Installing power point in render

[Graha]

Hi all,

I have recently renovated the kitchen in my unit, and decided to put a double power point into a hole which use to be the electrical feed for the oven (moved the oven to a different point in the kitchen - an electrician did the work). Unfortunately the hole is a little larger thatn I would have liked, and I can only put in one screw to secure the plate to the wall. Has anyone had similar issues, and if so, how did they fix it? I thought about trying to putting some render/concrete into the hole to try and build up some "meat" to drill into, but without having access to the other side (which is brick), and trying to leave enough space for the back of the power point (connections and cable) it could be "interesting".

Graha.

[Dan]

You could use a wall box, like a clipsal 157.

[Graha]

Thanks for that - I will take a look.

[pcal]

If the wall box idea falls flat, you could just use a bit of timber! (it is a wood working forum, after all)

Just cut a piece the right size to cover the hole, drill some screw holes to match whatever existing fixings you have. You could get fancy, route the edges, stain the timber etc. - thats your call... Then just mount the switched socket outlet right there in the middle with wood screws and an appropriate hole for the cables to go through.

Just make sure your electrician makes the connections properly. A poor termination can arc and overheat the cables - if its mounted on something combustible like wood, such a fault is even more likely to cause a fire. So long as its done correctly though, there will be no problem at all.

Regards,

Pcal

[bricks]

Im sure ive seen oversized outlets?

[pcal]

Im sure ive seen oversized outlets?

Haven't looked recently, but have used them previously. Clipsal had a range of outlets and switches with UK standard sized plates, which are a little wider and a fair bit taller than ours. If I recall though, they had the same mounting centers for the screws so they would remain compatible with standard wall boxes and c-clips.

[Graha]

A mate of mine has also suggested I turn the point from a double-point into a quad-point. It sticks out from the wall a little farther, but the connecting points may be wider, hense allowing me to drill into a meatier part of the wall. (Will also give me more points to use as well).

Graha.

[Fuzzie]

Instead of the wall box, which is set into the wall, if you are going to patch the render there is a large square plate (150mm sq?) you can fix to the wall that has a utility size hole in the middle and enough other holes around it to key new render into. Just nail it to the underlying brickwork and render up to the hole and screw in your standard outlet.