[bhollehday]

Im going to be running electrical wires around the counter in my kitchen. Ill be cutting about a 3inch wide strip all the way around the backsplash area. Id like to try and avoid making a large mess but know most of it is unavoidable.

I could either cut it with my 4 1/2" variable speed grinder, a hacksaw, a circular saw, or a dremel maybe with a tile cutting bit? Do I need to plan on just covering all the cabinets and floor with palstic to avoid dust?

 

[Smokeshow]

No way to come from above or below? If not, yes be prepared to cover everything. Angle grinder or a multi tool with the correct blade is your best bet for a clean cut. If you can, have somebody follow close behind with a shop vac either located outside, or with an exhaust hose running outside.

 

[Colbyt]

No matter what you do expect to create and eat a lot of dust.

A no vibration tool as suggested in post 2 is the best bet. Only the first 1/8 to 1/4" is a really hard surface when deal with plaster and lathe. A MF tool with a diamond burr moon blade seems to be the easiest to control and the lessor mess maker.

If you get a clean cut through the hard coat you can remove the scratch (undercoat) with an old chisel to minimize the dust.

 

[Jim Port]

A 3" strip may allow you to drill for the wires, but you do not want the holes at the same height as the boxes. You need to be above or below the box with the holes.

What lath do you have?

 

[curiousB]

I just did some significant rewiring in a 100 year old house with plaster lath.

In the end what worked best was a 4" angle grinder with a diamond masonry blade. Sliced through top plaster and base coat with ease. Makes a heck of a dust cloud though, so best if you have a helper on a shop vac to catch as much of the blade exhaust while cutting.

The patching of all Swiss cheese holes was much less fun......

 

[Speedy Petey]

No way to come from above or below?

My question as well.

No attic or basement??

 

[bhollehday]

My question as well.

No attic or basement??

Ya i ended up running under the house instead of around the backsplash. I ended up using a tile cutting bit on my dremel, and was able to follow with a vacuum. There was little to no dust using this method!