Drilling 12mm holes in UPVC Conservatory side panel and sill for BT Full Fibre install

[inajam]

Hi all,

This is my first post, hope you can advise please, as my DIY skills are rudimentary at best!

Openreach are installing full fibre for us next month, which is proving to be a logistical nightmare due to living in an old, single storey cottage with side conservatory (no walls below), coupled with the necessary BT overhead cable height and routing.

To continue having broadband, which we rely on heavily, we know we have to proceed. All BT copper lines will cease by 2027 at the very latest.

BT/Openreach do not discuss cable routing until the day of install, so I’m having to think of the most serviceable cable route for the fibre, should a problem occur in the future. They cannot follow the existing copper line route. Routing a cat5 cable from anywhere other than the conservatory, where the current copper line terminates and current, but old copper tech router resides is very difficult/risky too. As it would mean breaching the void between the kitchen and conservatory - I don't want them/me to cause any leaks and create a bigger problem.

It is most likely, the only route we have, is to bring the cable through the conservatory sill and panel (see photo). But we do not know for certain if BT will agree, although we do not see any other workable option.

To allow the cable through, ideally we would need to drill a 12mm hole both in the sill and the panel (shown in green). Would not be drilling through any of the conservatory frames.

Is this something we could do? without damaging/cracking either the side panel, sill or both? If so, what are the best tools, drill bits to use please?

Many thanks.

 

[Murdochcat]

12 mm hole sounds rather too large

 

[inajam]

Do you mean 12mm is too big a hole to drill through UPVC panel and/or sill - or 12mm seems too big a hole for the fibre cable?

Item 4 of Openreach faq; "Just a heads up, we'll need to drill a hole through the wall to enable us to connect the two boxes. If you're renting the property please make sure you get your landlord's permission for us to drill a hole. This will be 12mm wide and you can tell the engineer where you'd like them to drill."

Full Fibre Installation – what to expect on the day

Thanks

 

[cdbe]

That'll be an oversized masonry bit so it's easy to feed through the wall. That looks a terrible place to fit a cable, post some pics of the full elevation - people may have better suggestions - eg in the corner where it meets the house

 

[aveatry]

My experience recently is that with city fibre the fibre cable already has the plug on the end so the hole needs to be 12mm to accommodate the plug going through the wall and not just the cable with is about half the diameter then the old copper.. The cable is a fixed length and they have different lengths on the van.

 

[inajam]

That'll be an oversized masonry bit so it's easy to feed through the wall. That looks a terrible place to fit a cable, post some pics of the full elevation - people may have better suggestions - eg in the corner where it meets the house

Totally agree, one I would avoid if a maintainable alternative is possible. The current BT copper cable enters the house, but this is into a crawl loft space which I helped run years back, as BT/Openreach would not run the cable and do not maintain that part if there is any issue - and I'm not getting any younger! But this is something I will take another look at. Out of interests, looking at the UPVC gutter mounts, would it be possible for me to drill a 12mm hole through this, as I notice for the gutter mounts, they are plugged on the inside. What would I use to drill a 12mm through this? Thanks.

 

[thomp1983]

Have you got a full picture of the conservatory and maybe we can come up with a different idea?

 

[cdbe]

That's the fascia on the outside and trim on the inside, with probably a timber "wall plate" in between - you could drill through this with a 12mm HSS or wood drill bit (whatever's cheapest if you need to buy one) make sure whatever you get is long enough. Drill from outside at an upwards angle and seal with silicone (the installer should do that).

 

[foxhole]

My fibre cable is less than 6mm .The installer will have whatever is required to make the hole.
Don’t understand any of your concerns , they can install thru any of your external walls .

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

My experience recently is that with city fibre the fibre cable already has the plug on the end so the hole needs to be 12mm to accommodate the plug going through the wall and not just the cable with is about half the diameter then the old copper.. The cable is a fixed length and they have different lengths on the van.

That was not my experience. The guy arrive with his fibre on the drum, pulled a length off, terminated at the pole, measured a length off, and fed that to up, into the house. Then inside, he terminated the end, into a termination box, to join it to a second, less robust fibre, finally into the powered box, to translate from fibre, to LAN, to feed into the new router.

 

[inajam]

Hi all, thank you for all your thoughts and comments - its does very much appear to depend on which installer turns up to do the work. Whist not the easiest and means going into the loft space I'll follow the existing copper cable route, as I know this is the tidiest and least obtrusive.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

BT/Openreach do not discuss cable routing until the day of install, so I’m having to think of the most serviceable cable route for the fibre, should a problem occur in the future. They cannot follow the existing copper line route. Routing a cat5 cable from anywhere other than the conservatory, where the current copper line terminates and current, but old copper tech router resides is very difficult/risky too. As it would mean breaching the void between the kitchen and conservatory - I don't want them/me to cause any leaks and create a bigger problem.

Best to forget where you have things located at the moment, and decide how you want your new installation set up. The fibre will need to terminate, where there are two power sockets available, even if it needs a double adaptor. If your fibre is from the pole, your end of the fibre, will need to be attached at a high point, to provide clearance. A conservatory eave, might not be high enough, so it might well mean across to the apex of the house. From there, the fibre can run down the outer wall, to the point where it will enter through the wall.

Some installers terminate the fibre, to a less robust fibre, outside, some have the termination indoors. That termination requires quite specialised equipment, to make the very delicate joint, between the two fibre ends. From the termination, the thin fibre, goes into an ONT, with a copper LAN cable out the other side, to feed your new router.

The installers have a sort of rule, that they do not go in lofts.

My copper came in at the eaves of my semi, and came in through my boarded out, part converted carpeted loft. My router was all set up in the loft, and that's where I wanted the new fibre router. I added a draw wire, from the outside/eaves, through to where I wanted the terminator + ONT + router, and where there was power. I made it clear with my potential new fibre ISP, that was what I would be how I would expect it to be installed, or call it all off. They agreed, but the installer, despite agreeing it would be an ridiculously easy install, he wasn't allowed in the loft. I said, what I had agreed with the ISP, he rang his supervisor, and was given permission to proceed.

Job done in record time, and I bunged him a £20..

 

[aveatry]

Job done in record time, and I bunged him a £20..

The amount of prep work that I did so that they could use my preferred route, then they should be paying ME.
I knew they would not want to run it where I wanted so I made it easy for them by doing the tricky time consuming stuff.

 

[aveatry]

I think if you are having it done by open reach or something then they have the kit and the experts to do the fibre welding but for my install it was pre -- had a plug on the end which is why it needed to be 12mm. Not only that but the last few inches of the outer sheath was pre pared back before the plug so that meant that the ready plugged cable was really floppy and delicate on the last 5 inches sso through a wall for example you could not push the cable through as it was too floppy so the hole had to be also big enough to accommodate a push rod

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I think if you are having it done by open reach or something then they have the kit and the experts to do the fibre welding but for my install it was pre -- had a plug on the end which is why it needed to be 12mm.

It was Netomnia, which I think owns Youfibre, or maybe the other way round.