[Citroënbender]

I’ll get there, plan A is to work carefully, if the brick is crumbly I go to Plan B which is to pull it up temporarily as you describe. It’s a bit harder because the cabling is older single strand; less supple. I’ve also got a couple of worn out 5 and 6,5mm SDS bits that I use as small chisels (hammer setting only) to finesse cutouts. If the cable had been laid in conduit I’d be finished three times over.