ᐅ Securing Cables in Slots Cut into Sand-Lime Brickwork

Hello everyone,

Has anyone had experience fixing cables in 11.5cm (4.5 inches) and 17.5cm (7 inches) calcium silicate bricks using 15mm (0.6 inches) deep vertical grooves?
Neither nail clips, cable clips, nor other fasteners can be hammered into this solid brick.
In most cases, the nails bend, or at best, after several attempts and careful tapping, they go in. Usually, luck is only found at the joints between the bricks.
Otherwise, it seems the only options are the following:

• Lightly tap in the nail clips, fix the cable every half meter with plaster dabs, and then remove the nail clips before the plasterer arrives.
• Drill small holes beforehand, insert mini plugs, replace the nails in the nail clips with appropriate screws, and then screw them into the plugs.

Unfortunately, both alternatives require a considerable amount of time!

Any known alternatives?
For example, special nails that can penetrate calcium silicate bricks? 🙂

Good luck

With the right professional tools, nail clips are the preferred choice even for calcium silicate bricks.

Secure with hot glue … (at specific points, of course)

Tushan79 schrieb:

First, drill small pilot holes, insert mini wall plugs, replace the nails in the nail fasteners with appropriate screws, and then screw them into the plugs.

That’s exactly how my electrician did it. Apparently, there are suitable sets available – nails (not screws) plus mini wall plugs.

I didn’t have major problems with Obo nail fixings in sand-lime brick. Were the nails too thin? I had the same issue with the cheap ones from the hardware store. It’s clear that it doesn’t hold quite as well as in Poroton and similar blocks, but it still works. After that, I just fixed all the loose areas with electrician’s plaster and that was it. That’s how I did it anyway.