What a headache. Your customer has asked for floor sockets coming out of the ground but where do you start?

You’re going to have to call an electrician but you know his prices are going to be extortionate. And on top of that, you don’t even know what to ask for. How hard can it be right?

Here are 4 Important Points to Consider When Choosing the Perfect Floor Box for Your Project

1. What is the Project?

The first thing to consider is the project at hand; what are your/the customer’s needs? What kind of building is it? How many people are going be using it?

Why is this important? A floor box in a museum or a retail store would need to be as discrete as possible, which means a smaller, trimless model might be more appropriate for the project.

On the other hand, supplying an office with 77 floor outlets under every desk would require larger, reinforced boxes with more compartments to accommodate several users.

When choosing a floor socket box, your reasons for having one dictate what type you should get. You should consider whether you’re looking at a high end floor box such as the Minima that’s manufactured to be pretty and discrete, or if you need a larger, four compartment box that is engineered to be purely functional.

2. What is the finished floor depth and is it laid?

In most cases, you would have been asked to fix your service box to the sub floor, using the trim at the top of the base. The final floor finish (e.g. carpet or tiles) then goes over the top of the sub floor and inside the lid, giving it that discrete look to blend in.

If it happens that the final floor finish is already laid and a hole is being cut to accommodate the floor outlet box, that trim on top of the base will leave unsightly gaps on either side of the lid.

What you need is what’s known as a ‘retro fit’ box; this comes without a trim and the straight edges of the base slot neatly into the hole or cavity that you’ve created.

In any case, you would need to know the overall floor depth, the dimensions of the hole in the ground and the exact frame size of the outlet box going in.

3. Power and Data Requirements

This one is fairly straight forward. You obviously want electrical outlets on your floor. You should clarify, when choosing your floor box, how many sockets and data points you are actually going need. The kind of outlet plates, again, depends on your/your customer’s project requirements.

For example, you might want to include HDMI outlets if the box is going in a living room, or consider a single 5amp socket to go in a cleaner’s grommet. If lots of people are using the floor box, you’re going to need more sockets and compartments, resulting in a larger frame size, to accommodate.

4. Finish, Style and Colour

This is purely a matter of personal choice; however there is a lot to choose from. Everyone has their own lower range of standard, off-the-shelf boxes, but like any product, you get what you pay for. Cableduct make bespoke floor boxes in stainless steel or brass, with the added options of satin or mirror polish when you upgrade to the Minima range.

Customizable handles, bronzing options and shapes (I believe there’s a hexagonal floor box out there) are other options to consider. Think about your perfect floor box; what does it look like? You know that it will provide electrical power from the centre of the room but bear in mind you also have complete control over the appearance.

If you are looking to install high quality floor boxes for your project but you don’t know where to start, feel free to call one of our product specialists for guidance on 02086831126.

Alternatively, email info@cableductuk.com to discuss a completely bespoke floor box for your most complex projects.