Conduit “stub-ups” have been traditionally accepted in the concrete construction industry as a necessary evil. Until now, methods of protection and awareness have ranged from spraying the “stub-up” safety orange and taping a flag to them, to setting concrete blocks over the top of the “stub-up”, all of which cost in labor and materials without eliminating the issue. All the while, the hazards for trips, falls, and impalements, as well as exposure to expensive damage (or potential loss) of the raceway were only being highlighted or hidden.

The concept is to maintain a coupling within the slab or below the final grade of the concrete to keep future extensions of the conduit from projecting beyond the top of concrete. The plastic sleeve, or pocket former, Stub-EASE™ is attached to the embedded conduit via a threaded coupling, be it a set screw or compression connection. This can be accomplished with a 90° bend on the conduit or using a threaded short radius 90° elbow, depending on the depth of the concrete slab.

After the concrete pour, the HDPE (High Density Poly-Ethylene) sleeve and support are cut down to the top of concrete elevation and left in the slab until the future raceway is ready to be safely extended into a wall cavity. At this time, the electrician can use a standard size paddle bit with an 18 volt or greater driver, using the plastic partition wall in the middle of the sleeve, to expose the embedded threaded coupling. The vertical extension of this raceway can now be threaded into the embedded coupling using a matching male threaded compression fitting.

CSUE Technologies

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