Any advice on rewires?

[HappyHippyDad]

I have perhaps done 6 rewires now. They are hard work and I wonder if there are ways to make them easier as I have another 2 much larger ones (3 and 4 storey houses) coming up.

I typically take around 2 weeks for a 3 bed house. This is working flat out (by myself) everyday including one or 2 Saturdays and I feel that is a little longer than most of you would take, or is it about right?

I have just bought the metabo mfe40 wall chaser and hopefully that will speed things up. Are there any tips for using chasers? I'm guessing they just make nice neat notches either side of the chase which you then remove with an SDS chisel? Do you always then use oval conduit which you secure to the wall with the oval conduit holders or is there a quicker way?

Cheers all and hope you are having a relaxing Saturday!

Ps.. I'm awaiting the arrival of the triple blade for the metabo, anyone use it yet? Does it actually take out the middle of the chase well?
pps.. What size conduit do you generally use for 1mm, 2.5mm, 6mm, ring etc etc?

 

[Petej999]

Make sure your Apprentice/Mate/Helper knows what you want of him, set yourself a target for the days work the last thing you want especially in an occupied house is panicking towards the end of the day, trying to get the place liveable until the next day some days you may finish your allotted tasks early, some you may have to work longer hours, that's a rewire for you. Three working days for me and a Mate, when I was doing it, two fairly easy days and 1 day of hard graft. You may require a 4th day for testing and snagging this was for a 3 bed occupied council house, nil chasing all surface, all cable drops clipped using buckle clips, it was a while ago mind you.

 

[Simon47]

Aren't all Toolstations and Screwfix next to each other?

Until a year or two ago, nearest was the next town 10 miles away - next door to each other. Then Screwfix opened up in our own town (so only about a mile from home) - no Toolstation. I have to admit, as long as you know what you are after, being able to go online and (if they've got the stock in) pick it up a short time later, even on Sunday, is rather handy.

 

[cliffed]

Back in the 80’s me & my mate did a 3-4 bedroom house in a day.
It’s a bit different now, more lights etc.
Always hard work then, flushing boxes into the walls only wet plastering then, no dabbing.
My mate flushed & fixed the boxes then helped with some of the cabling, then started the sheathing, wouldn’t wanna do this now too Old.
Good luck

 

[UNG]

Back in the 80’s me & my mate did a 3-4 bedroom house in a day.
It’s a bit different now, more lights etc.
Always hard work then, flushing boxes into the walls only wet plastering then, no dabbing.
My mate flushed & fixed the boxes then helped with some of the cabling, then started the sheathing, wouldn’t wanna do this now too Old.
Good luck

About 3 times as many sockets is the killer these days

 

[pc1966]

About 3 times as many sockets is the killer these days

Not to mention half dozen ceiling lights in a room in place of a pendent or two.

 

[Dustydazzler]

A very basic 2 sockets and 1 pendant per room re-wire un-occupied carpet all pulled up 3 bed house, you could probably do in 1 long day between 2 experienced sparks. Bang test on the board and not a whiff of any paperwork thou.
8 til 8 shift. Sling a bit of muck in the chases if you get time.

 

[7029 dave]

A very basic 2 sockets and 1 pendant per room re-wire un-occupied carpet all pulled up 3 bed house, you could probably do in 1 long day between 2 experienced sparks. Bang test on the board and not a whiff of any paperwork thou.
8 til 8 shift. Sling a bit of muck in the chases if you get time.

Just the ticket

 

[HappyHippyDad]

I thought I become one of those fancy youtube electricians for a minute and video myself using the triple blade, so you could see it in action.

Just cant upload it though

It says "the uploaded file was not a video as expected". Ummm, yes it is!

Sussed it! Trimmed it a bit and it works. I love the triple blade!

Ps.. It takes longer than the previous 20 seconds I said. Looks like it's around 45 secs - 1 min for a chase to a light switch. Virtually no debris and a lovely, neat chase. This is into a standard load bearing wall in a house, not sure exactly what material it is I'm cutting into, but it's pretty hard.

pps.. No eye protection

 

[123]

I thought I become one of those fancy youtube electricians for a minute and video myself using the triple blade, so you could see it in action.

Just cant upload it though

It says "the uploaded file was not a video as expected". Ummm, yes it is!

Sussed it! Trimmed it a bit and it works. I love the triple blade!

