125 mm hole in load-bearing concrete block wall, any "no-no's"?
D09,
That's the method I'm leaning towards now. A hole saw doesn't seem like a real option because it requires purchasing/renting an expensive hole saw and a powerful machine. I have long concrete drills from JULA and will get a simpler/lighter drill hammer during the Christmas holidays (a friend bought an outgoing model for me at JULA in Jönköping that was no longer available in Stockholm).
I've drilled into concrete blocks to plug them, and it went fine with a regular percussion drill, even though it was a bit tricky to fit the SDS mount into the regular chuck. I also saw when the mason drilled to place a soot hatch when the cassette was mounted, and there were no problems at all. He had a percussion drill, albeit a Makita, with JULA's "kwb" drill and thought I didn't really need to buy a drill hammer.
Do you have any tips on how I should go about getting the hole straight through the wall? I was thinking of going through with a long drill in the center where I want the hole and then marking out the 125 mm circle around this on both sides. It's not entirely life-critical that the hole for the pipe is exactly 90° through the wall, but I want to be as precise as I can.
That's the method I'm leaning towards now. A hole saw doesn't seem like a real option because it requires purchasing/renting an expensive hole saw and a powerful machine. I have long concrete drills from JULA and will get a simpler/lighter drill hammer during the Christmas holidays (a friend bought an outgoing model for me at JULA in Jönköping that was no longer available in Stockholm).
I've drilled into concrete blocks to plug them, and it went fine with a regular percussion drill, even though it was a bit tricky to fit the SDS mount into the regular chuck. I also saw when the mason drilled to place a soot hatch when the cassette was mounted, and there were no problems at all. He had a percussion drill, albeit a Makita, with JULA's "kwb" drill and thought I didn't really need to buy a drill hammer.
Do you have any tips on how I should go about getting the hole straight through the wall? I was thinking of going through with a long drill in the center where I want the hole and then marking out the 125 mm circle around this on both sides. It's not entirely life-critical that the hole for the pipe is exactly 90° through the wall, but I want to be as precise as I can.
The important thing is to keep the machine straight, a small angle error becomes big when you're drilling "far"Paxman said:
Doesn't really matter much since you can plaster over it afterward.
Sometimes it's better to make the hole a bit too big to avoid having to "plane" it later.
Don't forget to drill out the piece in the middle like a cheese; if you have a chiseling function on the tool, use it then, otherwise, a chisel and hammer will work when the block needs to come out.
JULA tools are great stuff
Well... apart from the fact that the entire ventilation is not designed with fire in mind, I think that a potential hole in the garage repaired in a nice way isn't so serious in a house built in the '60s...
But if you're a bit paranoid, you can seal the hole around the pipe with fireproofing...
On the other hand, the question is what difference it makes if the door between the garage and the rest of the house is an ordinary interior door? It kind of feels like the hole being made isn't the biggest problem...
Otherwise, if the room is its own fire zone, then one should consider that when making a hole.
But if you're a bit paranoid, you can seal the hole around the pipe with fireproofing...
On the other hand, the question is what difference it makes if the door between the garage and the rest of the house is an ordinary interior door? It kind of feels like the hole being made isn't the biggest problem...
Otherwise, if the room is its own fire zone, then one should consider that when making a hole.
The door between the garage and the rest of the house is indeed a completely normal interior door. I also believe that the fire risk has been significantly greater in the family room where the fireplace is located. However, that risk has probably decreased considerably with the insert installed.
I would probably say that there is a bigger risk that the heat transfer system spreads the fire the other way, so to speak. If a fire starts in the family room, it can spread to the garage and the upper floor via the fan and pipe...or it might choose the path via the stairs up.
I would probably say that there is a bigger risk that the heat transfer system spreads the fire the other way, so to speak. If a fire starts in the family room, it can spread to the garage and the upper floor via the fan and pipe...or it might choose the path via the stairs up.
Yes, if it is supposed to be a fire compartment, there should be fire dampers that close on heat or on a signal from the alarm system. Not just around the duct.
But how the requirement is, fire compartment or not in your villa, I leave unsaid.
But how the requirement is, fire compartment or not in your villa, I leave unsaid.
In the "home farm" built in '69, they had reinforced the paneled doors (pine) against the garage, boiler room, and oil tank room with an extra 50mm sheet, so some form of risk assessment was made. How effective the reinforcement is by today's standards is perhaps a little more uncertain.
However, if it's just a door with Masonite + cardboard between the garage and the living area, it probably doesn't matter either way.
However, if it's just a door with Masonite + cardboard between the garage and the living area, it probably doesn't matter either way.
