How to grind the wall for wiring. Tips on how to groove walls for dust-free wiring. Grinder, angle grinder

During repairs or during the construction of a new building, communications have to be laid or their location changed. Electrical wiring can be run along the walls from the outside, but this method is rarely used. Unmasked wires spoil general form interior, and besides, they are very easy to hook or pass. Needless to say, damaged wiring is not only unusable, but also creates a risk of fire.

That is why communications are often tried to be hidden in the thickness of the walls, where they will not interfere and remain intact. To mask the wiring, the wall has to be grooved. And although this process is not so quick and easy, you can do the work yourself.

Strobing: basic methods, pros and cons

A wall chaser is a tool specially designed for chipping walls

The way the walls are channeled directly depends on the tool that will be used in the work. Let's take a closer look at what devices can be used to make grooves in the thickness of the walls:

The perforator is used for wall chasing quite often. It allows you to get the job done quickly, but the furrows are uneven when using such a tool. The hammer drill also breaks off excess concrete or brick, so more mortar and time will have to be spent to seal the groove. In addition, the instrument is noisy and requires an electrical connection. However, when using such a device, relatively little dust is generated, and the process itself does not take so much time.
You can also make grooves in the walls with a grinder. It is good in that it allows you to cut straight grooves exactly in those places that were previously marked on the surface. Between these edge lines, you will need to make a furrow for the wires, which means that you will have to use other tools along with the grinder, for example, a chisel or the same puncher. The minus of the grinder is also that diamond saws are needed for chipping, which cost a lot of money. But the final result will be quite accurate.
A wall chaser is a device designed specifically for making strobes in walls. The tool is equipped with two saws, which, during use, make two even parallel grooves in the wall. The wall chaser works quickly and accurately, but it is quite expensive. However, if you need such a device for a short time, you can rent it and save money.
Chisel with a hammer - tools for making strobes by hand. This method has a lot of disadvantages. First, working with a chisel and hammer is long, difficult and physically difficult. Secondly, the quality of the result does not always meet expectations, since it is not easy to make a straight line by hand. Among the advantages of this method are availability and low cost. Manual chipping with a hammer and chisel is advisable when you need to make a small furrow in the wall.
In some cases, the walls are channeled with an impact drill. This method is not very simple and time consuming, therefore it is rarely used. To make a groove with an impact drill, holes are first drilled in the wall, equidistant from each other, after which they work with a drill like a hammer, knocking out a groove in the concrete along the designated recesses.

Nuances before starting work

It is advisable to lay strobes in the wall only in a vertical or horizontal position.

When starting to chisel walls for electrical wiring, you need to take into account some rules and recommendations:

A groove in the wall is laid only in a horizontal or vertical direction, without making oblique grooves.
It is desirable that the strobe between two points has no more than 1 turn. A large number of kinks increases the risk of heating electric cable, and this can lead to its damage and fire in the wall.
The dimensions of the furrows are within acceptable limits. Their width cannot exceed 30 mm, their depth should be no more than 25 mm, and maximum length is 3 m.
When laying grooves, you need to retreat at least 40 cm from the heating batteries and gas pipes. It is advisable to lay the furrow at a distance of 10 cm from the ceiling, floor and doorways.
In panel buildings, it is impossible to lay wiring in reinforced concrete partitions - this is fraught with a decrease in the strength of the structure and the appearance of cracks. If there is no other way out and you have to gouge reinforced concrete, the depth of the grooves should be minimal, and the reinforcing mesh should maintain its integrity.

Tip: in panel houses it is impossible to lay communications in the floor slabs, but if it becomes necessary to mount wires in the floor, it is better to make an additional screed there and foresee in advance the grooves for electrical wiring.