Ps.. It takes longer than the previous 20 seconds I said. Looks like it's around 45 secs - 1 min for a chase to a light switch. Virtually no debris and a lovely, neat chase. This is into a standard load bearing wall in a house, not sure exactly what material it is I'm cutting into, but it's pretty hard.

pps.. No eye protection

I really must get my finger out and purchase one to try it...my MFE40 is over 3 years old now and all that's been used in it are the Metabo's standard blades. Trouble is in that time we've gone through over 30 pairs of blades, I just have this bad lingering doubt that the triple blade wouldn't be able to last any length of time when it's doing deeper tracks...we'd regularly be sinking some 25mm conduits in kitchen jobs for isolators all to go in tall housings etc...and we do that kind of work pretty regular.

I've a couple of big new builds starting soon but I get tracking companies in for that work

 

[Risteard]

I really must get my finger out and purchase one to try it...my MFE40 is over 3 years old now and all that's been used in it are the Metabo's standard blades. Trouble is in that time we've gone through over 30 pairs of blades, I just have this bad lingering doubt that the triple blade wouldn't be able to last any length of time when it's doing deeper tracks...we'd regularly be sinking some 25mm conduits in kitchen jobs for isolators all to go in tall housings etc...and we do that kind of work pretty regular.

I've a couple of big new builds starting soon but I get tracking companies in for that work

I have the MFE30 and find it sore enough on the blades. Would like to try the MFE40 though to avoid needing to knock the centre of the tracks out.

 

[Mike Johnson]

I found with the double blade chaser, once the blade has stopped a quick flick sideways broke the centre of the chase out, needed a few goes down the chase, but worked on limestone and plaster.

 

[nicebutdim]

I really must get my finger out and purchase one to try it...my MFE40 is over 3 years old now and all that's been used in it are the Metabo's standard blades. Trouble is in that time we've gone through over 30 pairs of blades, I just have this bad lingering doubt that the triple blade wouldn't be able to last any length of time when it's doing deeper tracks...we'd regularly be sinking some 25mm conduits in kitchen jobs for isolators all to go in tall housings etc...and we do that kind of work pretty regular.

I've a couple of big new builds starting soon but I get tracking companies in for that work

Shallow chases for oval conduit are fairly simple to clear, provided you aren't cutting stone. Chases for 25mm round are a different matter and I'd be inclined to try the triple blade. If you're using 10 pairs of blades in the average year, the price of one triple blade isn't going to break the bank - what do you have to lose?

 

[Mike Johnson]

Does the Metabo use diamond blades, my bog standard twin blade Clarke (very low brow) does not seem to wear at all, but cutting plastered/limestone mostly which is quite soft.

 

[buzzlightyear]

I love to knock seven bells out of the walls with a boxing gloves and chisles.
Not a fancy circus cutter.

 

[brianmoooore]

The wear on diamond discs isn't proportional to the hardness of the material being cut. It's closer to inversely proportional.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

I have just used the triple blade for the first time on hard stone.
I get the feeling it's not really designed for something this hard. It still did it, but it took much longer and the metabo got pretty hot. However, if @brianmoooore is correct then it won't have worn the blade too much. Would be good to have a bit of evidence Brian, as my common sense says the harder the surface the greater the wear.

 

[brianmoooore]

I have seen it in writing, but have no idea where. More importantly, I've proved it many times over to myself over the last few years, working my way through dozens of 110mm and 230mm diamond discs.
Since retiring from full time electrical contracting and plumbing, I've been extensively renovating my way through the five properties that make up my little 'estate', and have been cutting all sorts of materials. Soft blocks wear the disc faster than ordinary blocks, which wear them faster than sandstones, which in turn wear them faster than granite.

 

[richy3333]

I thought I become one of those fancy youtube electricians for a minute and video myself using the triple blade, so you could see it in action.

Just cant upload it though

It says "the uploaded file was not a video as expected". Ummm, yes it is!

Sussed it! Trimmed it a bit and it works. I love the triple blade!

Ps.. It takes longer than the previous 20 seconds I said. Looks like it's around 45 secs - 1 min for a chase to a light switch. Virtually no debris and a lovely, neat chase. This is into a standard load bearing wall in a house, not sure exactly what material it is I'm cutting into, but it's pretty hard.

pps.. No eye protection

You’re much taller than I had imagined with your head nearly touching the ceiling

 

[impish15]

@HappyHippyDad which vacuum did you attach to the metabo?

 

[HappyHippyDad]

@HappyHippyDad which vacuum did you attach to the metabo?

