- Reaction score
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And I am just about to go to bed after I have ORBIT my teeth.
Discuss Tips from a pro..... in the UK Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net
xcuse me a minute whilrst i HENRY the floor.
Can do similar with copper offcuts if you've got a hole that's slightly too big, curl that copper into a tight enough shape to fit tht hole then screw away.Trying to bring this thread back on track...may we please have some more tips that help us in the daily grind?
I always carry assorted dowels and wooden golf tees...they can fill out an oversize hole that won't accept a rawl-plug, and wooden biscuits and mitre glue can save your day too.
Exactly this. The plaster to the sides of the cut out is not supported, so very weak. It can be reinforced though, using timber battens, without too much trouble:
- Cut the hole out of the lath and plaster for the backbox with multitool (we're gonna use a steel BB).
- Cut a couple of timber battens, something about 2" X 1" should do. They're going to go inside the wall, vertically, to either side of the hole, and need to be long enough to extend beyond a couple of un-cut laths, both top and bottom. About 150 - 200mm long is about right.
- Reach inside the hole, and carefully pull away the plaster 'keys' from either side of the hole where the battens are to go. We want the battens to press right up against the back of the laths without being fouled by any bits of plaster.
- Now the fiddly bit.
- Liberally coat the face of one batten with PVA, water based gripfill, or similar. Maneuver the batten through the hole and into position vertically to the side of the hole, glue side pressed up against the back of the laths. Hold in place, and drive a screw through the plaster, through an un-cut lath, and into the top of the batten. Repeat for the bottom of the batten. You can put screws through the cut laths into the batten too if you like.
- That side is now reinforced, and will be about as strong as you can hope for in a lath and plaster wall. Do the same for the other side of the hole with the other batten. You can now fix the backbox in place by screwing through the sides into the battens.
- Filler over the screw holes and you're done.
Nowhere is this more true than when installing conventional wet radiators under windows. Forget the level, and match the radiator top to the window sill. Can affect the choice of radiator in some cases, as you ideally need one where the air vent can be positioned on the higher end.Level is not always preferable.
Often you find a wall, ceiling, door/window frames etc... that are not very level. Try to follow the lines that catch people's eyes.
Nowt worse than people commenting on your work not being level until you pull out your level finder and show them that it's the building or other items that are out. So much of our works can be hidden, so the bits that are on show need to look good, I often use "rack of the eye" in these cases.
The problem comes when function has to take priority over aesthetics. I remember fitting a Belfast sink that looked slanted to the eye but was dead level. The customer complained that I'd fitted the sink "on the p**s". he insisted that I re-install it "level". He phoned me the day after saying the sink doesn't drain properly and puddles at one end. ?Nowhere is this more true than when installing conventional wet radiators under windows. Forget the level, and match the radiator top to the window sill. Can affect the choice of radiator in some cases, as you ideally need one where the air vent can be positioned on the higher end.
I agree, I lost mine the other day and was frantic to find it. It's just one of those tools that you sort of fall in love with ?Loving these tips, guys!
A quality stepped cone drill can also make life easier. They are cheap compared with faffing about to get the right hole in a pattress or front plate for an LED or push button...or a countersink.
Nowhere is this more true than when installing conventional wet radiators under windows. Forget the level, and match the radiator top to the window sill. Can affect the choice of radiator in some cases, as you ideally need one where the air vent can be positioned on the higher end.
Can't seem to do that with that Bosch prpgressor stuff with the quick change Arbor. Not tried to take them off the QC adapters yet and trying it.Downlights when I was doing them
Leave you're wires in situ between the joists
Mark all the positions on the walls with chalk
As soon as the slabs go up drill all your holes , keep them to 50mm if unsure
If they need to be widened later you can do the trick of threading one holesaw inside the other to widen the hole cleanly
The first step saves the inevitable screwup of slabbers making the downlight holes and pulli down the cables
Probably most sparkies do it that way anyway lol, been a while since I was doing them
Truth is even stranger than jokes:I might have mentioned this before and the post might not stay for long but a young lady was rushed to the local a&e with a vacuum cleaner nozzle firmly wedged in her ##### . However the following morning a hospital spokesman said she was picking up nicely. ?
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