Let's consider some more subtleties of the process:

When chipping interior partitions the furrow should preferably be carried out as close as possible to the level of the floor or ceiling - this will help reduce the load on the wall.
For making recesses in concrete or brick structures, it is better not to use a low power grinder. Such a tool will not allow you to achieve the desired result, but it can quickly become unusable..
Before starting the chasing, it is imperative to check whether previously laid electrical wires remain in the walls. Unless you plan to change the wiring completely, old wires should not be touched with a working tool..
Do not use a stepladder when laying a strobe under the ceiling. Working with a heavy tool on such an unstable structure is inconvenient and dangerous.
Do not start chipping without first checking the serviceability of the tool and all its parts.

During overhaul or redevelopment before us, the question of laying wiring, pipes, laying cables, moving switches and sockets necessarily arises. All these works are connected with wall chasing. Let's try to find out what kind of work it is, what it is for and what kind of tool is needed to cut the walls.

So, gouging is the gouging of grooves in the walls and ceiling for laying electrical wiring, piping systems. To lay and hide electrical, antenna or telephone wires and cables, we also use stripping.
When we install the air conditioner, the wall must also be grooved.

If you need to hide the already existing wiring, we make a channel (strobe) in the thickness of the plaster or concrete, put the wires or cable there and putty.
We chalk walls when you need to mount internal models electrical outlets or switches.

Such models are built into the wall, so you need to hollow out a round hole corresponding to the size of the switch or socket.

Tool selection depending on the wall

We perform slitting using special tools, the choice of which depends on the material of the wall in which you want to make the channel. For this, a grinder, a perforator, a wall chaser, a chisel and a hammer are used. We can carry out strobes on concrete partitions with a grinder, a perforator, and a chasing cutter.

A panel wall is treated in the same way as a concrete one. But you can't do a diagonal groove. The maximum channel depth should not reach the reinforcing cage in order not to damage the structure. If the depth of the channel reaches the reinforcement, then it is better to make an additional layer of plaster or level the surface with drywall. IN brick wall we make the grooves using a chasing cutter.

Bulgarian

This is a hand-held angle grinder, which is used for slitting hard concrete walls where many long wire grooves need to be punch. We install a special disc for concrete work on it, for example, a diamond disc.

The thickness of such a disc is usually sufficient to obtain the desired strobe size.
If the channel width should be larger, then we make two channels in parallel at a distance of at least 5 mm, and then gouge the gap with a puncher.

It is impossible to expand the strobe by moving the grinder disc perpendicular to its plane: the machine is not designed for this, and this is very dangerous.

When making grooves, we use heavy tools, the power of which exceeds 500 watts, and high-quality concrete discs. When working with such a tool, do not forget about safety rules. We work carefully, we hold the car firmly in our hands.

You also cannot drop the instrument. Although it will turn off, the rotation of the disk will not stop immediately, and the floor surface or even the legs may be damaged. We tighten the disc fastening nut so that the cutter does not fly out during operation. This also happens, and it is extremely dangerous. Slitting with a grinder - perfect option... The only drawback of this tool is a lot of dust.

Puncher

We use this tool if you need to make grooves in concrete. Working with a puncher, we insert a "shovel" into it. This is a nozzle, the shape of which allows you to gouge a narrow and elongated fossa, corresponding to the shape of the groove.

Do not forget that when making a direct cut, the scapula cannot be placed across the basting, since pieces of wall material may chip off. If you need to make a recess for the socket, we use, in addition to the "shovel", the "bayonet" nozzle. We outline a hole with a bayonet, and make it wider with a spatula.

Carrying out wall chasing with a puncher, we can use another method. Insert a drill with a diameter of 6 to 10 mm into the hammer drill and set the hammer drill mode. We drill holes along the channel at a distance of 10 mm, then insert the spatula, set the bump stop mode and gouge the gaps between the holes. We do the same when making seats for sockets or switches.

To get a hole of the required depth, we wind electrical tape on the drill (at the required distance from the tip of the drill), which will mark the required depth.
It must be said that the channels pierced by the perforator can be uneven, and they will have to be processed additionally.

To make wall chasing with a puncher quickly and easily, you need special skills, so using this tool, you need to be careful and careful. The hammer drill makes a lot of noise during operation.

