Overheard a newbie say 'it's just hooking up wires' at the supply house

Guy was picking up a Vista 128 and saying how easy alarm work is. I wanted to laugh. Told him to come find me when he's running a 20 zone retrofit in a 1920s house with no crawl space and every wall is plaster and lathe. Bet he changes his tune after that.

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_garcia1mo ago

First thing I'd tell him is invest in a good hammer drill and a set of carbide bits. That plaster will eat a regular drill bit in about three holes. And for the love of god run your wires in flexible conduit where you can, it saves your back when you're crawling around up there.

sarah8181mo ago

Oh man, miles, you just described my entire first week of being an electrician's helper. I showed up with a standard drill and a can-do attitude and that old plaster laughed at me. Actually stripped the bit clean in two holes, I'm not even kidding. Now I keep a dedicated carbide set in my bag just for those old buildings, learned that lesson the hard way.

lunag301mo ago

That old plaster sure has a sense of humor, doesn't it? I read somewhere that a lot of these pre-war buildings used a mix with horsehair in it, which makes it chew through bits even faster. You practically have to treat it like concrete sometimes. The carbide sets are worth every penny, but even then I've had bits grab and snap off if I'm not careful going in at the right angle. Heard a guy say he keeps a hammer drill with a clutch setting just for those old walls to save his wrists from getting messed up.