My early victorian building has a nice stone facade covering what
looks like a messy mix of mortar and rubble.

I want to fit a combi boiler and need to drill a 10cm hole for the flu
pipe. How can I neatly cut such a hole through this type of wall ?

My neighbours did this recently but it seemed that the builder took
three days and from the appearance and size of the resultant hole he
must have done it with a pick axe! I would like to be somewhat
tidier.

Jo wrote:

My early victorian building has a nice stone facade covering what
looks like a messy mix of mortar and rubble.

I want to fit a combi boiler and need to drill a 10cm hole for the flu
pipe. How can I neatly cut such a hole through this type of wall ?

My neighbours did this recently but it seemed that the builder took
three days and from the appearance and size of the resultant hole he
must have done it with a pick axe! I would like to be somewhat
tidier.

With a diamond core drill. I beleive you can hire these. Otherwise you'd
need around 350+ for the gear.

Maker a pilot hole in to out and then core the hole out to in. You'll
want a 107mm drill.

--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 21:11:40 +0100, Ed Sirett
wrote:

Maker a pilot hole in to out and then core the hole out to in. You'll
want a 107mm drill.

Something to consider here is that when the core bit breaks thru on
the far side it can cause the surrounding brickwork to fragment a
little.

I have found it is better to drill the small pilot hole right thru,
then apply the core drill from both sides, so that the large hole
created by the core drill meets in the centre of the wall (or cavity).
That way you get a nice clean hole both sides requiring only minor
reparation.

In case no-one else mentions it, be aware that using a core drill can
cause a lot of fine powder dust. SWMBO can be useful during drilling
operations holding a vacuum cleaner hose just under the drilling area.

Andrew

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 20:17:30 +0100, Jo
wrote:

My early victorian building has a nice stone facade covering what
looks like a messy mix of mortar and rubble.

What sort of stone is it? My house is uncoursed random limestone, 2
foot thick, and one problem with using a core drill as suggested is
that although the inner and outer faces of the wall are firmly
mortared in place, the middle of the wall is loose rubble fill. I can
see this loose fill causing problems for any drill.
When my boiler went in, I removed the stones to make the hole then
rebuilt around the flue (with quite a bit of expanding foam in the
middle. The hole wasn't that much bigger than the flue though and was
probably around a mornings work.

I want to fit a combi boiler and need to drill a 10cm hole for the flu
pipe. How can I neatly cut such a hole through this type of wall ?

My neighbours did this recently but it seemed that the builder took
three days and from the appearance and size of the resultant hole he
must have done it with a pick axe! I would like to be somewhat
tidier.





--
John

"Jo" wrote in message
...
My early victorian building has a nice stone facade covering what
looks like a messy mix of mortar and rubble.

I want to fit a combi boiler and need to drill a 10cm hole for the flu
pipe. How can I neatly cut such a hole through this type of wall ?

My neighbours did this recently but it seemed that the builder took
three days and from the appearance and size of the resultant hole he
must have done it with a pick axe! I would like to be somewhat
tidier.


Hire a dry diamond hole cutter with extended arbor and sds drill machine or
engage a man who has one. Where are you?

"John Armstrong" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 20:17:30 +0100, Jo
wrote:

My early victorian building has a nice stone facade covering what
looks like a messy mix of mortar and rubble.

What sort of stone is it? My house is uncoursed random limestone, 2
foot thick, and one problem with using a core drill as suggested is
that although the inner and outer faces of the wall are firmly
mortared in place, the middle of the wall is loose rubble fill. I can
see this loose fill causing problems for any drill.

Good point - rubble fill walls are a nightmare when encountered in these
circumstances. Fortunately they aren't too common.

Thanks for all the tips.

What is an 'SDS' drill ?

Jo wrote:
Thanks for all the tips.

What is an 'SDS' drill ?

SDS stands for splined drive system (CMIIW), but "SDS drill" tends to mean
beefy drill that will bash it's way through concrete and stuff in a way that
normal hammer drills can only dream of.

Cheers
Tim

On Thu, 04 Sep 2003 18:34:06 GMT, "Tim Sampson"
wrote:

SDS stands for splined drive system (CMIIW), but "SDS drill" tends to mean
beefy drill that will bash it's way through concrete and stuff in a way that
normal hammer drills can only dream of.

Come on, don't understate the capabilities of the SDS drill

PoP

Just for information! maybe a bit expensive for a small job...

http://www.nlbcorp.com/applications/cutting.html
and
http://www.canco-usa.com/waterjet_cutting.htm