Hello,

I am doing some work on a relation of mines bedsit, she got me to remove her ensuite bathroom to make a big living area. after taking down the partition wall we were left with a bunch of cables, dont know the propper term, like a 'riser' of 2 or 3 lighting cables, I think a cooker 32amp and a couple more that were just hanging there, live, but not going anywhere. WHen I turn off the consumer unit for her bedsit they are still live when tested.

I was wondering if theres anything can be done with them, I know boxing them in or making some kind of pillar would be the easiest. but they are situated right bang in the middle as you come through the door and will look realy awkward. since that picture was taken I have removed the studding so we are left with one corner of the flat stripped pretty much back to brickwork and these cables.

I'm hoping someone can say- ah yeah you just cut the power, cut the cables add on a couple of meters and chase them into the wall!if only..

Thanks for any advice.

Bruno

i would suspect iff they are still live they will be feeding another flat/s if this is the case you will need to involve them

this may be lot easier with an electrician as your not allowed to join cables unless accesable they must be crimped if not accesable
an electrician can also decide if the cable is in a sutable place

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we are all ------------------still learning

Hiya, when they wired the house this will have been the route they will have used to get cables to the upper floors. Defo need to get your sparky involved here. He will probibly have to cut the cables, junction box above (but leave accessable) and run a new cable via another route to the consumer unit. I assume the consumer is somewhere close to there this wall was? Is there a cupboard near by (poss route up in trunking)?

EDIT: Theres a sh*t pipe there, thats a pretty good bet to get upstairs

i was wondering- they are definitly coming from down below. I had a look, and my Aunt tells me that the woman in flat above is in a 'home' and and not comming out for a while. in the cellar is all the meters and switches. if I switch off her apt the one above, and all the wires are dead then that means that they go her apt.

Cant be that easy tho. I thought there would be an issue , that if you cut a cable, it has some impact on the resistance of it?it must. I know what you say , ask a sparky.

the consumer unit is pretty far away, in the kitchen. the block is relay old, a conversion from the 70's. now its owned by the council. when i ripped out the walls i found 5, 5 feckin cables that were live, no tape on the ends, just hanging. I found a cooker cable, the thick one, burried between 2 joists with bare wires in some rubbish. thats bad enough, but it was just in the place where a day before i had been capping off some central heating pipes from a towel rail. water spilling everywhere... when i pulled it out and put the tester on it, i went whiite. I had the consumer unit off, but it was still live. i dont know, i would have got a zap, or what, but it set me cold for a minute. somebody rewired ages ago and must have reconnected all these old cables.

I ended up getting a few quotes for moving the 10mm sub main. on one end of the scale was a chap who owns an eelctrical shop in my high street who said it owuld be illegal to cut and joint the cable and he would send out an engineer who would take 2 days to put in a new one. £1100 plus vat.....
A couple more quotes around the £400 mark. I moved and extended 5 of those cables in the photo myself by rerouting in the ceiling and floor, they were lighting circiuts for my apartment. The 10mm was moved and given the test /cert for £360.took about 4 hrs and he crimped it.the cable itself was about £45 for 10meters.
That brown cable turned out to be an old ariiel for the building that hasnt worked in 23 years.

so thats the cables...now on to the bloomin pipes in the middle of room....