Having removed the loose plaster, next job, make the chases in the wall for the cables and light switch deeper and wider to accommodate the conduit.
Having scraped away the plaster with a screwdriver (yes I have all the right tools for this job), I started trying to chisel the bricks with the screwdriver, well that proved to not be the most successful idea, so I invested in a selection of cold chisels to try and speed up the task.
Yes the chisel was more successful, however the bricks seem to be made of a substance nearly as hard as diamond and it was taking for ever to remove even the smallest bit of the brickwork, so I got out the electric drill and masonry bits and basically drilled holes vertically up the wall on either side of the channel I wanted to cut into the brickwork.
This proved to be a relatively successful move on my part, except on the bricks made of a substance considerably harder than diamond, so I now have some blunt masonry bits, however much drilling (much to my wife’s delight as she had a really bad headache) and a great deal of chiselling later I completed cutting out the brickwork so that I can fit the light switch cables into conduit and then bury it in the wall.
There was one minor mishap towards the top of the wall, where I have nearly knocked the bricks right out, so before fixing the conduit and burying the cable I need to make sure I've knocked the bricks back through from the other side of the wall.
But altogether I think it was reasonably successful, however I either need to invest in an angle grinder to cut through the bricks, prior to chiselling the waste out, or invest in a drill bit sharpener, otherwise this is going to take years to complete.
This is the result of my slight overeagerness in creating the chase for the light switch cables in the wall, yes somehow I managed to push one of the bricks near the top of the wall, through to the other side, so before I go and fix the conduit in the channel I have cut in the wall, I need to make sure I've pushed this brick back flush with the wall and preferably cemented it in place so it doesn't move again.
Does mean another wall that's going to need plastering as well, at the bottom of the wall the plaster is all cracked from chiselling out the wall so that I can bury the back box for the socket. ahhh well....
This is for the double socket in the room, the only one as it happens luckily. I haven't done the wiring that was done about 10 years ago when the whole house was re-wired, but to save time and money it was all surface mounted, and as I think I've already said we want the finish to look as good as possible so hence the desire to bury the cables and have the sockets and light switches etc. flush mounted with the wall.
Don't worry I had isolated the supply that this socket uses before doing this work so no chance of me or anyone else getting a shock from it.