Today I completed the practical part of the heat transfer to the laundry room, and I thought I would now report to those interested.
First regarding the rotary hammer. It turned out to be a great buy! It is smaller than a normal hammer drill and weighs only 1.7 kg!! This means I can use it with one hand and hold the industrial vacuum hose with the other. It had absolutely no problem getting through the 30 cm thick wall. Since it's a Meec, it probably won't last forever, but for 250 bucks it's definitely worth it. I'm not going to use it professionally; it will work hard during this project, and then it will be used occasionally for putting things up. If it wasn't a discontinued model and thus hard to find, I might have bought a spare. The only thing I've noticed is that the machine's gearbox gets quite warm, so I think it's good to let it rest occasionally when you need to run it hard and long.
I chose to place the hole's center 15 cm from the ceiling. It turned out that there wasn't concrete hollow block there. The material was completely homogeneous and quite soft and pleasant to drill into. However, it seems to be a different material just below the hole I drilled because when I tapped it with a chisel, pieces came off from a surface, so to speak. The wall might be built with concrete hollow block up to this surface, and then concrete is cast up to where the floor rests.
I used D09's method of drawing a circle and then drilling a bunch of holes inside it. Since the material was so soft, it was easy to "mill" with the drill to remove the center chunk. Then I went at it with a chisel and hammer to smooth and widen the hole so that the spiral duct could be inserted; I felt like a Chilean miner! Now the spiral duct is in place, the fan is temporarily taped at the laundry room's opening, and test wires have been run alongside the duct for the thermostat, which should be inside the rec room. Unfortunately, the fan makes quite a noise when running at full speed, but with the speed reduction cable, it's no louder than the draft in the cassette, so that's acceptable. Tests are ongoing to see if it's enough to move the heat. I will probably run it without an exhaust vent as it increased the noise level significantly. My partner said she could live with a hole in the wall if I fix a nice finish and if the pipe is painted white on the inside.
The question now is whether it's necessary to use foam sealant between the spiral duct and the wall. I was pretty meticulous when smoothing the hole so the duct is a bit under tension, and it doesn't matter if there's some airflow outside the duct; neither room is hermetically sealed anyway.
Pictures will come a bit later.
First regarding the rotary hammer. It turned out to be a great buy! It is smaller than a normal hammer drill and weighs only 1.7 kg!! This means I can use it with one hand and hold the industrial vacuum hose with the other. It had absolutely no problem getting through the 30 cm thick wall. Since it's a Meec, it probably won't last forever, but for 250 bucks it's definitely worth it. I'm not going to use it professionally; it will work hard during this project, and then it will be used occasionally for putting things up. If it wasn't a discontinued model and thus hard to find, I might have bought a spare. The only thing I've noticed is that the machine's gearbox gets quite warm, so I think it's good to let it rest occasionally when you need to run it hard and long.
I chose to place the hole's center 15 cm from the ceiling. It turned out that there wasn't concrete hollow block there. The material was completely homogeneous and quite soft and pleasant to drill into. However, it seems to be a different material just below the hole I drilled because when I tapped it with a chisel, pieces came off from a surface, so to speak. The wall might be built with concrete hollow block up to this surface, and then concrete is cast up to where the floor rests.
I used D09's method of drawing a circle and then drilling a bunch of holes inside it. Since the material was so soft, it was easy to "mill" with the drill to remove the center chunk. Then I went at it with a chisel and hammer to smooth and widen the hole so that the spiral duct could be inserted; I felt like a Chilean miner! Now the spiral duct is in place, the fan is temporarily taped at the laundry room's opening, and test wires have been run alongside the duct for the thermostat, which should be inside the rec room. Unfortunately, the fan makes quite a noise when running at full speed, but with the speed reduction cable, it's no louder than the draft in the cassette, so that's acceptable. Tests are ongoing to see if it's enough to move the heat. I will probably run it without an exhaust vent as it increased the noise level significantly. My partner said she could live with a hole in the wall if I fix a nice finish and if the pipe is painted white on the inside.
The question now is whether it's necessary to use foam sealant between the spiral duct and the wall. I was pretty meticulous when smoothing the hole so the duct is a bit under tension, and it doesn't matter if there's some airflow outside the duct; neither room is hermetically sealed anyway.
Pictures will come a bit later.
Add some plaster to finish off against the duct. You can tidy it up against the duct with a wet brush.Paxman said:
Or buy a stainless steel sheet, split it and cut out a hole for the duct (with the pieces slightly overlapping). That's what the HVAC guys did with my chimney duct and it turned out well