You’ll find a friend in ‘bead’
The brainchild of trade professional Pete Carter (PC Products), the new spotlight bead and socket & switch bead can help electricians to overcome common issues on-site. The spotlight bead helps to improve the installation of spotlights and reduces risk to the user, while the socket & switch bead is available in single and double sizes to make it possible to achieve a perfect finish and improve health and safety.
First fix – boarding/tacking takes place
The electrician comes in and first fixes. When installing spotlights, the electrician will place the cable as close to the finish position as possible. This can result in cables being very easily lost or damaged as follow-on trades come in.
Do you cut out your spotlights before or after plastering?
With current practice, if you cut out your spotlights and retrieve your cables, the plasterer will struggle to make a good job as it is difficult to plaster around a hole.
With the new spotlight bead, cables can be retrieved/terminated/tested. The spotlight bead is then placed over the cut-out making it safe for the plasterer as they are protected from potentially live connections. The plasterer is happy as they have an edge to work to and the absence of a hole makes the process much easier and more accurate.
The same applies to sockets and switches
The stripping/terminating/testing of sockets and switches at this stage also allows the confirmation of circuits and allows any rectification to take place before plastering/painting has taken place.
Much easier with fewer problems
This process means there is no need for the electrician to come back until all the other trades have finished. The painter can easily put a roller over or spray straight over, as is becoming more popular, without any need to brush around.
The finished article
When the paint is dry and all the other trades have left the site, the electrician simply taps the remaining plaster from the front plate/removes the screws to reveal a perfectly clean set of connections and a smart reinforced plastic edge, which protrudes 9.5mm into the plasterboard, covering the easily damaged edge, confident that there are no problems or lost cables.
This means no making good, no countercharging and no delays in schedule.
For more information about the spotlight bead and the socket & switch bead from PC Products visit: www.pcproducts.org
