GeoffSmith Posted November 30 Share Posted November 30 Hi everyone, Just wondering what the best method of chasing into a lime render living room wall? It's crumbly and blown in places, which I'm fine with replastering. My plan is to chase the cables in directly above the line of the skirting board. It was originally held in place with plastic square trunking, which looked awful. I have an angle grinder and an SDS, but I've never chased into a wall before, so really looking for some tips opn how to go about it and what to expect/look out for. Also, if anyone wants to chime in and say, "Don't bother, just get some d-line trunking" and re-fit it", I'm also open to that, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceverge Posted November 30 Share Posted November 30 If you're going to the effort of re plastering you could use the time to insulate the wall too? If you don't want to I would hire a proper wall chaser and dust extractor for a day and chase it that way. There's some rules on where the cables run. @ProDave will have chapter and verse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted November 30 Share Posted November 30 Back in the nineties I rewired my house and chased all the walls with an angle grinder and cold chisel and hammer. The dust was pretty bad so I would do as @Iceverge suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffSmith Posted November 30 Author Share Posted November 30 (edited) Only problem with the wall chaser is that it won't work that close to the skirting board as far as I can tell, and it also not useful for internal corners. With the wall chaser I will have to hire all the bits separately, whereas I already have the angle grinder and SDS. My plan was to use a diamond bit on the internal corners. I also won't be able to use the chaser where the radiator pipes are sticking out. If it was just a vertical run, I'd definitely hire it, but this seems like a job for a more flexible solution. I'm able to seal the entire room off and I assume I can just catch at least 50% of the dust with an extra held against the direction of the cut. The wall is a cavity wall with polybead insulation Edited November 30 by GeoffSmith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceverge Posted November 30 Share Posted November 30 I chased our whole house with a 9"grinder. I would prefer to have a house with no electricity than do that again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted November 30 Share Posted November 30 Sand lime is so soft you are better is 40 mil sharp chisel As it’s easy to dislodge large chunks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Posted November 30 Share Posted November 30 I chased some channels into our lime walls for a new heating system recently. Be prepared for an astonishing amount of fine dust! I mean it was horrendous and moved around the house like smoke. The second time I made mini polly tunnel for me to work in, all taped to the walls/floor. Much better for the house but couldn't see what I was doing within seconds of starting haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishjohn Posted December 1 Share Posted December 1 is it time to improve insulation as well at this time ? no chasing to do of any kind then build stud walls inside and leave gap for rewiring etc if victorian probalbly can afford to loose a litle area in rooms yes you will need to remove skirtings ,but just think about it maybe time to do it in one go easy to do in sections while still living there a it drastic for what your asking ,but worth thinking about 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffSmith Posted December 1 Author Share Posted December 1 The dust is something I'm absolutely dreading. I can't believe how much the grinder spits out the moment it touched a brick. I'm going to fashion a slightly bigger extraction end out of a large bottle in the hope I can at least grab a decent chunk of it. Beyond that, I'm going to partition the entire room floor to ceiling with plastic and have the windows open. I know it's going to be a nightmare though, with that inevitable bit when I get halfway through and wish I'd just used trunking! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceverge Posted December 1 Share Posted December 1 1 minute ago, GeoffSmith said: The dust is something I'm absolutely dreading. I can't believe how much the grinder spits out the moment it touched a brick. I'm going to fashion a slightly bigger extraction end out of a large bottle in the hope I can at least grab a decent chunk of it. Beyond that, I'm going to partition the entire room floor to ceiling with plastic and have the windows open. I know it's going to be a nightmare though, with that inevitable bit when I get halfway through and wish I'd just used trunking! Your choices. A. Get a proper chaser with proper dust extraction for a morning. B. Use a grinder and spend 3 years getting the dust out of your house and get silicosis for you trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffSmith Posted December 1 Author Share Posted December 1 (edited) 1. I can't use a chaser, because it won't be able to make full contact with the wall due to the skirting board, making dust collection moot. It also doesn't chase internal corners, nor will it be able to chase the wall where the two central heating pipes are. 2. The dust is easily remedied by properly sealing the room, having adequate ventilation, and wearing the proper PPE. The job is not one anyone would want to do, but it's not quite the nightmare you're suggesting. It's a 4m chase 30mm deep, 25mm of which is lime render that cuts like butter. Edited December 1 by GeoffSmith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishjohn Posted December 1 Share Posted December 1 1 minute ago, GeoffSmith said: The job is not one anyone would want to do, but it's not quite the nightmare you're suggesting. It's a 4m chase 30mm deep, 25mm of which is lime render that cuts like butter. and when you decide later to improve the insulation it will have been a waste of time and energy , the choice is all yours . