Well said and very true.
-- troubleinstore
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But, possibly, without the understanding that is required and without any liability insurance should things go wrong, what if the OP had not only not fixed the backing box correctly but had also not tightened the terminals correctly ? The fact that's it's in his own home doesn't make one jot of difference if it's a neighbours kid or the cleaner who finds live bare wires sticking out of the wall.
Dave, you are very clued up, but I sometimes think you forget that there are some utter num-sculls out there - both doing or using the results of that DIY.
I don't want to see DIY banned, but I can sometimes understand why some do.
I'm not saying that it's acceptable, but professionals will (or should) have liability insurance to cover such problems if the worst should happen - all the DIYer has is the shirt off his or her back...
Speaking as the DIY'er in question, I know the difference between not fixing a box into a wall correctly and not wiring up a socket correctly...and so I approach the 2 situations accordingly, as do (I'm sure) 99% of people...
frame? All parts are non-porous.
I'm quite sure. But remember it's pink, not white. In fact the adhesion in my experience is irreversible. In my experience if you try to separate what you've stuck it won't be the Pinkgrip that fails.
David
Ah, right, pink eh? Why do they make it pink? Is there a white alternative?
I suspect that the OP would have had no problems if they had used ordinary gypsum plaster or mortar rather than soft filler.
There are always 'what ifs'. It's perfectly possible to understand wiring but not the mechanics of fixing a backing box. Indeed, if he hadn't used Pollyfilla, but a proper plaster, it would have been fine.
And pros unfortunately. But i don't see the need to go on about it.
Mostly self interest by pros, I'm afraid. Nothing to do with safety.
One thing to look out for is that some that do have roto stop do not have any way of locking the chisel in one position. Hence it is free to rotate in the drill. For breaking concrete that is fine, for cutting a neat chase or back box hole it can be a pain.
Wouldn't the public liability insurance which most (all?) household insurance policies include as standard cover this? I don't see any exclusions about dodgy d-i-y wiring in my own policy (although I guess this may change next year with Part P coming in).
(I recently had to contact my local council about getting a licence to erect scaffolding on the pavement; they told me they would need to see evidence of PLI before they would issue one. After faffing about for an hour or so trying to buy a suitable policy, someone pointed out that my household insurance should cover it; a phonecall to them to clarify the policy wording confirmed that was true.)
David
In message , Graeme writes
Why Pink - marketing I guess.
Pink Grip is just another variation on the No more Nails/Gripfill type of adhesive. It claims to have better grab and more 'slump' resistance than others. It's good for something's, but it is very firm - if you want to push two things together and squash the glue between them then it's not so good -something softer like No More Nails is better here.
for your job Id either use a Silicone 9or similar) sealant - it's what our fitters used I think (Wickes ahve an Ultimate sealent nand Adhesive which might work well here) - or Mitre Fast - which is two part (spray and liquid) cyanocrylate
A friend of mine has now had two accidents[1] which would have been prevented if his drill had a safety clutch, so I would suggest that as a newbie to SDS drills, make sure you get one with a safety clutch (probably rules out the really cheap ones).
[1] First requiring 3 stiches in his chin, and second resulting in an SDS bit shaft being twisted or "wound up" through 90 degrees).
You can also use bonding coat plaster to fix boxes in (and they'll be much firmer than screw fixing), but you do it by landing a large dollop at the back of the hole, and pushing the box into it so it ozes out round the sides. Wipe any away which gets into the sliding lug mechanism or screwholes. This can be very useful if the brick behind the box has turned into a little pile of rubble and won't take screws.
Retrofitting polyfiller around the edge doesn't come close though.
Like the professionals who installed all my socket and switch pattresses using floorboard nails (honestly) ?
I glue 'em in with Gripfill ;-) When the boxes pull out of the wall a great chunk of cinder block or Sevenoaks White brick follows!!
Rgds Richard
David wrote: ..
Not necessarily so. My place is built of disgusting white bricks that shatter if approached with anything more vigorous than an ordinary hammer drill. The sound of half a brick tumbling into the cavity is not a pleasnt sound.
I also found that a previous person had encountered the same problem. His approach to remedying the problem? A 1972 copy of the local rag and a lot of plaster.
Richard
Ditto. First (very inexperienced) use of cheap and nasty (Nutool) SDS drill and the ******** drill snagged in the wall. I thought I'd broken my wrist. Also it won't lock the bits on roto stop so is useless for chasing.
Richard
That really sounds rather more hassle than a screw or two and some wall plugs.
In a Barrett show house I did some work on later, the boxes were all nailed in place with clouts. The central heating programmer in flex - extended from the original position with chocolate blocks as connectors behind the plasterboard. All ground floor sockets spurs off the one and only ring which was upstairs. One of these kitchen spurs had three doubles on it. Most of the boxes were 1" types, and mounted so far behind the dry lining there was a gap between the top of them and the back of the plasterboard, and longer screws needed. Not a grommet in sight, and no earth sleeving.
That will be the same guy who put up my customers kitchen light with 3 inch nails I expect...
Dave
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