Volume 6 - January 2024

A new year with new challenges, Dug and the team must get building to finally phone home...

Perfect Angled Drilling

There are many times on site where you have sockets placed in awkward positions and unfortunately, you have to figure out ways to route cables with minimal disruption to the property/premises.

Below we have provided a graphical example of how to overcome this issue, especially when it comes to calculating the angles of drilling through walls.

One example this can be applied to, is when you are installing an outside socket but the internal socket you are connecting too is not directly behind the outside socket, but rather further down the wall, with obstacles in the way.

Check out the below tool bag and try to spot the differences, there are 5 in total

_{Answers below}

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When chasing out walls within a commercial or domestic property there is a lot to consider, like the following:

How many cables are you fitting in a channel?

You must consider the purpose that each cables serves. Are you running power, data, audio, video or all of them.

When it comes to data cables it is important to consider the possibility of interference and if it is not shielded correctly and placed too close to power cables you will receive a lot of EMI (Electrical Magnetic Interference) as the electricity that passes through the power cable acts as an electromagnet, and creates interference along any adjoining or parallel cables. As we all know it is not advised to run power and data cables together in parallel.

Chasing out different materials?

Within domestic applications you will most probably only ever chase out the following:

Brick/Masonry/Concrete/Plaster:

The best chaser on the market for this application that we have used would have to be the Metabo MFE 40 Wall Chaser not only does it provide a clean-cut line but the amount of dust/debris it removes with the Hoover attachment is a game changer especially when working within habited households.

Depth and size of chases - Regulations

There are many things to consider when evaluating this and the Building Regulations of Wales highlights them perfectly.

"Vertical chases should not be deeper than 1/3 of the wall thickness or, in cavity walls, 1/3 of the thickness of the leaf; (b) horizontal chases should not be deeper than 1/6 of the thickness of the leaf of the wall; (c) chases should not be so positioned as to impair the stability of the wall, particularly where hollow blocks are used."

Note:

The inner 'leaf' = Load-bearing wall

The outer 'leaf' = Non load-bearing wall

Example:

Wall thickness is 100mm thick therefore the chase depth must not be cut more than 33.3mm.

How to secure the cable in the chase

There is a variety of ways to fix the cable to the wall, all depending on your personal preference and the circumstances of the job, but here are some popular options

All Round Band:

When securing cable, use a small length of the band and secure it back with red plugs and screws, this restricts any movement in the cable, be careful not to screw too tight and damage the cable

Oval Conduit:

This is slid over the cable to provide full round protection and is very quick but must ensure depth and width are correct for a snug fit. All round band can be placed on additionally to secure it further

Capping:

This not only secures the cable but also provides protection from a trowel when plastering, can be easier to fix with nails through the mortar of the brick but can be difficult to sit flush

Every tradie has that one story which will haunt them forever, below is our top three stories sent in from you the readers

Story 1 - "I put my foot through the ceiling while the customer was walking around the job with me"

That will take a whole lot to fix

Story 2 - "Guy got electrocuted by touching a main buss on a 2,000A service. Co-worker hit him at full speed to knock him off with his hard hat. Alternated CPR between 4 of us for an hour and a half until ambulance got there. Saved the guys life and he was back at work 6 months later with no lasting effects from it."

Talk about a shocking experience at work

Story 3 - "Myself and my butty both had new work vans and then decided to race through some country lanes, only from him to brake suddenly, causing me to rear end him and spin the van on a 180 and put him in a ditch. Had to speak to the farmer and ask him to sort us out and pull him out of the ditch"

Good effort

The biggest part of being a tradesman is looking after your tools, van, staying on top of paper work... but the most important tool you own is your MIND.

We will be donating 10% of any profit made from this newsletter. If you are feeling off, feel free to reach out for a chat.

Have a Chat!

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the newsletter or want to be featured like Mark above please don't hesitate to reach out. Link to contact us below

The material and information contained in this newsletter is for informational purpose only, you should not rely upon the material or information on this newsletter, all readers must make their own judgment and seek professional advice when making decisions based on the context of the newsletter