Cable underneath the skirting board

James Peach

James Peach

James Peach

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Joined
19 Aug 2019
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266
I'm pulling up the floorboards and while I'm at it I figured I'd replace the skirting boards. Probably have to anyway.

What I want is a skirting board that will allow me to route cables along it. But, vitally, it also needs to allow easy access for when I change my mind or want to move something or add something or have made a terrible mistake.

The ones I've found mostly
a) don't have much room or
b) don't allow for changing the cables easily after installing the skirting board or
c) use a plastic sheath that will probs look naff and also I'll still have to unsheathe the entire thing if I want to change a cable.​

I suppose I was hoping for a piece of rubber that I could pull back to access the wire.

Here are some ones I've found.

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Does anyone have any experience of this? I'm so sick of wires.

Right now I'm also looking for some sort of self-retracting cable (like a vacuum cleaner) so my power cords aren't out on the floor all the time.
 
This is almost certainly, 100%, without a shadow of the doubt, one of those ideas where you just need to get over it. You don't even need speaker wire or ethernet anymore. Unclear what cable will emerge that isn't a major job anyway (e.g. projector/media pc beside the sofa rather than by the TV etc).

What wires are exactly causing you an issue?

Edit: best case build the skirting an inch or less from the wall and box the top in with a removal cover.
 
It's very unlikely you'll need to change the cable once "installed". If anything i would have multiple runs in the event of a failure. Ethernet is cheap enough that if you suddenly don't need it, you can just leave it behind the skirting.
 
Semple said:
It's very unlikely you'll need to change the cable once "installed". If anything i would have multiple runs in the event of a failure. Ethernet is cheap enough that if you suddenly don't need it, you can just leave it behind the skirting.
Click to expand...

It's not just ethernet. Right now I have a thing going over the skirting board that hides a power extension cable, speaker wire, lamp power cord & a HomePod power cord.

I can see a point in the future where I move the lamp.

It's sort of like how I used so many cable ties until I realised I could get reusable ones.
 
James Peach said:
It's not just ethernet. Right now I have a thing going over the skirting board that hides a power extension cable, speaker wire, lamp power cord & a HomePod power cord.

I can see a point in the future where I move the lamp.

It's sort of like how I used so many cable ties until I realised I could get reusable ones.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you could do with more sockets rather than a skirting board job.

Quartz said:
Wired ethernet is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Click to expand...
Don't get me wrong I'm a stickler for ethernet. My house is partially done. However, wireless is quicker and more convenient for 99% of consumers now.
 
James Peach said:
It's not just ethernet. Right now I have a thing going over the skirting board that hides a power extension cable, speaker wire, lamp power cord & a HomePod power cord.

I can see a point in the future where I move the lamp.

It's sort of like how I used so many cable ties until I realised I could get reusable ones.
Click to expand...

If you're pulling up the floorboards I'd just add sockets where you need them:

Power extension cable / lamp power cord / homepod power cord - Just install additional sockets on the wall wherever you need power
Speaker wire - Run speak cable under the floorboards then chase the wall and install sockets (example of my living room below however I had to go up and through the ceiling void)

20210319-104615.jpg

20210319-113659.jpg
 
Abyss said:
If you're pulling up the floorboards I'd just add sockets where you need them:

Power extension cable / lamp power cord / homepod power cord - Just install additional sockets on the wall wherever you need power
Speaker wire - Run speak cable under the floorboards then chase the wall and install sockets (example of my living room below however I had to go up and through the ceiling void)
Click to expand...
That's nice! Did a similar thing a long time ago:

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The boards are all okay but you need to understand bending radius.

If you have a 90 degree corner I doubt you’d be able to easily pull cable through. Let alone a 90 next to a 90 going the opposite way.


Funnily enough none of the literature show this
 
Abyss said:
If you're pulling up the floorboards I'd just add sockets where you need them:
20210319-104615.jpg

20210319-113659.jpg
Click to expand...

I’m concerned at how much I love wires. This is a thing of beauty. I’ll be sad when everything in the future is wireless. My media cupboard looks like a rat’s nest in comparison.
 
whitecrook said:
Just run conduit trunking on top of existing skirting


And use cable tidy wraps to make multiple cables into one umbilical cord style
Click to expand...

