SWA on fencing in the garden...

[AndyTheSpark]

Hi folks,

I hope you can please help... I have been asked to run SWA cable from a house to two external garden buildings. The customer doesn't want her garden dug up to bury the cable so it must be run above ground. I can run most of it along a fence high enough to keep it out of harms way (the rest I would insist on burying as it cuts back into the garden). However, the fence is your standard wooden panel affair, supported by the grey concrete pillars - is this suitably sturdy enough and is there a recognised way of fixing the cable to the fence/pillars??

Thanks.

 

[fredrico]

I would not put it on a fence, what happens if a panel blows down in the wind, and the neighbour comes to fix it, and does not realise that there is a cable there. The posts wont fall down, but the panels could do over time.

 

[Guitarist]

Depends on the fence really. Cheap and nasty feather edge, I wouldn't risk it. Nice, sturdy closed board I would cleat to.

 

[AndyTheSpark]

Thanks...I had thought of the wind factor but rationalised it by thinking if I had secured the cable to the posts as well as the fence then even if the fence took off, the cable would be stronger than the clips attaching it to the fence so it would stay in place. This doesn't help the unsuspecting neighbour though!!

 

[Strima]

What about decent sized batons between the concrete posts and clip the SWA to this?

 

[Marvo]

I would only bury it. If she's worred about her garden then I would offer to get a professional landscaper to do the trenching and filling back in....obviously charged accordingly.

 

[Knobhead]

One question, "who does the fence belong to?"

It's a minefield!

 

[Engineer54]

One more thing to consider, ...those concrete posts are literary full of steelwork, drilling into them will generally just take lumps out of them, exposing the steelwork!! Same goes for those precast concrete panel garages, absolute nightmare to drill those things to get fixings!! lol!!

 

[Guitarist]

One more thing to consider, ...those concrete posts are literary full of steelwork, drilling into them will generally just take lumps out of them, exposing the steelwork!! Same goes for those precast concrete panel garages, absolute nightmare to drill those things to get fixings!! lol!!

Agree, you have to take care. I have found a 5mm bit, drilled slightly deeper than a yellow plug works best.

 

[Engineer54]

Agree, you have to take care. I have found a 5mm bit, drilled slightly deeper than a yellow plug works best.

Depends if your 5mm masonry bit hits the steelwork or not, ...some of these precast fence posts the steelwork can be just 5mm to 7mm into the post!! lol!!

 

[Octopus]

Lay it on the ground at the base of the fence.

 

[Mr.Ian]

Surely it'd be better to bury it? Depends on how much they want power in the outbuildings in relation to how much the don't want the garden trench cutting. What kind of garden is it? lawn? crete? path? if so couldn't the majority of the trench for the SWA be covered over and hidden after?

 

[Mr.Ian]

Or yes bury it at the base of the fence with yellow marker tape showing where it is.

 

[truckster]

One question, "who does the fence belong to?"

It's a minefield!

Where is he? Iraq?

 

[ackbarthestar]

One question, "who does the fence belong to?"

It's a minefield!

I think it will be Ok as long as nobody takes 'offense' ........ doh

Better to lay the SWA along the bottom of the fence in polypipe and tie it with cable ties to the posts.
There is no way you will be digging a trench next to the fence because you'll soon hit concrete.