For your safety, these products must be installed in accordance with local Building Regulations. If in any doubt, or where required by the law, consult a competent person who is registered with an electrical certification scheme. Further information is available online or from your local authority. We would recommend that all homes are fitted with a fixed RCD (Residual Current Device) as they offer the highest level of protection

Electrical work can be dangerous, so be sure to always follow instructions and to never work on your electrics unless you are sure they have been turned off and isolated at the consumer unit (fuse box) Need a way to protect exposed wires and cables? A surface mounted box may be the solution you’re looking for. This guide will compare different surface mount boxes, their components, and how you may fit one yourself. What is a Surface Mount Box? Designed mainly for commercial and office use, but can look ok in domestic environments. Dado trunking can be bought in a number of different profiles and types. The type shown here with a square bottom edge and bevelled top edge works well for skirting use and on top of worktops etc. The type with a double bevel can work around the middle of a wall above desks etc. This skirting was obtained from http://www.kentsdirect.com/ and is sufficient for 2 power rings, 2 lighting control cables, 4 satellite cables, 8 data and 2 telephone cables round the room. Low voltage wiring may be concealed behind skirting boards. Where there isn't enough room, the skirting may be spaced off the wall with a batten. Some types of skirting include a groove behind for wiring.Mains wiring may be concealed behind cornicing, either special cornice trunking or conventional plaster cornicing (as long as the cables are sheathed). This is often useful for getting wiring to smoke detectors without cutting out the ceiling, and cornice wiring is also good for intruder alarm PIR detectors which are usually mounted at cornice level. Although this is not normally considered surface wiring, wiring can be concealed in the building fabric in ways that doesn't involved cutting out walls or using obvious surface wiring methods. Sometimes you need a place to join a wire or cable, but don't actually need an accessory. In this example a surface box was used to make the transition from the flat T&E cable (switched by a remote stat, in turn fed from a fused connection unit)) to the high temperature butyl rubber flex that feeds the heater. The box is simply blanked off, and conceals some leaver action Wago terminals that joint the flex to the cable.

Minitrunking of 16 x 16 mm or 16 x 25 mm is fairly inconspicuous when fitted along architraves and skirtings, and can be caulked and painted to match the woodwork. The plastic boxes are usually white in colour. Popular specifications are 2 gang with a depth of 35mm. However, you can find them in a wide array of dimensions. What is Surface Pattress? This is the most basic option, cable clipped directly onto the surface using cable clips or cleats. Its simple and easy to do, but also a bit ugly, and offers no mechanical protection to the cable. Can be aesthetically more pleasing in some cases, and a bit neater. Takes more time and effort, but does give some protection to the cables. When wire and in-wall box installation is not an option, get yourself a surface mount box. These boxes house wires and cables so you can safely protect and access them from the wall’s surface. There are a few types of surface mount boxes:

Do it right

Low-voltage cables such as loudspeakers, telephones and intruder alarm cables are fairly inconspicuous when caulked into the corner of a room and painted over. When you can't or don't want to use "loop in" wiring, a light switch mounting box can make the ideal hub for bringing together the various supplies and feeds. Dado trunking typically has multiple compartments to enable data, phone and power cables to be kept separated from each other. On of the difficulties with surface wiring is that some of the common circuit topologies are not as easy to use. For example the classic "loop in" wiring style for lighting requires typically three cables to connect to each lighting position (power in, out, and a switch drop wire). This can make for lots of visible cable. Also there is less opportunity to hide cables, and any junction box will be visible. Hence finding ways to include as many junctions in the accessory enclosures that you need anyway can make for a neater job. Much more work to install, but sometimes necessary. Conlok is a steel conduit system with grub-screw couplers, which does not require the conduit to be threaded.

Here sections of 2" x 2" trunking have been used for commual television aerial cables. This was installed by 'professional electricians'. The central light fitting was the easiest one, with a normal ceiling rose. However rather than have lots of cables visible it was decided that running just the already switched supply to the fitting was going to be the most elegant. Since this was overhead and less visible, clipped direct to the side of a roof timber was the chosen option. Once painted it will largely disappear. Never take risks with electrical safety. Before you start any type of electrical work, you must follow these following safety precautions: