finding water pipe/electric cable to hook up shed

Eurorunner

I have a typical semi detached box. Want to put a shed in the back garden and have a water point and a few electric sockets in it. How do I go about determining where I can tap into the mains water and same with electrics?

cast_iron

Ideally, you would want to run an electric cable from the main fuseboard straight out to the shed.

I can't advise on the water main.

Eurorunner

cast_iron wrote:

Ideally, you would want to run an electric cable from the main fuseboard straight out to the shed.

Ok, thanks. Sounds like it will be very messy then. I know I should have made them (builders) make provision for this but there should be a standard for provision for this sort of thing anyway - including a tap for the back garden - which I also dont have.

tampopo

I put a tap out the back like this... turned off valve under the stairs, replace elbow fitting beneath kitchen sink with a T fitting. Drill hole through side of sink unit, ran the pipe behind the cooker and out a hole in the wall beside the waste pipe for the kitchen/washing machine.
Depending on what is handier, you could run the pipe straight out from the sink (if it's beside an external wall) out the back of the unit, outside and away you go.

Eurorunner

On the electrics front, I think it will not be so akward now as It can just be run through the attic and then out the back. Is there likely to be enough capacity/can it be done in a way that it could supply power for oven/fridge/tv, 1 or two electric heaters - and I would have to have some system for hot water. If another shower is out of the question, how else can I do this?

@tampopo: thanks - but will need to tap the incoming water pipe itself due to whats required. Just remembered that when the house was being built, they had left a pipe coming through in the foundations - this must have been to supply water - as it would have been coming out just where the sink is now. So i suppose its either running right around the house under the strip of concrete path. Or if i'm lucky, just outside this strip under the lawn. Wonder is there a standard practice here? Would be much simpler if i dont have to disturb the path.

Stoner

Eurorunner is this another House or a shed!!!:)
Ovens, electric heaters and an oven, these are typically as heavy a load as you can get in a house.
TBH if you want all these things and depending on the run to your shed you would need a cable at least the same size as one that would typically power a whole house, 16.sq.mm, it may even be a 3 x 25.sq.mm SWA if the shed is far away , but I'd say 3x16.sq.mm would be ok. The thing is that you may be in a position that you have an electric shower in your house and in your shed, and on the same load this is not recommended, there are units that will allow you to connect each shower into the one supply , but they will only let one work at the same time, but you wont be able to do this unless you bring a dedicated shower cable to the shed along with its new normal power cable.

Regarding electric heating, maybe a storage heater would be an option as they draw power when your normal load is at its lowest.
The oven is an other heavy load and it looks like this shed is going to be someones living area TBH.

If the cable has to go underground then it is best to bury it in a trench inside a hydrodare pipe.

there are some people would would cable all this off one supply and never have a problem as they wont use things at the same time, but it is not recommended, maybe think about dropping the oven and electric shower off , the thing is that even though you may be fine as this is for occasional use, you cant really allow for what will happen in the future, i.e you sell the house and the new owners get stuck in and power everything in at the same time.
BTW typically a shed would have a 3x6.sq.mm SWA cable feeding it, you'd expect lighting, washing machine and dryer and some sockets to work off this fine.

BTW don't forget a phone cable, TV cable and alarm link while you are at it.