Wall chaser

This tool is designed specifically for chipping any walls and is considered the best tool for punching grooves. Using a wall chaser, we make recesses for electrical wiring, for water supply or heating systems. It works on the same principle as the grinder, but differs from it.

The chaser has not one, but several diamond discs, the distance between which can be adjusted. It is also possible to adjust the depth of the groove. The tool is equipped with a dust collector that directs waste to the vacuum cleaner or takes it to the side.

Starting to make channels and holes, be sure to check the thickness of the walls. If the wall is thin, we take into account the loads and make grooves closer to the ceiling or to the floor, so that there are few of them on the wall itself. If the wall thickness is more than 10 cm, we cut the grooves at the shortest distance, saving time and effort. In addition, do not forget to check if there is electrical wiring on this site.

Chisel and hammer

The cheapest, but also the most time consuming option. These hand tools we use if you need to make short channels in plastered walls. It is impractical to hammer concrete or brick by hand.

If you still have to hammer the wall with a hammer and chisel, then we do simple rules:

first we make a recess along the outlined edges;
we make a cut across the future recess, and then with a hammer we punch the desired groove by 5-10 mm;
we go deeper to the same depth, and in the end we get the desired channel.

Knowing about the peculiarities of using tools for chasing, you can choose the right device and do all the work yourself.

It is difficult to imagine modern renovation without carrying out or replacing engineering systems. Aesthetically beautiful, and practically convenient if the pipes do not occupy free space kitchen or bathroom, and the wires do not get in the way and do not catch your eye. To mask pipes and wiring, strobes are used - special recesses in the wall, closed by the selected decorative trim... How to properly gouge walls, I will tell you in this article.

Wall chipping rules

The very process of chipping the walls is not difficult, it is difficult to break the technology. However, there are general rules wall chasing, as well as private, concerning a specific place of repair and the purpose of chasing. Compliance with these principles has two goals: operator safety and structural stability in the future. During work, use protective equipment: goggles on the eyes will save you from small debris and chips, and the respirator will not let you breathe in dust, which forms a lot during the chasing process. Before starting work, draw a plan for laying pipes and wiring, distribute furrows in accordance with regulations and rules for wall chasing. I recommend saving the resulting plan, it will come in handy for the next repair. If the apartment is not being repaired for the first time, compare the plan with the old wiring using the previous circuit or a detection device. Remember to disconnect the old wiring and shut off the pipes to protect yourself during operation.

How to gouge walls

Depending on the purpose of chasing, select the depth and width of the furrow. Slit walls for electrical wiring with lines parallel to the main structures of the building (horizontal and vertical). Chamfering at an angle is only allowed in attic rooms. Place horizontal grooves close to the ceiling or floor, vertical grooves directly below or above the outlet. The length of the groove does not exceed 3 m, the depth for the electric cable is 25 mm. Turning the cable 90 degrees is permissible 1 time on the way from the junction box to the outlet, not counting the corners of the structure.

Do not neglect transferring the slit path from the plan to the wall with a pencil, this will make the work easier. After finishing laying the cable, carefully mask the strobe with a cement-sand mixture or plaster. Changing walls for pipes differs in the parameters of the groove. In addition, often this type of work is forced to perform on a load-bearing wall. To avoid weakening the strength of the structure, it is important to follow the rules for chasing on such walls:

The depth of the groove is no more than 1/3 of the width of the wall or no deeper than the reinforcement;
Finishing the furrow after pipe installation with particular care, avoid voids.

Wall chipping methods

The methods of wall chasing depend on the selected tool for this type of work.

Chisel and hammer. Long and physical not an easy way. Of the advantages of the method - there is no need to buy a power tool if it is not available. Of the minuses - the cost of time and effort, in addition - it is impossible to get an even furrow, the material crumbles under impact.
Drill and chisel. A method similar to the previous one, only the task is simplified with a drill. Drill holes of equal depth along the path of the groove at a distance of 1-1.5 cm from each other. Use a chisel to knock out the remaining gaps.

