it a go when it gets warmer. (hammer) ccasion5:

 

[Rorschach]

Same with my shed. 25 years ago I ran a cooker size cable in any size tube I had (waste pipe, rainwater pipe etc) under ground. Now I'm using the shed as my workshop I could do with a proper cable :? Don't want to run it above ground, it's going to be hard lifting flagstones and relaying them. :x let us know how you go with yours.

In your situation, couldn't you just connect a new wire to the old one (LOADS of tape and cable ties etc) and drag it through if the pipework you used before was loose enough?

It's a risk mind you, but certainly worth a punt before lifting flagstones or running it overhead.

I would use the old cable to pull through a really long piece of rope (at least twice the length of the pipe plus a bit) then attach the new cable to the middle of the rope and pull through, that way if the cable comes loose from the rope you still have the rope in the pipe and you can try again as many times as needed.

 

[Jacob]

I'd go for it and do a proper job with a large (enough for future alterations) diameter conduit. If you want to do it on the cheap just have an extension cable over the ground.

 

[siggy_7]

Trenchless cable/impact moling?

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[Jacob]

Trenchless cable/impact moling?

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Had to look it up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glpsaCSvZsI
Brilliant but perhaps OTT for a mere 25 yards?
I've seen similar thing with a tractor ploughing/pulling in a pipe or cable which works fine until you hit a big stone, bedrock, next doors drain, water pipe or power cable.
Better to get in a mini digger and a youth IMHO. or just a youth, pick n shovel and barrow.

 

[cammy9r]

Hi, is the cable going to be run near a fence or hedge. If so just clip it to the fence. If there is a hedge I think you can hammer in small fence posts and clip to them. Im sure the swa will bend around a right angle with a small radius left in the cable. I think that is your only options really other than the trench.
Jacob, I cant see many youths of today willing to swing a pick or use a shovel, unless you can get them an I-pick or a touch screen shovel with texting. :roll:

 

[Bm101]

I have armoured cable running power down the garden to the shed, its currently lying on the ground along the base of the fence. Without going into needless detail it needs to swap to the other boundary. When I get round to it, I'm just going to disconnect from the shed, drag it all out and reroute it down the other side of the garden and secure it to the fence posts using appropriate fixings. I know where it it is, it's less of a hazard than burying in the beds and it saves me digging a straight trench though my lawn to comply with electrical regs. The wire is maybe just over half inch thick but you can bend it round 90' on a slight curve. Personally Id rather it was visible and away from any form of spade in my Mrs hands (shes the gardener). I'll even leave a little slack in between each fixing in case there's a freak storm that brings the fence posts down. Not suitable for a public area but this is my back garden.

 

[n0legs]

Two 4m poles, a nice tight catenary wire and sent it overhead.

 

[NazNomad]

I have an armoured cable running inside a length of blue alkathene water pipe, buried where it could be and clipped to the fence where it couldn't.

It won't win any awards, but it's safe from weather/damage.

 

[defsdoor]

Could you run power cables down a series of scaffold poles connected with normal inline scaffold connectors ?

Might make a handy hand rail or just unobstrusively attached to boundary fence ?

Thinking of something similar for my run.

 

[oakfield]

As mentioned above, impact moleing would be a good option.
My dad had a business doing this.
Dig a hole at each end, put mole in and aim it, hopefully it will pop out in the hole up to 25m away.
He also has a directional mole which can do 100m and you can control its direction along the way.

 

[Eric The Viking]

It's tempting to run several cables along the same round conduit. This isn't a bad idea as such, but over that distance, I'd make sure the draw rope was braided rather than laid (twisted). Otherwise cables and ropes, especially if they're quite different diameters or construction, tend to twist around each other in the duct and suddenly pulling isn't so much fun!

Back in the days of telephones with dials, the GPO/BT used to use salt-glazed ductwork with IIRC nine or twelve 4" pipes cast together as a set, and they used to have lots of problems in this regard.

Also, if you can make sure the duct terminates well above ground at each end, and ideally with no joints (difficult over that run, possibly), pulling things through will be a lot easier and there's little chance of water getting into the duct.

I only have a very short run here, so I used a "U" of 2" yellow gas pipe (blagged from some gas men working in the road), continuing right up the garage wall inside, almost to the back of the distribution board, and similarly inside the house. I laid in CAT5 as well as power, but it should've been CAT6 really, because of proximity to the power cable. If I ever do swap it out, it should be a fairly easy job.

It is a long time since I last buried big armoured cable, but IIRC, the "buried cable" tape and the concrete warning slabs were both expensive. We went for cast concrete capping stones (for 1/2-brick walls) instead, and I think we blagged some tape to put on top. Possible cable damage is the reason for the isolating switch and (big) fuse back at the property's main fuse board.

 

[Halo Jones]

I am just about to finally put some proper power to my shed - using my extension cable starting the saw or dust extractor puts the lights out for a few seconds and it just really isn't safe!

One comment is that SWA cannot be pinned to a fence or a hedge - it needs to be a "permanent structure" like a brick wall. The sparky might not be able to pass it if the cable is not appropriately routed.

Good luck - I am looking forward to having proper electrics!

 

[DTR]

I have armoured cable running power down the garden to the shed, its currently lying on the ground along the base of the fence. ............. I know where it it is, it's less of a hazard than burying in the beds and it saves me digging a straight trench though my lawn to comply with electrical regs. .............. Personally Id rather it was visible and away from any form of spade in my Mrs hands (shes the gardener). I'll even leave a little slack in between each fixing in case there's a freak storm that brings the fence posts down. Not suitable for a public area but this is my back garden.

I'm in the exact same situation. In my line of work we get a lot of damaged cables, and you can almost guarantee that a mile-long cable will get damaged on the 10' bit that's in the ground. At least above ground it's easy to find and repair.

Not that I'm suggesting anyone ignores the regs, etc etc

 

[Setch]

If you come up with a solution, keep it to yourself - I dug a trench about three times in heavy clay, as bad weather kept filling it back in!

I've got 40mm waste pipe buried in the same trench with a pull string, ready to run some cat 5, CCTV leads and a doorbell/phone extension. Getting under the brick flower bed which delineates a 2 foot change in level was fun! I used a bit of downpipe fitted with a T-handle to bore down at 45 degrees, like a cheese taster!