Liberating space height: Decoration aesthetics and economics without ceilings
In the greater Taipei area, many old apartments more than 30 years old face the same space pain point: the indoor floor height (clear height) is generally insufficient, usually only 2.6 to 2.8 meters. If you follow the traditional decoration method and nail the wooden ceiling to cover the water supply and drainage pipes and strong and weak current lines on the cement roof, the height will be further reduced by 15 to 25 centimeters. After the completion, living inside will cause a serious sense of visual oppression. In addition, in Taipei City and New Taipei City, just to install the simplest calcium silicate board ceiling, the cost of one square meter of wood work, painting and soil is as high as NT$ 5,500 to NT$ 9,000. Therefore, in recent years, the Nordic unprinted style and neat industrial style, which are centered on "no ceilings and exposed wiring pipes", have become the first choice for homeowners in the two norths to save money and increase the height of the space. However, exposed pipes do not mean "pulling wires at will". It has extremely strict regulations and standards on electrical safety and construction methods.
Exposed pipe construction regulations: support distance and material standards
The wires are protected by cement inside the wall. When exposed outside the wall, wire conduits must be used for physical protection to prevent rats from chewing them, external impact, or moisture and aging. According to the "Rules for Consumer Electrical Equipment Installation" (commonly known as Electrical Regulations) promulgated by Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, there are clear physical restrictions on the installation of exposed pipes. House owners should pay special attention when supervising the work:
1. The maximum support distance of PVC plastic exposed pipes:
If PVC electrical conduits are used for exposed pipes, because the plastic material is easy to bend and sag under high temperature or gravity, the regulations strictly stipulate that the most common nominal pipe diameter for household use is 16mm to 28mm (i.e. 4 minutes to 1 inch tube), itss. In other words, a pipe clamp (P-type clamp or saddle clamp) must be locked to the cement roof every 90 centimeters. In addition, the two ends of the pipeline and the connection with the junction box (octagonal box, Lewis box) must be forcibly fixed to prevent the pipeline from falling off.
2. Maximum support distance of EMT metal conduit:
EMT conduit (thin steel wire conduit) is most suitable for showing an industrial style with a full sense of line due to its high hardness, tensile resistance and compression resistance. Regulations stipulate that when metal conduits are exposed, they must be secured with protective pipe iron or other similar accessories at theterminal ends of each junction box, distribution box or conduit box. As for the fixed spacing between metal pipes in the middle, although the regulations have been relaxed to 1.5 meters to 2 meters, in order to prevent gravity resonance noise, professional plumbers usually perform fine fixing according to the standard of within one meter.
3. Wire specifications and safety grounding:
The wires running inside the open pipe must be single wires (such as Pacific 2.0mm solid copper wire) or stranded wires (such as 3.5mm² or above) that comply with CNS national standards and have a flame-retardant sheath. Also, if using metal EMT pipes for open wiring,s. Because once the wires in the pipe are damaged due to insulation aging and come into contact with the metal pipe body, if there is no grounding wire to guide the current to the earth and cause the leakage circuit breaker to trip, the entire metal pipe exposed on the ceiling will carry a voltage of 110V. When the human body or the maintenance technician touches it, it is easy to cause an electric shock tragedy.
The test of the aesthetics of exposed pipes: the meticulous horizontal and vertical folding process
If the exposed pipes are done well, it is a "literary design style", but if they are not done well, it is a "messy and illegal factory". Exposed pipe projects extremely test the craftsmanship aesthetics of plumbers:
* All pipes must be perfectly parallel or perpendicular to walls, beams and columns. When multiple pipes are arranged side by side, the spacing between pipes must be accurately aligned with calipers.
* When the pipeline encounters beams, columns or corners, the master must use a "hand-crank pipe bender" to bend the metal EMT pipe into a beautiful arc (such as a 90-degree bend or an S-bend to prevent the beam from going around). The bends made by craftsmen with poor skills will be flat and deformed, causing the internal wires to get stuck and cannot be threaded; the bends made by masters with good skills have round and smooth lines, like decorative art.
Shuangbei exposed pipe construction budget and decoration economics
Is it really cheaper to not make ceiling exposed pipes? Let’s calculate the budget balance:
Take a 20-square-meter living room and dining room area as an example:
1. Traditional wooden ceiling solution: Wooden moisture-proof calcium silicate board ceiling (about NT$ 4,500 per square meter) plus professional paint batching and anti-cracking paint (about NT$ 3,000 per square meter), the total cost is about NT$ 150,000. Because the water and electricity cables in this solution are routed within the ceiling and are not exposed, the master can use cheap PVC hoses to wire them at will, and the water and electricity wages are relatively cheap.
2. Textured exposed pipe solution (EMT metal pipe): Eliminates all ceiling and painting costs (NT$ 150,000). However, plumbers must lay out the wiring carefully, use expensive EMT metal pipe fittings, fold the pipes by hand, and drill holes in the cement roof to fix them. For the same square footage, the quotation for the plumbing materials for metal open pipes is approximately between NT$ 60,000 and NT$ 95,000.
The two are subtracted,and at the same time release the precious 15-20 cm of indoor clear height, which is a smart investment for the renovation of old apartments.
Commercial acquisitions and businessmen’s asset bonus points: the commercial value of open management for the maintenance of old houses
For real estate businessmen engaged in the "acquisition, renovation, resale/lease" of Shuangbei old apartments, If a hidden pipe has an aging short circuit, the wall must be broken open, causing great replacement costs and damage. However, all lines and junction boxes (octagonal boxes) of exposed pipes are exposed. Once the circuit needs to be modified, a new socket added, or a line repaired, the plumber only needs to move a ladder and take a few minutes to remove the pipe cover, without damaging the hardware decoration at all. This excellent maintenance friendliness can significantly reduce the long-term maintenance expenses of the property, which is an important plus point for real estate investment trusts or long-term property holders when evaluating asset quality.