That's what I'm doing at the moment but
- the ones I found have been ugly.
- They don't stick on very well
- the tops come off
- I have to cut them for places where I want the cables to emerge half way down.
Perhaps I'm thinking about this the wrong way.
 
tom_nieto said:
I’m concerned at how much I love wires. This is a thing of beauty. I’ll be sad when everything in the future is wireless. My media cupboard looks like a rat’s nest in comparison.
Click to expand...

Thanks :D. It took a while but was very satisying to get it finished and finally rid myself of cables running round the room.

James Peach said:
A video explaining;
https://www.dropbox.com/s/brt8xhx072o8c17/IMG_4963.MOV?dl=0
or at least trying to
Click to expand...

I can definitely see why that's annoying you! I think your biggest problem is the unit. Devices will always have cables and you're leaving nowhere to hide the cabling by having a unit with legs and no back. You also seem to have far too many things there, do you really need all those things that are plugged in?

Whilst it's not the prettiest solution you could run something like this just below the height of the unit:
https://www.legrand.co.uk/products/cable-management/floor-and-perimeter-systems/

In terms of charging things on the table in the middle I'd be tempted to find a way to install a USB power socket into the unit. You could install a floor box under the unit that a USB charger plugs into. Something like this:
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Produc...iDcYs8N-AoYGQRIJtp6coee_oL9xJZRRoCtF0QAvD_BwE
 
James Peach said:
That's what I'm doing at the moment but
- the ones I found have been ugly.
- They don't stick on very well
- the tops come off
- I have to cut them for places where I want the cables to emerge half way down.
Perhaps I'm thinking about this the wrong way.
Click to expand...

I used 16x38mm trunking above my 18mm skirting, seems to blend in very well, I screwed in a few small screws every few feet just to hold it. Yeah you can notch out in a few places hare and there to have a wire come in go out, but dunno what you mean about the tops coming off ? Was very secure. You then run the bradied cable stuff and it looks very neat in deed.
 
Once you have trunking in etc you will still have wires and plugs to hide in D-Line Cable Tidy Boxes (black or white) or similar products.
 
James Peach said:
A video explaining;
https://www.dropbox.com/s/brt8xhx072o8c17/IMG_4963.MOV?dl=0
or at least trying to
Click to expand...


OK

for the snaking wires use THIS https://www.amazon.co.uk/MOSOTECH-M...s=cable+sleeve+braided&qid=1629119957&sr=8-46

then you have one wire that likes nicer instead of 3 unwieldy wires. Trust me.

you can use this almost anywhere you have loose wires. It's like large scale cable management in a PC.


The other problem you have is 2 fold :

1. don't notch out the FRONT of the conduit :( of course that will look pap. You should notch out the back / top. have the wire e.g. for the home pod exit against the wall. you shouldn't see ANY notches/cuts from the front. Also that notch is like 20x to big. Just make it the size of the actual wire.


2. Second Your conduit is on the wrong way. it should really be rotated 90 so the 'lid' / 'top' as it is now, is the 'front'/side'. Then notching as decribed above will make more sense. Additionally you can use things like this : https://www.legrand.com/ecatalogue/638114-flat-t-junction-for-16.html / minitrunkin T junctions

technically you probably can do it the way it's orienteted right now but that's just making life difficult for your self.


and 4. Stop using glue/non glue to stick things. it looks pap and leads to frustration.
 
James Peach said:
A video explaining;
https://www.dropbox.com/s/brt8xhx072o8c17/IMG_4963.MOV?dl=0
or at least trying to
Click to expand...

:cry::cry: You're cable mad!

The absolute best piece of advice is to first consider whether a) do you need those devices plugged in all the time, and b) do they actually need to be somewhere visible/accessible. If they don't, then move them to a cupboard or buy some sort of standing unit that the device can be hidden in, and various cables can be terminated at.

You're never going to be able to eliminate wiring, your smart speaker for example has to be plugged in somewhere. So either move it somewhere closer to a plug socket, or pin the cabling to the wall. You're lucky having a white wall and white cabling that it's not going to be noticeable.

Chargers that you use in the middle of the room are always going to cause a problem. If you're going to the lengths of replacing the skirting and removing some of the flooring for laying wires then i would look at putting in (or having put in) floor sockets that can be hidden under your sofa. You said in your video you don't always like the look of them, but you've gotta weigh up which looks worse, trailing cables from the wall, or a flap on a floor socket that can hide away your cables when not in use.
 
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