ᐅ Basement made of waterproof concrete – switch issue

Created on: 18 Feb 2016 09:52
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Watcher78
Hello,

we are getting a basement made of waterproof concrete (WU concrete) and I would like to know how others handle the electrical installation with switches and sockets in such cases. With WU concrete, only surface-mounted installation is possible. For the utility basement rooms, that is fine for us, but we will also have two living rooms, and we cannot install everything on the masonry interior walls.

Therefore, my question is whether it is possible or advisable to build a pre-installation wall to solve this issue. I was thinking of a drywall (gypsum board) partition.

Surely I am not the only one with this problem, right? How have you solved it?
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Tommes78
18 Feb 2016 21:18
I gave it some more thought. Our basement will be poured entirely with waterproof concrete, so there won’t be any precast walls involved, which means Dirk’s suggestion doesn’t apply.

Of course, we will mainly use the interior walls, but that’s not always possible, which is why I’m asking how it’s usually done otherwise. The only thing that comes to mind is a pre-installation wall, but that also takes up valuable centimeters (inches) of space. I don’t think there’s any other way, unless someone has a better solution.
WildThing19 Feb 2016 11:37
We also have living spaces in the "basement," and no conduits were installed in the waterproof concrete. For us, it was possible to route all conduits within the partition walls made of bricks. Otherwise, one option might be to have the concrete walls plastered and then install the conduits "within the plaster."
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Sebastian79
19 Feb 2016 18:12
But that’s not allowed – and then you still have to lower the boxes.

You can also plan for boxes in fully cast wall elements, but that is more complex and, of course, more expensive.

We had the entire basement plastered and, of course, all the wiring in the interior walls installed flush-mounted.

In my office, I have a surface-mounted triple box, but the cables are always installed flush-mounted. In the large hobby room, there are two double sockets for access points, and in the workshop basement, one cable is flush-mounted, where an access point channel is placed above the workbench. In this way, I was able to use the interior walls very well, and the few access point installations on the concrete walls don’t bother because no cables are visible there.

Maybe this could also be an option for you?
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Watcher78
20 Feb 2016 13:25
Thank you @Sebastian79, I will also try to run as much as possible through the interior walls, but I don’t think it will be possible everywhere. I’m not 100% happy with that, which is why I’m considering a drywall partition. However, that also takes up space.
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Sebastian79
20 Feb 2016 19:02
I definitely wouldn’t do it just because of a few power outlets – but that’s up to you.
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Saruss
20 Feb 2016 19:47
If you have no more than two interior Wu walls, you already have three of the corners "live." With a bit of planning for the layout, you might not need as many outlets on the other walls. If the wiring runs under the screed, for example, adding another corner outlet set only requires a few centimeters (inches) of cable and a few surface-mounted outlets, which are also available in more attractive designs (not just the typical gray, basement, moisture-resistant style).