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I have wires running on the outside of a wall up the side of the stairs that are covered with a long narrow box-like thing holding them against the wall. Is there a way to somehow tuck the wires into the wall so that it can me nice and smooth?

fruitfly wrote:Is there a way to somehow tuck the wires into the wall so that it can me nice and smooth?

Yes there is, but it's a lot of work and very very dusty.
You need to cut a groove in the wall (assuming that the wall is masonry) which is easiest done with angle grinder or proper chasing cutter. Then putting the wire in an oval plastic conduit and plastering over to fill the gap.
I would think you need to consult a friendly electrician for advice.

It might be worth working out why it's externally wired, before embarking on ambitious projects. There may be a good reason.

Green Aura wrote:It might be worth working out why it's externally wired, before embarking on ambitious projects. There may be a good reason.

The installer was probably too lazy to hide them. It's a bit of a pain when retrofitting wires, especially if the run is over a long distance.

You're not kidding KL. Even with the appropriate feeding tool it was really difficult to feed electric cable through a purpose-built box 12"x9"x30'. It got stuck at regular intervals along and we kept having to cut small holes in the plasterboard to grab it to continue its path through. Complete pain in the wotsit.

I assume you are talking electrical wires?
I have done quite a bit of electrical wiring, mostly in a factory setting over 30 years with my different jobs, but I've also done some house wiring too. It would be real difficult to give advice for this, without being there to inspect the layout of the house and find alternate routing. I'd suggest contacting a local professional to give you an estimate and some advice...once that person looks at it and tells you what is involved to do it correctly per code, then maybe you'll have a better idea how you could do it yourself, if you are the handy type.

Good Luck,
Jon

I decided to leave things as they were... it sounds like I'd be opening a can of worms.

You can always paint the conduit the same colour as the wall.