https://probuildermag.co.uk/?s=socket+beads
I have often heard it said
Sometimes it’s the very people who no one imagines anything of
who do the things no one can imagine
I suppose this saying could refer to Joseph Apsdin a bricklayer from Leeds who in 1824 invented Portland Cement which transformed the building trade, and again of
Augustine Sacket from New York who in 1890 invented plasterboard again transforming the building trade, both of their products are being used in millions of homes across the globe.
The same reference could be used for Peter Carter who in 2019 invented the socket bead.
Peter was born in 1966, the day he was born his father changed the name of the family firm from Brian Carter and Son to Brian Carter and Sons a plastering and building firm that has been trading for over ninety years. As Peter says he was born into the Building Trade.
Like most plasterers and construction workers Peter soon discovered that school was not for him and his time would be better spent working along with his dad in the building trade developing Plastering skills, and by the age of 12 in 1979 Peter had plastered out his first full house.
Peter continued to develop his skills and learning the craft and very soon became a competent plasterer capable of all aspects of the plastering trade which today are only classed as specialist skills, which include floating and setting solid walls in both sand and cement, and light weight gypsum-based plaster, learning the reverse rule method and how to run plaster moulds in-situ and on a bench as fibrous plasterwork.
Later in life Peter decided to develop his skills by becoming a qualified Electrician.
With the growth of spotlights in the ceiling this created problems for the plasterers as with the larger holes cut into the plasterboard every time a plasterer passed their trowel over the hole any plaster or laitance on the trowel would fall directly onto the plasterer, many times in their eyes, it was after skimming a large ceiling that had many holes cut in for the spotlights that Peter went home that night splattered in plaster that had fallen onto him that he thought there has to be an easier way.
It was not long before he put pencil to paper and came up with some rough ideas of how to overcome the problem, after several sketches had been drawn Peter then approached an injection moulding company, they made a CAD drawing and once approved they made several 3D printed versions, after a few trial tests they came up with the finished ceiling socket bead, and later the wall socket bead, a video of the socket beads in use was made then uploaded to YouTube
it received 30,000 views in the first day so the socket beads were born , since the launch in 2019 Peter has sold over 750,000 units mainly for the new build housing market, as they find it very cost effective as it cuts down on time and expense spent snagging their buildings.
Lath and Plaster 