Apart from the one time I didn't attach anything, just to see what happened (I won't ever be doing that again), I use the Nilfisk https://cpc.farnell.com/nilfisk/aer...PING&s_kwcid=AL!5616!3!491022676308!!!network}!901669914186!&gclid=CjwKCAjwrNmWBhA4EiwAHbjEQO2RJE-YKGoUJjXzYEu5otzxvk20reoqI4QO0hFqhrwvNFEZ9KqK8BoCGmwQAvD_BwE

vary happy with it.

 

[impish15]

@HappyHippyDad great thanks for the link

 

[HappyHippyDad]

The final chapter!

The triple blade has died

I let the labourer use It for a rewire. He was getting through the chases very quickly which was great, but I realise now he was pushing the blade too hard.

Rather than let the blade do the work he was forcing it to chew more quickly than it wanted to. In addition, he wasn't keeping the chaser straight all the time. So, pushing it hard plus twisting it a bit caused some of the teeth to bend and some snapped off.

I guess it did its job for a couple of years. It may well have gone on for another few years if used properly.

RIP! I won't be getting another one, as it doesn't really take too long to chisel it out once the metabo has cut the nice sides to it.

 

[nicebutdim]

I'd spend the money on a replacement triple blade, before going back to twin blades and chisel.

Over here a lot of chasing gets subbed out to companies who specialise in the dirty art of wall chasing, but then we generally need to run deeper tracks as all cables are contained in conduit (mostly round) and the majority of walls are block and floated out in plaster. Dot and dab is very rare and boarded walls are usually a cheap fix to cover old, boss plaster.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Over here a lot of chasing gets subbed out to companies who specialise in the dirty art of wall chasing, but then we generally need to run deeper tracks as all cables are contained in conduit (mostly round) and the majority of walls are block and floated out in plaster. Dot and dab is very rare and boarded walls are usually a cheap fix to cover old, boss plaster.

It's how it used to be done in the UK, electricians first fix consisted of marking out the route for the conduit and a specialist did the dirty work, this was all before some bright person (did not want to say spark) came up with the idea of using ceiling board as it was called, on the walls because it was faster and got rid of a two or three day wet trade, studwork walls cause more problems than they are worth, especially sound insulation and fixings for heavy items.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

I'd spend the money on a replacement triple blade, before going back to twin blades and chisel.

Over here a lot of chasing gets subbed out to companies who specialise in the dirty art of wall chasing, but then we generally need to run deeper tracks as all cables are contained in conduit (mostly round) and the majority of walls are block and floated out in plaster. Dot and dab is very rare and boarded walls are usually a cheap fix to cover old, boss plaster.

Have you used the triple blade @nicebutdim ?
I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has used it and if they like it.
I think you are right and I will probably buy another one. It saved a lot of time over the last 2 years and would certainly have paid for itself

 

[nicebutdim]

Have you used the triple blade @nicebutdim ?
I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has used it and if they like it.
I think you are right and I will probably buy another one. It saved a lot of time over the last 2 years and would certainly have paid for itself

Yes and it was the primary reason for buying this more robust chaser. There are plenty of cheaper options out there which are perfectly capable of powering two discs through a range of materials. I liked the idea of cleaning a chase in one go, with a minimum of fuss.

To my mind the MFE40 and extractor combo would be a lot of money wasted if your intention is to separately chisel out the bulk of material.

 

[loz2754]

I actually make sure I have a spare triple blade on the shelf, I cannot imagine using the machine without it.

 

[Mike Johnson]

I actually make sure I have a spare triple blade on the shelf, I cannot imagine using the machine without it.

With the ad in the middle of your post it says "I actually make" and nothing else, I was unable to see your post in full until I quoted it, THIS IS BECOMING MORE ANNOYING EACH DAY, ADDS IN THE CONTENT OF A POST WHATEVER NEXT, ARE YOU LISTENING ADMIN?

 

[HappyHippyDad]

With the ad in the middle of your post it says "I actually make" and nothing else, I was unable to see your post in full until I quoted it, THIS IS BECOMING MORE ANNOYING EACH DAY, ADDS IN THE CONTENT OF A POST WHATEVER NEXT, ARE YOU LISTENING ADMIN?

Completely agree Mike. the ads are now in the posts, actually blocking the content from view. They only ever get worse.

 

[loz2754]

I never see any ads. Browsing mainly on Edge on an Android phone.