Hi Ultimate Handyman,

I want to bury some speaker & HDMI cables in the wall behind the telly. It's in a chimney breast alcove in a fairly typical Victorian semi.

At the moment, there's a power socket at the bottom of the chimney breast, which I'm having moved to the alcove wall. I was thinking I would use the hole that leaves for the backbox and speaker connection faceplate.

So I'm left with needing to cut a channel up the wall into the loft above. I'm going to have to cut behind a picture rail, and the customary Victorian mouldings on the ceiling. I'm thinking I'll put a piece of conduit in the channel, and then plaster over it, so the channel is probably going to be an inch or two wide. If I can do this in the (working) chimney breast, then I don't have to plaster quite so much, and if my plastering (or handywork) isn't top-notch, it won't show quite so much.

My question is: What are the best/proper tools (and method) for the job? I'm fairly 'handy' but have never done this before, but I've seen it done with an angle grinder (and then chisel out the remainder), although I'm told I should use a router. I'm also looking for any tips you might have for getting in behind the picture rail and mouldings (I'm guessing it's a matter of hacking out a space with a drill?).

Your sage advice would be much appreciated!

Hi,

Unless you are going to remove everything from the room and also totally sheet up then i would opt for a hammer and 2inch bolster plus a cold chisel alternatively you could hire a wall chaser but be prepared to be cleaning up dust for about a week

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Good point - I forgot to mention the entire flat will be empty for a while, so using power tools is not an issue - however, my abilities might be - I'm sure I can work a chisel, but I'm expecting to make more of a mess than I should.

There's a hire shop up the road, so I'll enquire about a wall chaser. I've never used one before, so I'll have to learn fast ;-)

Hi,
It's basically an angle grinder with 2 blades spaced about 50mm apart and you run it up the wall like an angle grinder and cut out between the 2 cuts

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the wall chaser is pretty easy to use, just make sure that there are no wires in the wall where you are planning to cut!
as a tip - nail a length of old timber (baton/skirting/whatever) next to where your cutting and use this as to guide the chaser against as it can be difficult to cut a nice straight line unassissted - if you go off course slightly just go back a bit and carry on. hard to explain but you'll see.
when it comes to breaking the channel out, if the have a thin wide bolster: place into the cut and lever the bolster towards the center of the channel so you dont damage the plaster either side of the cut, then use a normal bolster to tidy the channel up.

Everyone does it a bit differently, the chaser I have came with a thin wide bolster to break the middle channel away after using the wall chaser, then cut the remaining ridge out with a regular bolster.



To get behind the picture rail use a drill to cut behind it and then carefully work the plaster and brick/block/mud/ice(if you live in an igloo) free to enable you to pass the conduit behind, same goes for the moulding if its expensive. If its just cheap you can cut through it carfully and repair it later using filler and a lick of white paint.

This will leave you with a tidy cut up the wall which will be a doddle to repair using even some one coat plaster.

NB - these are from my own diy experiences, and not necessarily correct in the eyes of trained or seasoned professionals.

You will be amazed at the amount of dust you'll create using an angle grinder. Cover yourself in a plastic bag otherwise you neither be able to see what you're doing nor be able to breath.

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this is very true, I sealed off the living room when doing my pipes and the whole house still got covered in dust ... and we're talking a LOT of dust.

I took a 600mm natural stone wall down at home.

Sealed everything with plastic sheets, all the doors the works.

Finished about 10pm, had a shower and there's 5mm of black dust all over the bed

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Er, not the plastic bag over your head though mind

Grinder of chaser are the easiest options, a wall chasser will be a lot less messy than a grinder, providing to attach it to a dust extractor/hoover....
The discs are enclosed so much easier to remove the dust. You will still get some in the air, but tapeing the door should keep it confined to the one room.

If the place is empty though, sounds like it wont be much of a problem.

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