{"id":18205,"date":"2025-12-13T11:00:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T11:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/?p=18205"},"modified":"2025-12-13T11:00:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T11:00:02","slug":"is-corrugated-tubing-necessary-when-installing-electrical-wiring-as-builders-insist-or-is-it-better-to-install-it-in-concrete-lets-find-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/?p=18205","title":{"rendered":"Is corrugated tubing necessary when installing electrical wiring, as builders insist, or is it better to install it in concrete? Let’s find out."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Recently, the use of plastic corrugated pipes for installing electrical wiring has become increasingly popular.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Let’s consider whether there is any sense in such an operation or is it just another trick of the construction and finishing workers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Protection from mechanical damage and water<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturers and sellers of these products claim that corrugated tubing is designed to protect electrical cables from water and mechanical damage. But in our city homes, electrical wiring is buried within the walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s hard to imagine a situation where it could be mechanically damaged. Perhaps an explosion, but then even the PVC sheathing would be unlikely to save it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cable itself provides excellent water protection; it’s double-insulated. Yes, there are potential problems at the connections and terminals, such as the outlet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, you live on the top floor of a house. And the roof starts leaking during rain or a spring thaw. It’s an unpleasant phenomenon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But here the corrugated pipe won’t help at all; it’s simply not used in such problematic areas.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Perhaps there’s some merit in using this technology in ceilings, if they’re partially hollow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But by and large, the only use for such corrugated pipes is wiring in a country house or summer cottage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It makes sense to wrap the wires there, since they’re being run outside, not through the walls. The outdoor portion of the wiring can also be insulated in the same way for added security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And in city apartments with standard wiring inside the walls, using corrugated tubing is completely pointless. It’s a rip-off. And nothing more.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Non-flammable material?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are also serious doubts regarding the fire resistance, which is also advertised by manufacturers and trade organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my practice, I have never encountered plastic that did not burn or, at the very least, did not melt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But first, what needs to happen for the wires to ignite inside the wall, without access to oxygen? Fires typically occur in the electrical outlet or box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, at the connections\/outputs. But you can’t install corrugated tubing there, even if you really want to. Again, it’s a waste of money.<\/p>\n\n\n

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As a fire protection measure, it may make some sense to use additional insulation when installing underfloor heating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When pouring concrete, the cable could theoretically be damaged. However, in this case, it’s better to use something stronger, such as plastic or metal pipe, rather than PVC corrugated pipe. Alternatively, use metal corrugated pipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, let’s get back to my doubts about the “flammability” of the corrugated pipe material. I searched online and found someone who had conducted an experiment with three types of corrugated pipe. Here’s what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The simplest gray PVC pipe didn’t burn, but it naturally shriveled and melted. The black HDPE pipe burned like crazy, shedding flaming drops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HDPE pipe with fire retardant also turned out to be quite flammable, although it did not burn as actively as the previous one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our conclusions are clear: the second two pipe options are dangerous to use, even in a country house. Not only will they fail to protect the wiring from fire, but they will actually contribute to its spread.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, the use of plastic corrugated pipes for installing electrical wiring has become increasingly popular. Let’s consider whether there is any sense in such an operation or is it just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-and-tricks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18205"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18207,"href":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18205\/revisions\/18207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garden-tricks.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}