... The speed of work with a grinder will increase several times. The cut is smooth, not crumbling. But this method also has disadvantages. Grinding walls with a grinder is a rather dusty and noisy job. Each furrow will have to be traversed 2 times: first, one side of the groove, then the other. And the main disadvantage is that there is no way to control the furrow depth, it all depends on the operator's feelings. To use the grinder, install the diamond blade on the tool.

Many of you spent your childhood with your grandmother in the village. In almost every collective farm house, electrical wiring was laid overhead: using insulators, at some distance from the wall. The wire was used of high quality, with cloth insulation: it's not scary to touch.

This method is still used today: in wooden houses and baths, and just like that, "in retro style."

However, from the point of view of rationality, the laying method is not the most reliable. First, there is the possibility of damage to the wiring with any sharp object. And if there are small children or pets with strong teeth in the house, wires become a source of danger. Second, the aesthetics are controversial to say the least.

In wooden houses, the problem is solved quite simply: there are special installation boxes for wiring. Different colors, sizes, with fire protection. But what about houses with concrete (brick, plaster and other) walls?

Cable routing in grooves

Regardless of the way the walls are finished (drywall, plaster, curly wallpaper ...), the cable containing life-threatening voltage should be hidden in the main wall. When building standard panel houses, the electricians did not have a headache at all about the wiring. Recesses were arranged in the walls in advance: lay the cable, grab it with alabaster, and you can plaster.

But what about the construction of a new house? It is possible to design in advance the routes of cable laying, and even to be built into brickwork cable channels. This is a progressive way to ensure the strength and safety of electrical wiring.

But in reality, the cable is laid after the end of construction, before fine finish walls (and often after). The situation is the same if you bought new furniture and the cabinet has traditionally covered the outlet.

Another reason to shift the wires: repairing the apartment. In older houses, the wall power cables have an aluminum conductor. Not that this is completely bad, but given the old age of the wires and the new requirements of the PUE (rules for electrical installations), it is better to lay other wires, with strong insulation and a copper conductor. And the standard arrangement of the switch-sockets, to put it mildly, is far from perfect.

The purchase of powerful electrical appliances, such as a boiler, air conditioner, electric stove, requires a power line to be connected.

So, chipping walls for wiring with your own hands - how realistic is it?

Important! Laying the cable to the depth of the plaster is unacceptable. Requirements for fire safety (in the event of a wiring fire, they can "do" paper wallpaper), and the likelihood of external damage increases. Just inside the wall.

Correct laying of wiring in the grooves

Safety notes:

If desired, you can lay the cable in a corrugation. This will make it possible to replace the wiring without opening the wall.

Wall chipping methods

Homemade grinder dust collector

Of course, there are ready-made tools on sale that turn your grinder into an effective wall chaser. But the cost of such nozzles is close to the price of the angle grinder itself.

Again, the decision is made based on the amount of work to be done.

However, there is no reason to be upset. A homemade dust collector can literally be made from construction waste.

A few scraps of laminate, a piece of plastic sewer pipe, and a household vacuum cleaner (preferably a cyclone).

You can even adapt the wheels, the scope for creativity is not limited. In addition to the main purpose, the nozzle (even a homemade one) increases the safety of work. Modern cutting discs no longer scatter to the sides, as it was before. And they do not break often. But stones flying out from under the grinder can injure the operator.

In the presence of a dust collector, chasing will be comfortable and safe.

Cable laying and installation of junction boxes (sockets, switches)

We figured out how to properly line the walls for wiring: of course, everything starts with the correct markings.

Tip: when marking the places where the boxes will be installed, try to move the lines as far as possible. After chasing, all your hole center markings will disappear.

Now let's look at how to properly lay the cable.

After the formation of the groove, it is cleaned with a vacuum cleaner. Then, with a gloved hand, or by applying a thin strip, the uniformity of the depth and the absence of protruding parts in the groove cavity are checked. This is important: if the wire protrudes above the wall, security will be violated in this place.

