Well It is all sorted now. Basically, there was enough slack in the cable to
cut out the damaged portion and fit a 30/40 Amp junction box to join the two
sides of the cable. It was the old feed for the cooker which now just feeds
3 sockets as we have a gas cooker.

I was suprised by this whole thing because I was drilling and screwing along
the joists as I have done to floorboards in the past. However, when the
board was lifted you could see that someone has previously cut a fair size
hole in the joist from its top i.e. u shaped and fed a few mains cables
through.

Is/was this normal practice? I always thought following the joists was quite
safe, I am begining to wonder if any of the other boards I have screwed down
over the years, about half the house, may have screws perilously close to
wiring. Although where possible I have always tried to look and work out the
routing of wiring piping etc. I just got carried away yesterday as it was
one of the last boards along the line of the joist.

What is/was normal practice?

Regards and thanks for the replies.


"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 17:09:38 +0000, Pet wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

The electrician who came (via a call to teh letting agency) simply
chased the wire out, and crimped on a new bit. We wrapped it all in
insulation tape and I plastered it back where it came from.

Yes, it was in the end that simple.

from my experience of such circumstances, Damage to drill
bit/screw/driver is far vorse than cable damage.

With RCD cable damage is often nothing more than slight loss of sleve.

chase out onough wall to get a few turns of good insulation tape around
mising sheath then plaster back in. I'd be inclined to patch up existing
cable than cut out and crimp a new piece in.


This is a very dangerous idea.

The insulation is likely to be melted locally around the damage and
the conductors will not be at their original condition even if the
damage had only been slight. At best the continuity in the cable
is going to be unreliable, and at worst it is a fire risk.
Considering that the cable is also hidden and going to be hidden
behind decorations that will be inconvenient to replace.

Cutting in a piece of cable with crimps is a 5 minute job. Making
good the decorations will take longer.

It's silly bodging a job when it can be done properly and safely.


.andy

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