Re-wire - surface mounted?

tlsd

Hi

I know this is generally for money advice, but I was taken here via a Google search, so I thought I would try it as there seemed to be a lot of clued-up people on here.
I think I need to get my house re-wired, some of the wiring must 60+ years old. Anyway, its a very old farmhouse and a lot of the wiring is currently surface mounted as there is little or no void between ceiling and floor and lots of big oak beams block the path. I saw on another site that you cant surface mount wires under current regulations. Is that true? If so what do you think we would need to do?

Thanks in advance

plumb1_2

Yes you can surface mount them, but they have to be in conduits.

baldelectrician

They can be clipped direct, but it looks naff

You need an electrician with a decent amount of experience who can run the cables round different routes that are less noticible

Owain_Moneysaver

If you are having surface wiring clipped direct, tell the installer to use buckle clips instead of plastic clips.

Mineral insulated cables are the least obtrusive cables to run as you can drop a cable size on power circuits (1.5mm instead of 2.5mm for socket rings) and have a tight bending radius. The also need less clipping than PVC as they droop less.