I need a break

["Paul Bendall" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am shattered!

Since Friday night I have been working on linking my integrated=20
garage with the loft space so I can run cabling across the loft space=20
and then drop down to Node0. The house is fairly modern so I had a=20
small void between the plasterboard and thermablock.

I started on Friday by creating a hole in the daughters=20
wardrobe "floorboards" which are sheets of plywood. All went well
and=20
managed to miss the water pipes and gas supply pipes (why are=20
plumbers so lazy and notch the joists just below the floor level?)=20
Also made a small hole in the plasterboard in the wall above the=20
skirting. Then drilled through the plasterboard between the skiring=20
board and the void in the floor.

Moved up to the loft space with my torch and clambered across the=20
joists to where I had measured I would need to start drilling. I had=20
my trusty Bosch Green SDS drill and a 400mm x 8mm bit. Started=20
attacking the "dabbing" that held the plasterboard below to the
wall=20
and created the void space. Not easy but patients prevailed. Also=20
uncomfortable as the loft wasn't boarded in this area so had to be=20
careful of feet positioning and bent around a roof trestle. Once=20
through with a large enough hole to fit two 35mm PVC conduits I then=20
pushed the first conduit down and it went fairly easily. However, the=20
second one would not go more than a foot, so back to the drill. This=20
went on for an hour!

Finally, after bending a couple of conduits out of shape in=20
frustration (ok more like temper) I managed to get the conduit down=20
three of four feet before it stuck once more and would make no more=20
progress. With the torch out of juice and my mood dark I called it a=20
night.

Saturday morning and I returned to the task and concluded I was going=20
to have to remove more plasterboard to attack the probable blockage=20
from below and also realised the conduit I had wasn't long enough to=20
go the full height of the room anyway. So with Stanley in hand I used=20
a screwed piece of wood to score a nice straight line and remove a=20
piece of plasterboard about 4 feet long. Fighting with the dabs of=20
adhesive I removed the drywall and then used the SDS chisel=20
attachment to remove the remaining adhesive. I then added a bit more=20
conduit to my first run and attached it with some hardened steel pins=20
which were designed to be hammered into masonry. Then it was back to=20
opening the hole up for the second conduit. It seemed to take ages, a=20
good hour or so from below and then above in the loft. But=20
perseverance paid off and finally I could push down the second length=20
of conduit and fix it in place.

It was then down to the integrated garage to drill a series of holes=20
into the ceiling to break into the room above and meet up with the=20
existing work. That was easy as the ceiling was just two pieces of=20
plasterboard. Then I used a 47mm surface mount single back box to=20
provide a junction to the existing cabling and the uplink to the loft=20
space. For now I only really need one cable but I have doubled up to=20
two. In the future I may also need to run Cat5E cable for hardwiring=20
computers. Plus I also have the option of running a dedicated power=20
supply from CU to the loft. So although I am using =BC of just one=20
conduit I have the option of sending up another 14 cables if required=20
with no additional work.

Now for the easy bit running the cable from garage to loft. My HA=20
system is from IdraTEK and I have used shielded and stranded Cat5E=20
cable for the wiring. A few months ago I purchased some electrician=20
rods from TLC-Direct and this makes it very easy to run cable. From=20
the loft I dropped down four sections of the rods and then used the=20
cable grabber attachment (it is a wire mesh like a Chinese Finger=20
Puzzle so when you pull cable it grips tighter the harder it is=20
pulled whilst pushing the mesh opens it up so you can feed the cable=20
in and out.)

With the cable runs completed it was a case of making good with a=20
sheet 0f 9.5mm plasterboard and 18mm plyboard from the local Wickes.=20
All that remains is to skim plaster over the plasterboard and paint.

So a lot of effort for something that will hopefully never be seen.=20
But it is worthwhile as I can easily add more cables if the need=20
arises. Plus dropping from the loft space is going to make for a fast=20
and relatively easy deployment of HA to the upstairs rooms.

But I am now shattered! Who said HA was supposed to make life easier?

Paul