A length of flexible conduit taped to the vacuum hose can be used as the "excavator" for creating a route through crumbly plaster.
Socket Wiring Advice - Part Dux!
- Thread starter nero44
- Start date
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... provided that there is not a lot more loose stuff 'above' waiting to fall down and replace what one has vacuumed out
Leaving the conduit in place keeps a route clear for the cable
My experience is flexible conduit will clog and block, For a job like this it needs to be a smooth bore or large, additionally in order to disturb and possibly break up the loose fill; something hard.
If the loosefill above really is loose and falling the 2 solutions are either set up a shute and let it fall out onto a bucket oe stabilise it with a few long nails or screws
If the loosefill above really is loose and falling the 2 solutions are either set up a shute and let it fall out onto a bucket oe stabilise it with a few long nails or screws
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As a decorator, who has admittedly used Easyfill in the past, I disagree with you. It is a cheap product that contains no cement. In the event that it becomes wet, it turns to mush and any emulsion blows away.
If I turn up on site to sand walls prior to painting them, as the sander (80-100 grit) hits any Easifill, the paint rips off the surface. I then need to sand away all of the Easyfill and use a proper filler.
It is a cheap product that is often used by "decorators" that want to spend as little as possible and move on, and don't care about longevity.
5Kg of Easyfiller is about £18, 5kg of a decent filler is about £35.
Ok. And very interesting. Would you care to reveal to the forum what filler you consider to be “decent”!
Oh what a shame!
My attempt at predicting the position of the diagonal may not be perfect but assuming it's the same size timber as the vertical I don't think the brown line should be too far out.
If you had tried drilling down wards you should have reached that diagonal quite quickly, especially to the left.
At this point I'd still say it's worth trying if that is your preferred position for a socket, after all you have to refill one hole and it really doesn't matter which.
It's just occurred to me; how do you get to the void at floor level? Is it open to the floor void?
My attempt at predicting the position of the diagonal may not be perfect but assuming it's the same size timber as the vertical I don't think the brown line should be too far out.
If you had tried drilling down wards you should have reached that diagonal quite quickly, especially to the left.
At this point I'd still say it's worth trying if that is your preferred position for a socket, after all you have to refill one hole and it really doesn't matter which.
It's just occurred to me; how do you get to the void at floor level? Is it open to the floor void?
Yep. This hole thing started as by-project of us getting new flooring in the room. Flooring is only due in a couple of weeks so whilst I have access I wanted to so these things. Once done the whole room needs painting and fixing of some skirting board. I will probably get a decorator in for that though…
One way of getting down the back of a skirting board to remove rubble is to use a metre long drill bit from a hole/chase above and bend it ever so slightly (whilst drilling) and it will drill in a near vertical direction although you are actually holding the drill machine slightly out of vertical.
Of course you need check extremely carefully that there is definitely not cables/pipes/ nails etc in the way and the longer your hole/chase is vertically then the better your result will be, it takes a little practice and great care but it can be one solution/
If you were to completely rewire 10 or more houses completely you might discover the possible benefits.
A dog legged chisel if you can find/make one can have similar benefits.
Good luck with your endeavours and, as always, take care.
Of course you need check extremely carefully that there is definitely not cables/pipes/ nails etc in the way and the longer your hole/chase is vertically then the better your result will be, it takes a little practice and great care but it can be one solution/
If you were to completely rewire 10 or more houses completely you might discover the possible benefits.
A dog legged chisel if you can find/make one can have similar benefits.
Good luck with your endeavours and, as always, take care.
What product are you talking about? As I understand it, Gyproc Easifill ("20" or "60" - referring to the 'number of minutes' it takes to set) is essentially plaster (gypsum plus limestone), intended primarily for jointing/filling and repainting plasterboard, and, as such, I wouldn't really expect it to exhibit the problems you describe any more than the surrounding plaster that had been repaired?
I highly recommend the Toupret interior filler, Toupret TX110 if you want something that will set faster on deeper fills. Costs more but neither turn to mush when wet.
Edit----- I am working at my mum's home. She wanted the two ceiling fitting lights to be moved. Double skin plasterboard. I patched things in usining Easifill. 4 weeks later there was a leak. The emulsion blew. The paint literally came away from the filler. I regret having used Easifill.
Yep, I am talking about the Gyproc Easifill.
I have no idea what it is made out of. If I mixed the previously mentioned (cement based) Toupret filler in a container in a tub and poured water into the tub, the filler would go hard under water. If I were to mix plaster in a bucket and let it go hard, adding water will not make it soft enough to wipe it away with a wet rag. If I were to do the same with Easifill, I would be able to remove all traces of it.
You can apply Easifill, let it cure and wipe it away with a wet sponge weeks later.
It is popular because it is cheap and incredibly easy to sand. AFAIK, it was developed for tape and join tapered edge plasterboard. It is so soft that users didn't need to worry about damaging the paper face on the sheets of plasterboard when sanding. I am not convinced that it was ever intended as a "general" filler. Nevertheless, it is often used as a general filler, often by people that have not considered what happens when it becomes wet, or when someone else runs a sander over it.
Sorry,I genuinely consider it to product that is often used inappropriately by people who do not understand the limitations of the product, or perhaps those who don't care.
As a decorator, when I turn up on day one to sand the walls, I groan when I come across easifill because I need to sand all of it away, and then use a decent filler.
I will try to remember to post photos of my mum's ceiling tomorrow. Even after a coat of shellac based paint, followed by two coats of emulsion, some of the water in the emulsion has resulted in the paint delaminating.
If you look through my posting history, you will, hopefully see that I am not in the habit of tilting at windmills.
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I usually find that one coat plaster from the likes of B an Q etc is acceptable to fill small holes/chases, sets pretty hard in minimum time and can be floated up quite a bit. Once set it was almost as hard as sand and cement mix.
In fact B aQ used to use the "Blue Hawk" brand I think it was called and was very white then they changed to some other stuff that was less smooth and off white and after a while the more you wet it the harder it got, so less useful in my opinion. Now idea what they sell as one coat plaster now though.
In fact B aQ used to use the "Blue Hawk" brand I think it was called and was very white then they changed to some other stuff that was less smooth and off white and after a while the more you wet it the harder it got, so less useful in my opinion. Now idea what they sell as one coat plaster now though.
Indeed - that';s what I tend to use.
Being a standard British Gypsum product, variants of it are available everywhere. As you say it sets pretty hard (and quickly), can be got quite smooth and, although it sands relatively easily, certainly does not 'wipe off' as has been described for Easifill. It can also be used for quite large//deep holes/chases/whatever - but, for whatever reason (maybe lower demand?) it is 2-3 times more expensive than standard bonding of 'finish' plaster.
Despite what you said, it does not appear to be cement-based/ It appears that, like Easifill, it is primarily gypsum plaster, plus some "quarry materials" (quite possibly similar to Easifill's 'limestone') and a cellulose binder - so the two products seem pretty similar..
Actually not much price difference - it seems that 10 kg of Toupret costs about £33, whereas 10 kg of Easifil costs £30. )n contrast , 12.5 kg of the 'one coat plaster' that ebee and I would usually use only need cost about £16.
Would not the original plasterboard, plaster and emulion not probably have behaved similarly in response to a 'leak'?
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