Hiding wires on outside of house

[davgar]

What is the best way to conceal cables on the exterior of the house.
There are 3 cables running at the front of the house ( about 5ft long ) that look messy.

Are there any trunking type solutions that would work. House is rendered white ( 1 of the cables is black so sticks out badly)

cheers

[greygoose]

Paint the black one White when you next paint the render?

[bakerstreet]

As above (paint them) and check they are fitted straight and all tied together so it at least looks neat.

[Wings]

Depends where the wires are coming from and going to, my TV, CCTV and electrical wires all started from the loft, some via the cavity wall, and others via guttering, then downpipes.

[davgar]

thanks - will post a photo later.
it looks a mess

[4Q]

Wings said:

Depends where the wires are coming from and going to, my TV, CCTV and electrical wires all started from the loft, some via the cavity wall, and others via guttering, then downpipes.

Ignore this advice, you cannot run cables inside a cavity. Although I haven't seen anything specific in the wiring regs, It's also bad practice to run inside a down pipe as the long unsupported length could cause the cable to stretch under its own weight and therefore reduce its capacity.

[Black_S3]

What are they for?

[mickmcpaddy]

Ive removed tonnes of old cables from cavities over the years and never seen one with even the slightest bit of damage.

[dazwalsh]

I ran the sky cables for my house behind downpipe, zip tie at every pipe clip to keep it tight up against the back of the pipe. Only if you went looking for it would you find it.

[jas xjr]

can they be chased into the render ?

[VEX]

Have a look at cableready trunking as a professional solution.

It comes colour coded, but you can also paint it to match your own colour scheme.

V.

[bristolracer]

dazwalsh said:

I ran the sky cables for my house behind downpipe, zip tie at every pipe clip to keep it tight up against the back of the pipe. Only if you went looking for it would you find it.

Put a drip loop at the bottom as downpipes often leak. The water can track down the cable and into the house.

[mickmcpaddy]

I once saw an outside light wired by drilling the cable into the down spout at the top and then out again at the bottom with a bit of silicone to seal it.

[klivedrgar]

If it’s rendered do you have any expansion gaps? If so can you rake out the silicon and squeeze cables in there?

[Herbs]

mickmcpaddy said:

I once saw an outside light wired by drilling the cable into the down spout at the top and then out again at the bottom with a bit of silicone to seal it.

The owner of my previous house had 4 outside lights and the power to the garage run IN the guttering.................

[davgar]

here is a pic of the mess.
thinking step one to buy some white masonary paint and paint the wires.



online print screen

[Original Poster]

I had a very similar problem, painted the wires.

To be honest they still stick out like a sore thumb but I know they're there, bet the vast majority don't notice.

[langtounlad]

FWIW, that's not as bad as I had visualised it without the actual pictures. Painting and straightening will probably be the optimum solution.

[davgar]

cheers

considering a Ring stickup cam as well !

[langtounlad]

mickmcpaddy said:

I once saw an outside light wired by drilling the cable into the down spout at the top and then out again at the bottom with a bit of silicone to seal it.

Assuming no joins in the cable in the downpipe, is that technically a bad installation?
No UV light degrading the cable and the cable won't actually be permanently immersed in water.
I'm inclined to think that is a neat solution.