Log cabins.

[timhoward]

Hello boys and girls.
I just wondered if anyone has any tips/tricks/previous experiences about running circuits in a log cabin. I've not had to run cables in one before. It's looking particularly unspoiled and beautiful!
It seems to be thick interlocking alternately placed external walls that stack up, and then interior foam insulation panels with surface TGV cladding inside.
I've yet to determine whether there are horizontal battens inside too.

The CU is installed, after much haggling a Schneider Easy9 was deemed attractive enough...this customer certainly knows what he wants.
I need to get 5 double sockets in, and about 6 outside lights. We've already agreed on Quinetics for switching as he wants to be able to turn the outside lights on from the house.

I've tried to sell steam-punk galv conduit and metal-clad sockets on the surface and failed. MICC also rejected.
I've considered using the void underneath it but can't see how to support cables as there's no access at all, bricked up on all sides.
I've considered trying to fish through the insulation. I've wondered about conduit on the outside.
Any past experiences or tips gratefully received as nothing is looking like the screamingly obvious answer at the moment.

It's funny as my other main job this week is industrial and the mindset shift regarding form and function is chalk and cheese!

 

[timhoward]

My preferred method for the type of log cabin you have is to remove the skirting and engineer a cable run there.

I can see the attraction, as it's outside zones and I doubt I can get it 50mm back I guess that will need mechanically protecting....food for thought.

 

[LastManOnline]

I can see the attraction, as it's outside zones and I doubt I can get it 50mm back I guess that will need mechanically protecting....food for thought.

That is the major headache when working behind skirting boards. It's needs strictly speaking mechanical protect. I have used trunking lid, joist caps etc and a variety of of other means. But it never feels ideal so I make a point of taking pictures of how it's all been installed and ensure the customer is comepletely OK with it. The log cabin providers could do a little more to facilitate the electrical installation. Best bit of advice I could give is to get in the building stage.A little co-operation from the builder halves the electricians work. Of course it's not always possible to do this.

 

[Pretty Mouth]

I can see the attraction, as it's outside zones and I doubt I can get it 50mm back I guess that will need mechanically protecting....food for thought.

Perhaps a roll of BS8436 cable for this job?

 

[pc1966]

Perhaps a roll of BS8436 cable for this job?

I was thinking of Flexishield even just for the extra toughness over T&E, as well as the foil protection layer for penetration. Though it is a little bulkier.

 

[timhoward]

Little update on this one...
1 - Embarrassingly I was wrong about the construction - it's in fact solid walls exactly like the photo above. I'd been told it was insulated and not questioned it. (When I drilled the hole for the supply cable I assumed I'd found a baton as it felt solid.). At least this completely knocks on the head any notion of cables in cavities.
2 - with limited time available before Christmas they asked for a temporary supply to allow more time to think.

So this has been kicked into the long grass - and I lent them a couple of my 16A site boards...

D-Line wood effect trunking is sounding like it's going to be the final answer, but I can at least stop thinking about this until New Year now!

 

[buzzlightyear]

I'd been told it was insulated and not questioned it. (When I drilled the hole for the supply cable I assumed I'd found a baton as it felt solid.).

Until I drilled to other side of hut, it's OK
Now the squrial can put its nuts in the hole.

 

[brianmoooore]

If it is of the construction in the pic,, then it'll be an oven in summer and a fridge in winter. We have two sheds, almost touching each other, but in adjacent gardens. One is like this one, and the other is timber frame, shiplap clad, plywood inside, with 3" of Celotex between. No comparison when it's cold or hot.
If you can persuade them to insulate and line, then all your problems are solved.

 

[buzzlightyear]

If it is of the construction in the pic,, then it'll be an oven in summer and a fridge in winter. We have two sheds, almost touching each other, but in adjacent gardens. One is like this one, and the other is timber frame, shiplap clad, plywood inside, with 3" of Celotex between. No comparison when it's cold or hot.
If you can persuade them to insulate and line, then all your problems are solved.

How would you get on with a igloo.

 

[timhoward]

If it is of the construction in the pic,, then it'll be an oven in summer and a fridge in winter. We have two sheds, almost touching each other, but in adjacent gardens. One is like this one, and the other is timber frame, shiplap clad, plywood inside, with 3" of Celotex between. No comparison when it's cold or hot.
If you can persuade them to insulate and line, then all your problems are solved.

I like the thinking. I'm more likely to convince them if I let their friends sleep in it over Christmas I think, so come January I will certainly raise the idea!

 

[HandySparks]

If you're installing conduit, trunking or capping, bear in mind that the wood will move. If it's fairly new, the timber will dry out and shrink in width so the building might be an inch lower in a year's time. On a similar job, I used pvc conduit and left plenty of room in the joints for shrinkage of the walls.

 

[R-fur]

What about dado trunking? Run it all the way round whether its needed for cables on not so that it looks fitted.

 

[brianmoooore]

. If it's fairly new, the timber will dry out and shrink in width so the building might be an inch lower in a year's time.

The shed that I referred to in post #22 was painted green shortly after it was erected. By the end of the summer it was green and white horizontal stripes.

 

[Simon47]

To be fair to the customer, he has only just bought the house and inherited this beautifully finished shell, with every surface including roof cladded inside. If you had a gas fire and candlelight it would be quite practical...!

Ah, that sheds some light on it. My very first thought was along the lines of the correct answer being "you should have thought about that a long time ago" - a bit like the joke about the local telling a tourist who's asked for directions that "I wouldn't start from here".

The log cabin providers could do a little more to facilitate the electrical installation.

I recall seeing one on the TV some years ago - I think it was probably Grand Designs.
He got a plan from the manufacturers of where all the support pads needed to be (equivalent to laying foundations for a brick built house), then it arrived in kit form on a couple of lorries. All the parts coded so that once the first layer was on, it was then a case of stack by numbers.
But all the timbers were pre-drilled for the electrics. Square/rectangular recesses for the switches and sockets, and holes drilled in every piece of timber where the cable runs were needed - it was done with CAD on the computer, and then CNC milled. It really was impressive the way the manufacturer had all this organised and automated.

For that one, the logs were exposed on the inside, then there was about 2 foot gap and external cladding - with the gap filled with a sheep's wool based insulation.