FTTP cable entry into house

[busterboy1]

@Starwire 

Good morning to you.😊

Quick question regarding the engineer training of drilling into stone / brick...

You are obviously taught to drill from the inside to outside which of course is correct

Are you taught to first drill a small pilot hole with a small masonry drill bit then finish with the larger recommended size for the job which would possibly minimize damage occurring.

Or has the installer gone straight in with the recommended drill bit which will obviously cause bricks to fracture.

I honestly don't know the answer but would be interesting to know the protocol on how it's taught / done.

I have seen many other people posting images of this type of damage when having fibre installed.

[Starwire]

It’s been a long time since I attended my CAL/OMI Training but when I did were taught to first do the obvious, check the inside and outside where you are drilling to avoid hitting anything like drain pipes, external gas pipes, etc. Basically using common sense.

All Openreach Engineers are issued Bosch Testers and have to scan the area of the wall they want to drill through. Ideally they are supposed to do this in front to the EU to back them up in case they do hit something even though the tester didn’t pick it up. If the tester even suspects there’s something there they are told not to drill. Although again use common sense, especially in new builds that use that foil backed insulation and sets off the Bosch Tester everywhere.

They’re not taught to drill pilot holes, or at least I wasn’t.

Personally I do, if it’s just a sheet of plaster board I’ll usually force a screwdriver through first and then listen/feel to see if I’m hitting brick behind it. Luckily in all my years I’ve only ever hit an Electric Cable once and that was because it was to deep in the wall to be detected and also it was installed by a Jack or all Trades Dave so was run diagonally across the wall and not straight up like a normal Sparky would do.

Ref to blowing out bricks, some of us do our best not to and will take the drill off hammer and put a bit of weight behind the drill. Unfortunately they’ll always be those who couldn’t care less lot and will just hammer it out and slap a handful of silicone on. They’re usually the Prod Chasers.

[busterboy1]

Very good reply with loads of info thank you. 🙂

On a personal note I am no installer but always try to eliminate the dangers and avoid doing damage to both property and most of all myself.

Only a month ago we upgraded to a smart tv so had some cable to run round the house and holes to drill so went to Screwfix and purchased this device pictured below, around £40 and sounds expensive but cheaper than having experts coming round fixing our stupid mistakes.🙄

Interesting to learn that experienced engineers like yourself try your very best to minimize damage and as I gathered the "Ummmmm" monkey brigade can leave a mess such as shown in this thread.

Many thanks for your input. 😇

[Starwire]

 

These are the Bosch ones Openreach Engineers get issued.

[max4186]

Correct, it's coming out of the conduit hole. I've made a complaint to Openreach now, compared to what seems to be the standard install, mine is anything but.

[markmck30]

Folks, firstly thanks to everyone who took the time to post a response. I contacted Openreach via the link provided in the earlier comments and submitted a form. The team contacted me within 48 hrs and couldn't have been more helpful. An area supervisor came out and agreed that the install could have been better and it was redone the next day. Hats off to open reach and you guys in getting this sorted so quickly. 

So would I recommend the change to BT - absolutely, the speed and stability so far seems great. One tip would be to make sure you agree exactly where and how the cable is to be brought into your house. Also from what I have seen the cable should be enclosed above ground. 

Openreach, BT and this forum have been a great help in getting this resolved. If anyone has any questions please feel free to give me a shout on here 😀

[pippincp]

How about a photo of the corrected install for comparison?

[markmck30]

 

Sorry for the delay but here is the before and after

[Walthamcity]

Much neater!

Interesting to see the fibre coming up from the ground. On our street the fibre hangs from the aged telephone masts, steampunk style!