Newbie Question1: Damned PVC channels!

[Michael P]

Hi
Has anybody got some practical advice on how to fix PVC channels on the wall?

I am rewiring a kitchen right now, the walls are masonry with the odd breeze block. I tried capping nails and the effect is: if I try to hit them into the mortar it just creates a deep hole (as it is more sand than mortar) and the nail falls out, sho does all the sandy mortar. If I hit them into the breeze block and they just come loose as well. You try to hit them into a brick and of course the brick splits. All in all you hit the nail in and it just chomps up the material around and won't hold and falls out.
Now I thought let me try something like "no more nails" instant grab adhesive which has turned out to be a complete waste of time as it doesn't glue at all. As a test I have glued together two pieces of wood (flat surfaces) and even after twenty minutes they came apart quite easily.

What is the secret, guys?

Thanks

Michael

[SENSORMECH LTD]

Hi,

If you are planning on rewiring the lights, if you use a FreeSwitch from SensorMech you will not have to channel the walls at all and can place a switch any were you like.

Take a look. www.sensormech.com. (http://www.sensormech.com.)

Thanks,

John

[Kaizer]

:idea:

Only just read your post so I may be too late to help, however ......

capping nails do have their limitations.....

In similar cases I have had to resort to using 50mm long, thin, galvanised nails. They are not masonry nails but are a solution for use in weak mortar or low density breeze block. You may need to search for them but well worth the effort.

Another idea, but really for the opposite problem, where the wall is too hard to take even capping nails, and tedious though it may sound, but does eliminate frustration and anger, is to drill and plug holes and use fixing screws. Believe me, again well worth the effort. A slight variation on this technique when struggling to clip cables to hard masonry on the outside of a building is to drill holes and plug them with either 6mm or 8mm wooden dowels (available from diy stores) or cut pieces from dowelling and then to knock the fixing pins or nails into the centre of the dowel.

Hope these ideas may help or even to inspire some of you to your own application of lateral thought. Just because capping nails are made and sold, does not mean that only capping nails may be used for capping. Your use of adhesive idea was a step in the right direction to finding a lateral solution ......

Good luck. :)