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffSmith Posted December 1 Author Share Posted December 1 (edited) Mate, what are you even going on about? It's so weird how no matter what forum you're on, there's some passive-aggressive guy trying to make things weird. Have you even asked yourself why you have such a bee in your bonnet about a complete stranger's home that you know nothing about beyond a single photo? There's no heating issue in the room. The entire house is cavity wall insulation, and the room isn't cold. Do you understand? The room doesn't have an issue with heat loss. I'm not going to reduce the size of an already tiny room, and triple the amount of work, and quadruple the expense of the job for no benefit. The outside temperature is 10c, the inside temperature is 19. I'm OK with that. You've seen a single corner of a room and presumed that putting a stud wall on one side is somehow the obvious job. There's alcove shelving, cabinets - all of which would need to be removed and redone if I was to suddenly reduce the size of the wall they're on by 100mm. All because I wanted to chase in a couple of cables. Jesus Christ.. Edited December 1 by GeoffSmith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshian Posted December 1 Share Posted December 1 20 hours ago, GeoffSmith said: Hi everyone, Just wondering what the best method of chasing into a lime render living room wall? It's crumbly and blown in places, which I'm fine with replastering. My plan is to chase the cables in directly above the line of the skirting board. It was originally held in place with plastic square trunking, which looked awful. I have an angle grinder and an SDS, but I've never chased into a wall before, so really looking for some tips opn how to go about it and what to expect/look out for. Also, if anyone wants to chime in and say, "Don't bother, just get some d-line trunking" and re-fit it", I'm also open to that, too! Is there an option to lift the floor and run that cable underneath? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted December 1 Share Posted December 1 Why not chase in a bit higher so a wall chaser would work? You could move the sockets up a bit. Sockets down to the skirting is old school and you have to grovel around to plug anything in. If they are all in line I think it is fine for the regs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffSmith Posted December 2 Author Share Posted December 2 All done. Bloody hell, suggestions to rip up oak floors, hire all sorts of machinery, all for it to end up taking 15 minutes, and 5 minutes to clean it all up. Barely any dust gets loose if you one-hand the grinder and hold a decent dust extractor right next to the cutter. For anyone else who ever comes across this thread during a Google search, here's what worked for me: 1. Set yourself up with a bit of plastic that you can tape off the room with. Takes about 5 minutes total. That way you can zone out 90% of the room and protect it from dust 2. Remove as much from the room as possible, and open up the top and bottom windows to create an air current 3. Make sure you set up all of your tools to go on the right side of your sealed off area - you don't want to open it up again while this happens. 4. With your vacuum or dust extractor in one hand and the grinder in the other, work at a moderate pace, with the vacuum attachment about 50mm from the cutting dust, and 90% of it will be sucked straight into the bag. 5. Chisel out everything with an SDS, chisel into the cut so as not to blow plaster 6. vacuum up all leftover bits, including the chase, and use a dustpan and brush for the big bits. 7. Leave room for at least 30 mins, then return to vacuum up the rest of the settled dust. A mask is essential. You wouldn't want to do this in a room with carpets, or, I guess, in a room you weren't planning to decorate again, for obvious reasons. The dust increases dramatically if you cut into brick, but then you just go slower so that the vacuum can catch more. It's an easy job, but the dust is definitely a nightmare. I cannot imagine how much you'd produce if you didn't seal off the room and work with an extractor. It would be like a sandstorm. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 15 hours ago, GeoffSmith said: It's an easy job, but the dust is definitely a nightmare. Well done, looks to be a neat job. Glad it worked out well for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 TL:DR Any mention of safe zones? https://flameport.com/wiring_regulations/BS7671_selected_subjects/zones_concealed_cables.cs4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffSmith Posted December 4 Author Share Posted December 4 All within safe zones. Nothing outside the thickness of the socket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted December 4 Share Posted December 4 Did you use the grinder shield onto the skirting top as a guide? Was it cordless? I am not sure I would be happy with a grinder in one hand and a vacuum in the other! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffSmith Posted December 4 Author Share Posted December 4 No, I just freehanded the whole thing. It's a cordless Dewalt - I didn't have any problem with it beyond the first 30 seconds. If you hold it as close to the neck as possible, the torque doesn't really produce any discernible wobble. That being said, cutting vertical with one hand is significantly harder for some reason, and I'd say more than half the dust leftover was from the two small vertical chases I had to do - very hard to follow a straight line with one hand, and as you veer off without realising, the angle the grinder spits the dist out changes and sends plumes of it past the vacuum! I also wouldn't freehand if I was doing it for longer than a few minutes, because you have to remain quite tense, and it's bloody tiring as a result trying to juggle everything. I'll probably buy a dust shroud for it next Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted December 4 Share Posted December 4 Maybe have a good count up of your fingers this evening, just to be sure! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted December 5 Share Posted December 5 16 hours ago, Mr Punter said: Maybe have a good count up of your fingers this evening, just to be sure! Get @ToughButterCup to do it, he can get to 4, then he has to expose some toes. Thankfully down here, we all have webbed fingers and toes, makes counting a quantum problem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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