Chasing walls best practice

readymix111

Hi all, i will have about 50 chases to do in a house, dont want to spend a fortune on expensive wall chasers, are the ones for about €150 on ebay etc any good? How many chases would you expect to get from a set of discs? Also are those back box hole cutters any good, the single and double ones?

Steve

Decent SDS drill and chasing bit might be a better option.

What material? plaster / concrete / brick?

readymix111

House built in the 80s, be mainly solid concrete.

benjilxp

readymix111 wrote: »

House built in the 80s, be mainly solid concrete.

You'll be a long time making 50 chases with a sds chisel bit.I'd just buy a proper chaser and sure you'll have it for the next job,or a small hand held grinder with a diamond cutting disk would be cheaper but lots of dust

readymix111

Yeah i think ill go for the wall chaser, what about the box hole cutters? Are they any use? I heard people would rather use the single box cutters for both instead of going for a single and double box cutter, would they work well in concrete walls?

Risteard81

readymix111 wrote: »

Yeah i think ill go for the wall chaser, what about the box hole cutters? Are they any use? I heard people would rather use the single box cutters for both instead of going for a single and double box cutter, would they work well in concrete walls?

They're rubbish. In concrete you wouldn't have a chance. You'll get vibration white finger long before you have a box cut!

readymix111

Yeah had a feeling, all the videos ever show is on blocks. Would just a hammer action chisel bit be better for the back boxes?

judge30

readymix111 wrote: »

Yeah had a feeling, all the videos ever show is on blocks. Would just a hammer action chisel bit be better for the back boxes?

Just hire out a wall chaser and dust extractor ,most tool hire depots have them ,for the boxes criss cross the chaser blades like an x,s and o,s game and then chisel out the boxes with the sds hammer,those armeg box cutters are unless I got it used it once and it's buried in the back of the van for eternity.

Risteard81

judge30 wrote: »

those armeg box cutters are unless I got it used it once and it's buried in the back of the van for eternity.

Same fate as my Armeg box cutter then! Although I occasionally give it another chance to see if it really is as bad as I remembered... And of course it always is!

judge30

Risteard81 wrote: »

Same fate as my Armeg box cutter then! Although I occasionally give it another chance to see if it really is as bad as I remembered... And of course it always is!

I didn't even think I was good on the blocks ,Be prepared to open the wallet for a good wall chaser there not cheap.
I highly recommend an dust extractor even if you buy a second hand one or hire out ,dust isn't good on the lungs😆

judge30

Risteard81 wrote: »

Same fate as my Armeg box cutter then! Although I occasionally give it another chance to see if it really is as bad as I remembered... And of course it always is!

I didn't even think I was good on the blocks ,Be prepared to open the wallet for a good wall chaser there not cheap.
I highly recommend an dust extractor even if you buy a second hand one or hire out ,dust isn't good on the lungs😆

judge30

Risteard81 wrote: »

Same fate as my Armeg box cutter then! Although I occasionally give it another chance to see if it really is as bad as I remembered... And of course it always is!

I didn't even think I was good on the blocks ,Be prepared to open the wallet for a good wall chaser there not cheap.
I highly recommend an dust extractor even if you buy a second hand one or hire out ,dust isn't good on the lungs😆

judge30

Risteard81 wrote: »

Same fate as my Armeg box cutter then! Although I occasionally give it another chance to see if it really is as bad as I remembered... And of course it always is!

I didn't even think I was good on the blocks ,Be prepared to open the wallet for a good wall chaser there not cheap.
I highly recommend an dust extractor even if you buy a second hand one or hire out ,dust isn't good on the lungs😆

Risteard81

judge30 wrote: »

Risteard81 wrote: »

Same fate as my Armeg box cutter then! Although I occasionally give it another chance to see if it really is as bad as I remembered... And of course it always is!

I didn't even think I was good on the blocks

Completely agree. I don't think it's good on any material.

readymix111

Cheers lads, think ill save the money, its a pity though, they look impressive on the sites. Good old hard labour it is so 😞

marknjb

50 chases is a good bit in an old hse the walls would hard as rock now u probbaly be better hire in a guy to do it and let him suffer

readymix111

I would love to get someone in to do it, what is the going rate per chase do you know? Any good contractors around the Dublin area?

benjilxp

marknjb wrote: »

50 chases is a good bit in an old hse the walls would hard as rock now u probbaly be better hire in a guy to do it and let him suffer

Ah old house's walls would be soft as cheese!why quit before even starting??

benjilxp

readymix111 wrote: »

I would love to get someone in to do it, what is the going rate per chase do you know? Any good contractors around the Dublin area?

Why pay someone else to do it?you'd get a lot done in a day

021electrician

Why are you drawing the heartache of 50 wall chases on yourself? There are plenty of lads who do wall chasing for a living and would have it chased out while you would be fiddling with discs/depts etc. If you come across a solid stone wall, especially if it's an 80's built house then it will break your heart save your energy for the wiring and hire a professional. I can recommend a guy if you are based in the south.

marknjb

Ah old house's walls would be soft as cheese!why quit before even starting??
its an 80s hse so built with blocks u havent done much chaseing if u think they will be soft

benjilxp

marknjb wrote: »

Ah old house's walls would be soft as cheese!why quit before even starting??
its an 80s hse so built with blocks u havent done much chaseing if u think they will be soft

He hasn't even started 1 chase! How dafuc do you know what the walls are like??OK give me 5e a chase and I'll do it myself and be finished in a day

marknjb

i know from having chased plenty of rewires 80s block would be like flint by now as for the money i'm hardly going to pay u to chase someone else's job if the poster wants to pay u fair enough work away i wont begrudge it to u

Tuco88

Nothing like a block on flat built in the 50s house, all the blocks made by hand on site with stones the size golf balls. I'd get in a fella that does it all the time he will have all the gear. Even if it's your own house. Otherwise heartbreak ridge is only around the bend.

Stoner

I spent a few summers at this. My own house with mass concrete walls and concrete floors was my last attempt.

The trick as I saw it was to have a good tight fit, I achieved this by adjusting the twin blades to the right size, I also keep a very very slight s shape over the length of the chase, this shape should be slight and within the zone of the socket box.

The tight fit makes it very easy to chisel drill out and with the slight s shape you can pop the conduit in place and it will be held in tightly so it's easy for the plasterer afterwards and you don't have to clip or nail the sides to hold the conduit in

I stopped double chases too. Pinning conduits in is time consuming and potentially you can damage the installation,

Jack the Stripper

marknjb wrote: »

i know from having chased plenty of rewires 80s block would be like flint by now as for the money i'm hardly going to pay u to chase someone else's job if the poster wants to pay u fair enough work away i wont begrudge it to u

Not if you have the proper blades. The ones you get in the local diy wouldn't suffice.

Jack the Stripper

Stoner was it bad planning that you were chasing concrete floors or just the walls?

Stoner

Jack the Stripper wrote:

Stoner was it bad planning that you were chasing concrete floors or just the walls?

No just the walls in an existing build. The concrete floor just resulted in downstairs being wired from upstairs and dropping down everywhere that's why I mentioned it

evosteo

if anyones looking for a chaser, lidl will have some in stock on the 16th

€69.99

good value for short term diy work, doubt it would last the long term but lidl and aldi tools have surprised me before with their quality

http://www.lidl.ie/en/Offers.htm?action=showDetail&id=52720