It makes no sense to install boxes in advance if you have to finishing walls (the thickness will change). Therefore, at first the wires are laid, but before entering the niches for the boxes, 10-15 cm of the cable free play remains, without putty. Leave 15–20 cm of wire for installation. You cannot save, if something goes wrong, you will have to re-install.

The wire itself can be fixed traditionally, using asbestos (gypsum), or secured with special clips inside the groove.

Then putty is made to the level of the wall. At the same time, free movement of the cable in front of the installation site of the boxes is maintained.

Tip: before laying the cable, mark the ends (where you came from, where to connect), especially if several wires are put into the box. When laying several cables in one strobe, they are laid in parallel, and not on top of each other. It is not allowed to twist one wire around another.

Before the final sealing of the strobe, draw a laying scheme, with accurate measurements in relation to the corners.

This will avoid problems when drilling walls later.

Important! All work related to supplying voltage to the cables is carried out only after the putty (plaster) has completely dried. Before applying the finishing coat, also wait until the putty in the strobes is completely dry.

Strobing rules

It is possible to slash walls for wiring only at right angles and nothing else

Installation of wiring in a strobe is a closed way of laying a wire. After laying the wire, as a rule, there is a space that is sealed, flush with the wall plaster mix, for further finishing with finishing materials. Subsequently, when the repair is already over, and a couple of years have passed, it will be difficult for you to determine with accuracy where exactly the wires pass. If you evaluate this situation from an aesthetic point of view, it is really good when you don't see any wires, but only smooth walls. On the practical side, in the future, when, for example, you have to drill a hole in the wall, you will need to remember that somewhere in the thickness of the wall there are hidden wires and a strobe passes. Modern life does not stand still, now in every hardware store you can buy a wiring detector, which will show exactly where the wires lie. The wiring was laid by professionals from the Mania Repair company, always goes in predictable places, and is laid in compliance with all the rules and regulations, which we will talk about below.

All grooves are made straight horizontally and vertically, if your room has beveled walls, then in this case the grooves are made parallel to the slope.
From all kinds of networks, such as pipes through which water flows or gas passes, the grooves should be at a distance of at least 45 cm.
When the strobe is installed under the ceiling, at least 25 cm recede downward. If during operation it is necessary to draw another branch, it is also lowered to the same distance.
At least 15 cm recede from the corners - openings, doors and windows.
The dimensions of the groove depend directly on the thickness and the number of cables that must pass through it, usually in the standard version, a groove of 25 * 25 mm is enough, provided that the wire will pass without a corrugated pipe. If the project provides for the presence of a corrugated pipe or cable channel, the groove must be deepened and widened to the required size.
In reinforced concrete walls at a depth of 4-5 cm, there is a mesh made of metal reinforcing wire, it is not recommended to break its integrity. With a standard groove depth of 25mm, it is almost impossible to reach it.
If the wall is leveled, during the repair process it will be covered with a layer of plaster - of sufficient thickness. The wires can be laid in a corrugated pipe in the thickness of the plaster. It will take much less time than making a strobe.
At switches and sockets, the depth of the groove is increased - this is done so that the wire goes into the socket box without any problems, which is mounted in drilled hole walls, for fixing switches and sockets in it. Even so, one cannot violate metal mesh from the reinforcement in the wall.

Tools used for chipping walls

There is one old proven method that does not require electricity, but it is very long and laborious - a chisel and a hammer. Due to the blows applied with a hammer to the chisel, it drives it into the wall, thereby picking out its upper layer. This procedure is repeated until the strobe satisfies the required requests. To facilitate the work, use a power tool.

