Plastering over Cat5e cable

carlosvr6 · 11 Jan 2017 at 21:40

Our victorian terrace house is currently gutted as all our first floor ceilings have been lowered to do a loft conversion. The house is having a full rewire and fresh plasterboard all round.

I would like to put some Cat5e cabling in all the rooms (2 points in each room with 3 runs of cable). All the walls are solid brick bar two. Due to the route of some of the cables I am not going to be able to run it in conduit.

Is there any issue in plastering straight over the Cat5e cable?

The solid core cable, patch panel and modules etc are all Excel.

DIABLO · 11 Jan 2017 at 21:55

Slightly off topic but are considering mounting some AP's on the ceiling to cover your wireless usage?

carlosvr6 · 11 Jan 2017 at 22:12

I'll be leaving some spare cables in the ceilings and loft for AP's and IP cameras.

Deleted member 77746 · 11 Jan 2017 at 22:15

Run two cable runs not one make sure you give yourself a spare run to move to. It's fine to plaster over it.

nutcase · 12 Jan 2017 at 13:13

mrbell1984 said:
Run two cable runs not one make sure you give yourself a spare run to move to. It's fine to plaster over it.

He says he's running two and a spare.

thenewoc · 12 Jan 2017 at 13:29

won't you be using plasterboard though which will be dot n dabbed to the wall and therefore have a gap between the wall and the plasterboard?

Glanza · 12 Jan 2017 at 13:35

thenewoc said:
won't you be using plasterboard though which will be dot n dabbed to the wall and therefore have a gap between the wall and the plasterboard?

This, we cabled an empty shell for a customer then plasterers just dot and dabbed either side of cables we and sparkies had left.

If your plastering straight on top I'd be tempted to use some thicker sheathed cable on those runs.

thenewoc · 12 Jan 2017 at 14:03

It's probably better to use something like cable tie saddles rather than nailed cable clips too as you'll have more control over not pinching the cable too much.

carlosvr6 · 12 Jan 2017 at 15:59

The house is going to have plasterboard (some insulated) all round.

APM · 15 Jan 2017 at 18:56

EPS insulation doesn't like the sheathing on electrical cable,not sure if cat 5e and 6 suffers from the same issue but could be worth googling polystyrene insulation and electrical cable for you.

carlosvr6 · 15 Jan 2017 at 20:28

APM said:
EPS insulation doesn't like the sheathing on electrical cable,not sure if cat 5e and 6 suffers from the same issue but could be worth googling polystyrene insulation and electrical cable for you.

Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I've had a quick look and can't find anything on data cables. All the info seems to be about electric cable.

I'll ask the electrician if he knows.
I could always avoid the insulated plasterboard as it's only going on the external walls.

APM · 15 Jan 2017 at 22:56

I'd stick with the insulated plasterboard,especially in this weather.

Easy way around is to wrap the cable in polypropylene or your regular electrical insulation tape.

carlosvr6 · 15 Jan 2017 at 23:02

Sorry for the confusion. I meant I would route the cables away from the insulated plasterboard and avoid putting the data points on the external walls.

bremen1874 · 15 Jan 2017 at 23:30

The worst that's going to happen is the cable's outer sheath becoming brittle. As the cable isn't going to ever move I can't see much of an issue.

If you're worried put capping over the cables or run them in oval conduit.

It could also be worth checking what the sheath on LSOH cable is made from. It is different from the usual PVC and doesn't cost much more. I've found it to be nicer to worth with and tends to come in more interesting colours.

carlosvr6 · 16 Jan 2017 at 20:21

bremen1874 said:
The worst that's going to happen is the cable's outer sheath becoming brittle. As the cable isn't going to ever move I can't see much of an issue.

If you're worried put capping over the cables or run them in oval conduit.

It could also be worth checking what the sheath on LSOH cable is made from. It is different from the usual PVC and doesn't cost much more. I've found it to be nicer to worth with and tends to come in more interesting colours.

Cable and bits already purchased.
I'll probably just avoid all the insulated walls to be on the safe side.

APM · 16 Jan 2017 at 23:08

Having googled I think you're ok with ethernet cables,looks like the plasticiser migration issue only occurs with heavy grade electrical stuff from what I found.

Ordinary electrical insulation tape wrapped once around the cable you're burying will avoid that issue too.