Fixing cable to Masonry walls when masonry nails just bend

[Numb-nuts 1]

I encountered the brick wall from hell today, barely five cable clips would fix to the mortar joints

and the rest just flew off or bent. My fingers are very sore too and my snipe nose pliers are bent to hell.

 

Anyone got any ideas about how to fix cable in this situation? I have a twinax shotgun cable and a RG6

to run together. Plug in cable tie holders are too far off the surface too be neat and they bunch the cables.

I tried screwing into wall plugs but the cable clips are too small to make drilling out an option.

 

I was thinking of using general purpose metal banding to hold the cables, forming it with pliers

and nail in anchors to fix it down with, this is very time consuming and probably will look poor,

anyone got a better solution I'd be grateful

Edited October 6, 2012 by Guest

[Kawboy12R 0]

Stainless and rubber wire hangers. You find them at hardware stores and truck parts places. Hang them with a Ramset gun. (.22 cartridges used to blast concrete nails)

[sinbad 0]

you guys don't have EMT conduit there?

Back in NY I used to work alot with brick walls and never had issues drilling the brick itself and using tapcons to attach pipe to wall every 10 feet.

[Numb-nuts 1]

you guys don't have EMT conduit there?

Back in NY I used to work alot with brick walls and never had issues drilling the brick itself and using tapcons to attach pipe to wall every 10 feet.

 

I used to live in New York in Far Rockaway and then in Lawrence Nassau CO there are a lot of brick built houses there too.

The bricks and mortar here in the UK are different. The bricks are far more dense and hard, and the mortar is a different mix to what is used in the US. Running cables down the wall we usualy use cable clips fixed with masonry nails into the vertical mortar joints or horizontally at the mortar joints junction. Unfortunately, if the mortar is very strong in cement the joints can get very hard indeed over time. i.e. the older the building, the harder the mortar usually is. With yesterday's job, I used a pack of 50 cable grips and only about 5 held, that is far too high a failure rate to be acceptable. All the ones I found on the ground afterwards the nails were bet or blunted.

 

I found a solution the customer was delighted. I found some builder;s banding at Toolstation continuous strip of semi flexible mertal strip with a series of holes in it. I did a trial on the ground with pieces of cable, for my purpose I needed to cut off pieces of five holes and formed them into cable grips then drilled the mortar joints plugged and screwwed the cable to the wall. The customer was delighted.

 

Metal banding available at Toolsation and Screwfix in 10m rolls in a roll box for easy handling.

 

The picture shows the galvanised one I bought the plastic coated black

 

[vector18 1]

Do you know what a hammer drill is?

[Numb-nuts 1]

Do you know what a hammer drill is?

 

Not sure, but I know a sarcastic question when I hear one. Is this what you mean?

Never found a use for them myself.

 

 

Normally it's not an issue masonry nails go in no problem , but sometimes the mortar is too hard.

This mortar the hardest I ever experienced. But next time I encounter this problem, I'll be ready

and not waste almost an entire day trying to find a solution.The result was pretty good

 

My cordless Makita has a hammer drill action, but most of us big boys have moved over to SDS and SDS+ (if you are a really big boy)

The only disadvantage is they tend to burst out brick faces so extra caution is needed when drilling out from inside the property. I usually drill a small diameter location hole with my dad's Black & Decker corded hammer drill then drill inwards with the SDS and a larger diameter drill bit

 

The job I was doing was replacing the coax of a client's satellite dish and terrestrial TV antenna.

I prefer to run CCTV cables in conduit but since the issue is broadly speaking using some of the

same skills I thought I'd ask for any solutions. As usual, I had to find my own and fast..

[Numb-nuts 1]

Stainless and rubber wire hangers. You find them at hardware stores and truck parts places. Hang them with a Ramset gun. (.22 cartridges used to blast concrete nails)

 

Thanks for the suggestion, don't think I hadn't considered hiring a cartridge nailer,

frankly it's a bit extreme and there is the risk of injury and damage to the property

and the cost of renting a cartridge gun. I deiced against this early on.

 

Cartridge nailers have astounding power, almost frightening. I was scared of my skill-saw

for years and still am, but a little respect for a dangerous tool can't be a bad thing can it?

 

[vector18 1]

Sarcastic??? Me???

[Kawboy12R 0]

Hire? I bought a new one for under $40. Not a deluxe model but it works fine. Haven't blown myself up yet. Just have to remember to wear earplugs indoors. They are quite impressively loud inside a closet.

[Numb-nuts 1]

Sarcastic??? Me???

[Numb-nuts 1]

Hire? I bought a new one for under $40. Not a deluxe model but it works fine. Haven't blown myself up yet. Just have to remember to wear earplugs indoors. They are quite impressively loud inside a closet.

 

 

I am living in the UK no bargains here to speak of. I really don't need one, I simply considered one

as an option, but now I am prepared should I ever meet the same problem, then I'll know the solution.

 

Even if I could but a gun for $40 I don't think I would, I just don't feel the need.

[Neutech 0]

You can buy little plugs that go into 5mm hole, theyre designed to be used for nailing into so work well with clips B&Q even sell them as far as i remember.

[Numb-nuts 1]

You can buy little plugs that go into 5mm hole, theyre designed to be used for nailing into so work well with clips B&Q even sell them as far as i remember.

 

Yes I have heard of those but I couldn't find any in the UK I will try B7Q next time I'm there but work is scarce at the moment.

The closest I found are these at Screwfix but frankly I am not sure it's worth the extra cost or effort. My method is just as good and I can use the metal strip for so many other things too. Thanks for the tip though.

[GrouchoBoucho 0]

 

[Numb-nuts 1]

You can buy little plugs that go into 5mm hole, theyre designed to be used for nailing into so work well with clips B&Q even sell them as far as i remember.

 

Yes I have heard of those but I couldn't find any in the UK I will try B7Q next time I'm there but work is scarce at the moment.

The closest I found are these at Screwfix but frankly I am not sure it's worth the extra cost or effort. My method is just as good and I can use the metal strip for so many other things too. Thanks for the tip though.

[cctvmann 0]

You can buy little plugs that go into 5mm hole, theyre designed to be used for nailing into so work well with clips B&Q even sell them as far as i remember.

 

Yes I have heard of those but I couldn't find any in the UK I will try B7Q next time I'm there but work is scarce at the moment.

The closest I found are these at Screwfix but frankly I am not sure it's worth the extra cost or effort. My method is just as good and I can use the metal strip for so many other things too. Thanks for the tip though.

another option is brown trunking ???

[Numb-nuts 1]

 

 

 

What aren't you talking to me or something? these were discussed earlier on in this thread but they are fine for a single cable laying 3 cables alongside one another they bunch and look like a huge pipe running up the masonry.

 

Thanks for the picture postcard though

[richavezy 0]

B7Q would be good, I've tried it once.

 

NEWBIE.....