The most suitable tool for chasing walls is called a chasing cutter. It is equipped with two cutting discs, by adjusting which you can set the parameters of the future cutting. In one pass, this tool cuts two parallel lines, between them there is a middle of the material from which the wall is made. The middle, in turn, is easy to remove with a hammer drill and a chisel (special nozzle). There are several advantages to working with a wall chaser - an even shaft, the ability to connect construction vacuum cleaner to remove dust.
In the second place of the tools is the grinder, it, unlike the wall chaser, is equipped with one disc, so it makes only one cut in one pass, which is not very convenient. In addition, it is quite dangerous to work with it, if the tool falls off, this can lead to serious injury.
The perforator closes the top three - its use is justified only together with a grinder or a wall chaser. Using a hammer drill as the main tool for making grooves in the wall is ineffective, the groove turns out to be a curve, and it is very difficult to adjust the depth.

Slitting walls made of brick and concrete

If we are talking about laying wiring in a new room that has not yet been in operation, most likely the walls will be covered with a layer of plaster. The minimum layer thickness fluctuates in the region of 3-4 cm, this is quite enough to lay electrical wiring without stripping, and cover it with a layer of plaster on top.

If for some reason this method is not suitable, markings are transferred to the wall according to the diagram where the strobe will pass and the switches with sockets will be mounted. Further, the entire room in which the work is performed is de-energized, to prevent accidents, and work is performed according to the applied markings. Depending on the tool used, 2 parallel grooves are cut, the dimensions are selected depending on the wire thickness and quantity. The core between the two grooves was punched out with a hammer drill.

These procedures are identical for walls made of hard materials such as brick, concrete, and various modern building blocks.

Stroba in a wooden wall

In principle, all of the above tools are suitable for this work, except for a hammer drill, it is better to use a chisel and a hammer for its place. The theory is the same as when working with concrete - two parallel cuts are made, the core is removed with a chisel. There are two more tools to help you work with wood:

Circular saw - with good working skills with this tool, all work can be done only with it. The work is done in several passes, with each new repetition the cut gradually expands to the desired size.
Milling machine - for laying neat strobes, use manual frezer... A flat bar is fixed on the wall, according to the markings, along it, like a guide, they are guided with an electric tool, gradually expanding and deepening to the strobe.

It is possible or impossible to gouge load-bearing walls

Bearing walls can be channeled, if necessary. Only the depth of the groove is limited to the thickness of the reinforcement cage, which is located in the concrete load-bearing wall. If a bearing wall made of brick, then there are no restrictions on depth in reasonable aisles.

In theory, before starting work, a project is being developed, which takes into account all the walls, their location, whether they are load-bearing, and the possibility of laying a groove in them. Further, the project is approved by the relevant authorities, and only after that work begins.

Safety precautions when chipping walls and work order

Wiring work is carried out according to certain rules, which are written above in this article. First, a plan is drawn, it can be drawn both on a regular piece of paper and in special drawing programs. When developing it, all the subtleties and the location of future sockets and switches are carefully thought out.

Then the plan is transferred to the wall, dots mark the places where switches, junction boxes, sockets and chandeliers will be located in the future. Then all the points on the wall are connected into a single system of lines, along which the strobe is laid.

If gating takes place in an old room that was in use, the places through which the wiring will pass are examined using a special detector that is able to determine if there are any previously laid routes in these places. Only after completing this procedure can you begin to work on wall chasing.
The hole for the installation of switches and sockets is best done with a special drill bit called a crown. Crowns come in different diameters, so before starting work, you need to choose the size that suits you.
Changing the walls of the procedure is not only dirty but also very noisy, all work must be performed strictly within the allotted hours, intended for noisy work.
If the walls are channeled in one room, and not in the whole apartment, then it is better to hang the doorway with a wet cloth before starting work, so it will be possible to avoid the spread of dust and dirt throughout all rooms. All work must be carried out strictly in a respirator, goggles in front of the eyes and gloves on the hands. In the process of work, a lot of various particles, and small fragments from the walls fly in unpredictable directions, so you should not neglect your own protective measures.
The wiring diagram that we talked about earlier should be saved at least until the next repair. If you have to drill or drill something, after checking the plan, you will clearly know whether you can do work in this place or not.

How to grind the wall for wiring. Tips on how to groove walls for dust-free wiring. Grinder, angle grinder

Strobing: basic methods, pros and cons

Nuances before starting work