Wiring on the floor is not often mounted, usually the wires are installed inside the walls, but in some situations you can not do without floor mounting of an electric cable. This type of work is distinguished by its practicality, ease and efficiency, so now such a laying every year is becoming more popular.
In some cases, posting on the floor in an apartment is the only possible solution. Unfortunately, in some prefabricated houses there is no possibility to carry out installation of the strob inside the walls. If repair work has already been carried out and only the floor can be replaced, while the full decoration of the walls has already been completed, it is the floor electrical wiring that will help to lay additional lines.
Basic safety requirements
Most experts agree that it is almost impossible to repair an electric cable that is mounted in a screed. That is why it is necessary to carry out all work as accurately as possible, safely and competently, so that in the future there are no problems with wiring. For example, waterproofing in a house must be carried out before laying the cable, because then it will not work to carry out such works, unless full dismantling is begun.
Laying the wiring on the floor will not cause any difficulties if the cable width is sufficient, there is not a large number of bends and all junction boxes are in accessible places.
When installing an electric cable under the floor, you need to remember that the wire should not be subjected to pressure or compression, but this is problematic, since the floor covering is always associated with significant loads. The cable must be protected by a reinforced pipe to avoid mechanical damage and crushing.
Cable under wooden floor
Wiring on a wooden floor should be as safe as possible, since wood has a high level of flammability. Even if the coating is properly treated, there is always the possibility of a fire.
If the cable is installed under a wooden floor, it must be inside a special corrugated pipe. Such protection is applied when installing the cable inside the walls and flow, which are built and finished with wood. According to safety rules, the total cable volume of the total space inside the pipe should not exceed 40%.
Be sure to take care of the reliability of the pipe connection, while it is important to maintain tightness. Otherwise, condensation may form inside the metal pipe, which will negatively affect the condition of the entire wiring. It is believed that wiring on the floor in a house that is made of concrete or other non-combustible materials is safer. A similar design has refractory properties.
Important Rules
Before you start laying the wiring on the floor or ceiling, you need to remember several important features of installing this type of wiring:
- When installing an electric cable under or inside the floor, it is imperative to take care of the presence of at least a small supply of wire. If any breakdowns occur in the future, it will always be possible to carry out repairs.
- Before laying boards or pouring screed, be sure to check all wiring for malfunctions. Then, when the floor is ready, to carry out such work will be problematic, and in most cases it is simply impossible.
- Even if protective steel pipes are used when laying the cable, the electrician must still be insulated.
- The choice of steel pipes must be approached carefully. The most important thing is that these products withstand the weight of concrete and the load on it. The electric cable must not be torn, bent, or deformed.
- At the time of pouring the screed, you need to be extremely careful not to damage the wire, not to take it to the side, not to bend.
- When installing the wiring, you must ensure that the wires do not overlap each other, otherwise the floor thickness will increase. It will take more building mixture, some other problems may arise.
Some nuances
Electrical wiring is a highly controversial and controversial design. Many people often ask, which is better - wiring on the ceiling or floor? It is difficult to answer this question accurately, because in each particular case it is required to carry out a particular type of work. For example, if you need to install many fixtures, then you can not do without wiring on the ceiling. The same situation is observed during installation of the “warm floor” system.
If you need to run an electric cable on the floor or inside it, you must not forget about several important points:
- If there are junction boxes in the event of a breakdown, it is not necessary to dismantle the entire floor covering, which means that their presence is mandatory.
- In the apartment you need to distribute the cable as accurately and accurately as possible so that you do not have to increase the thickness of the floor. In a private house, you can simply go down and the problem will be solved, but in an apartment building it is impossible to do this. The thicker the floor, the lower the ceiling.
- To distribute the load on the floor, it is recommended to lay a reinforcing mesh between the cable tie and cable. However, care must be taken that the steel structure does not damage the wires.
- If the installation of electrical wiring is carried out in a wooden floor, it is necessary to process it with special compounds that will protect the coating from fire, moisture and mold.
- Before you begin, you need to make at least an approximate layout of electrical cables.
Where is better to apply?
Installation of wiring in the floor is carried out in two cases. In the first situation, such an installation will be useful when buying a new house or apartment in which the markup has already been done on the floor. In this case, you just need to lay the cable and bring it to the switches.
Often, electricians resort to floor mounting in wooden houses. Unlike concrete walls, it is not recommended to damage the wood surface by installing the strob. Sometimes this is simply impossible.
In this case, the owner of the house has only two solutions: either install open wiring in the old fashioned way, or fix it on the wall, hiding it in a special box. And that, and the other option is not high-quality, which is why it is best to post on the floor.
How to carry out the installation?
Posting is carried out in several stages. First make a drawing, prepare all the necessary tools and materials. If necessary, carry out waterproofing. You can make it using inexpensive bitumen coating.
All wires must be insulated with a special corrugated steel pipe. You can do without it, but in the event of a breakdown, it will be extremely difficult to carry out repairs. Wires are laid on the floor exactly, do not lay on top of each other, try not to bend. The connections should only be inside the junction boxes.
In this case, the cable occupies only 40% of the total pipe content. The maximum length of one route is 20 meters. If this number needs to be increased, it is recommended to use special transit boxes. When all the wires are installed and connected, they are checked for operability. Then, carefully, so as not to damage the wires, lay a reinforcing mesh and pour concrete or lay boards.
The benefits of floor wiring
If the developer decided to choose this particular type of installation of electrical wiring, he is guided by the following positive aspects:
- The likelihood of cable damage is minimized. In the case of wiring in the wall, the wire may be damaged by a drill or nails.
- You need a small amount of wire, you can save a lot.
- Installation is simple and quick, it can be carried out without even having special knowledge.
- No need to make shtrobs in the walls, then level them, apply plaster.
Cons of floor wiring
Despite the large number of advantages, as with any other work, this method of wiring has its own negative aspects. If suddenly a breakdown occurs that leads to a network malfunction, it will be difficult to repair, and sometimes even impossible. A person cannot look through the floor and understand where the cable is deformed, where the focus of the problem is.
In this case, you will have to dismantle the floor, all the cables will have to be removed so that the wire can be replaced. In addition, you need to additionally buy protective steel pipes, but when laying the cable in the gates in the wall, this is not necessary.