Alternative to ugly cable trunking?

HalfPint

Hi,

I'm after some ideas here. I have 3 rooms in the house which has the old ugly box style trunking. I've had a quote to have the cables channeled in but it's just money I haven't got, so I'm looking for a cheaper (much cheaper!) alternative.

Mr H has come up with a couple of ideas and I've thought of replacing the old trunking with new D shape stuff. He's suggestive coving which would cover the stuff around the ceiling but we would still have the issue of the stuff on the walls.

One section of the trunking is particularly large around the ceiling (an inch and a half wide) so I'm assuming it's holding larger or more cables than the walls (i'm no sparky:D) so coving won't cover it without removing the trunking and leaving the cables open and unprotected behind coving. Mr H thinks this might be a problem when we come to sell the house.

Any further ideas would be greatly appreciated...any advice and help is also very welcome.

Many thanks.

HP x

PS: the walls are solid concrete! Hubby even has a hard time hanging a picture on these walls. Lounge is the biggest room at 16ft x 14ft.

I_have_spoken

Odd that there's so much cabling - are you sure the largest trunking isn't C/H pipes.

Anyway D-line is OK and can be painted. You can also get skirting board which has integral cable channels.

diable

What are your floors made from?

HalfPint

Thanks Spoken.

Fairly sure its all cables. The CH pipes are at floor level and yes, they are attached to the outside of the wall and they too are not channeled in :mad: (but I aint touching them!) None of the cabling is at floor level so the skirting boards, although a fab idea, are of no use.

To give you an idea, the trunking in the lounge runs around 2 adjacent wall at ceiling level. Wall one has 3 descending sections (one to a low level plug socket, the other two to 2 seperate light switch (one each end of the room). I also have trunking coming from this wall at ceiling height, running across the ceiling to the light fitting. One wall 2, I have another 2 descending sections of trunking both leading to low level plug sockets (again one at each end of the wall). That's just the lounge. I have similar set ups in both bedrooms (though one less so). Hope that makes sense.

HP x

HalfPint

Diable, they are concrete too! (I'm in a ground floor flat)

HP x

HalfPint

Mr H has just looked behind the big stuff. Its definately cables, 4 of them, grey outer flat oblong shape (as opposed to round) about 8mm wide. There's no way we could get them in any smaller trunking.

I think coving might be the way to go to cover the ceiling stuff. Would there be any issue with not having the cables in some sort of protective trunking behind the coving?

HP x

Myser

Just bear in mind that whatever you use whether it is coving or decorative trunking, you will have to try and fit it around the existing cables. There may not be much slack and you will also have to remove the old trunking first all without damaging the cable sheaths!

It can be tricky sliding new trunking onto cables that are already in place and screwing it down!

keystone

I think some pics would be a good plan realy.

Cheers

jonnyb1978

Think if its cabling I would definitely go for the channelling. Much safe and much better looking than having trunking to sockets and light switches.
I know your looking for cheaper options...maybe doing a room at a time.

mart.vader

This is not a very cheap or easy option, but have you thought of battening and plaster boarding over the offending cables ?

I had to do this to hide a couple of pipes that run along one side of my kitchen. Battens and p'board gives an extra 1.5" or so. pipes are now behind skirting board and cables are run behind p'board.

Of course it makes your room 1.5" smaller

Alan_T_2

jonnyb1978 wrote: »

Think if its cabling I would definitely go for the channelling. Much safe and much better looking than having trunking to sockets and light switches.
I know your looking for cheaper options...maybe doing a room at a time.

I'd agree with this, no substitute for doing a job right. The other thing to think about if considering doing this is whether the sockets/switches are where you need them, or whether you need more, as the incremental cost wouldn't likely be too much more. On a tangent the same applies with hiding/wiring in Satellite cables, TV aerials, or network cables for PCs/home networks...get it done at the same time if it is something you'd consider later (even if you don't have the equipment at the moment). Basically look at it as an opportunity to eliminate a lot of trailing wires.