Using chimney breasts to run cables upstairs to opposite sid

[charliebobgordon]

We have an old 1920s terrace house with two chimneys which serve four disused fireplaces. There's one in the living room, dining room, master bedroom and second bedroom.

I want to run a cable from the living room to the second bedroom. The fireplaces in these rooms are served by different chimney breasts. I don't want to chase cables or have trunking up walls so I figure the best option will might be to use the disused chimney breasts.

The plan is to drill a hole into each chimney breast from the loft and then drop each end of the cable through the holes. I then want to drill a large core hole in the side of each chimney breast near the floor in the living room and second bedroom to retrieve each end of the cable.

My question is, is this possible and what issues might I run into?

Thanks!

[wine~o]

what sort of cables ? and are you sure that the fires are never going to be lit, either by yourselves or any future owners ?

[charliebobgordon]

what sort of cables ? and are you sure that the fires are never going to be lit, either by yourselves or any future owners ?

Hi there,

I was hoping for answers to whether it was possible logistically and any problems I may face trying to achieve this. The chimneys are disused.

They’re Ethernet cables if it makes a difference!

Thanks!

[wine~o]

They’re Ethernet cables if it makes a difference!

Thanks!

Makes a difference because if they were mains electrical cables then could fall foul of the rules regarding "permitted zones"

[wes56]

as above and more. dont do it with any kind of cable.youd be possibly setting a trap for some future owner or even yourselves if you forget and try and sweep the flue for instance.
its simple enuf to drop cables in capping and channels,surface or sunk in outside the chimney flues.

[charliebobgordon]

Assuming I’ve already thought this through and made my decision as to where I want to run cables in my own house. Is this going to be physically possible and does anyone have any tips?

Thank you.

[dewaltdisney]

You seem set on this methodology Charlie but we can only advise you of what we think is the best way. The way I would do it is to chase in some conduit into the side of the chimney breast and make good. This will allow you to feed the cables up properly and although it is more work than you thought it is not hard with a £60 SDS drill to chisel out a channel.

Your call in the end chum.


DWD

[Rorschach]

If it's only ethernet cable, go for it. Any kind of electrical cable would be very dodgy, but I can't see any reason why ethernet would cause a problem. If you do ever move house though, make a note of it just in case new owners do want to use the fireplaces, could be right hassle if they do know, or better yet, remove the cable if you move.

As to actually running the cables, use fishing line and weights first, then use that to pull your cable through.

[charliebobgordon]

Thanks for the advice guys, got lots to think about. Cheers!

[Someone-Else]

In a "past life" I used to drop cables down all sorts of cavities and get them at the other end.
There is a Knack to doing it, you must be very careful with your measurements, weights and angles should also be considered.

In short, it sounds easy, but unless you are very careful and precise and have good kit, it can be (and some times was) really not worth the grief.

[big-all]

you also need to work out which chiminie serves which fire and where it passes the fire upstairs as in the left hand side may be solid to the fireplace in that room where as the right hand side may contain the downstairs flue

[Monkeh]

Before doing so, have you exhausted all other options? Have you tried the adapters that use the house electrics to transmit data through?
Chimney brests aren't all straight through, they take all sorts of weird and wonderful paths, you could be in for a bit of a battle if you were throwing cables in there.

[big-all]

another point
your nice white cable may get scratch and perminanetly discoloured with soot

[dewaltdisney]

Good point made on the TP links that use the home electrics for data transmission. I use these to wire an Ethernet connection from my router to the Sky box. See https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing ... 0-pdt.html

DWD

[charliebobgordon]

Good point made on the TP links that use the home electrics for data transmission. I use these to wire an Ethernet connection from my router to the Sky box. See https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing ... 0-pdt.html

DWD

Unfortunately, yes. I’ve already tried those. They work ok but don’t provide the best connection.