Loft Question

[Ruggie]

Hi there, justa quickie - I am about to floor my loft and there are a number of wires (mostly for the lighting circuit) that cross over beams.

What is the best (normal / good practice) way of handling these, is it to 'chip' out a small part of the beam and sit the wire in the newly made grove or to drill a hole, disconnect the wire and thread it back through?

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dingbat]

Loft joists are generally not designed to carry any additional loading - that is they are designed to support the ceiling, not to act as a floor. So you shouldn't be drilling or notching through any of them.

Fix timbers on top of each joist, notched out at the bottom to accommodate the cables. These timbers should be at least 2" deep so that the risk of penetrating a cable with a screw from above is reduced. It also allows you to top up your insulation before you board over.

 

[Ruggie]

Thanks and noted - time to change my plan!

 

[HandyJon]

Another way to cope with the cables is to lay 2x1 battens on top of the joists but at right angles. The cables can then be kept in place, no notching or drilling of either the joists (or trusses) or the battens. Just put the battens at the right spacing for the loft boarding, which for the special loft boards is 610mm because the boards are 1220mm long (well they are for the ones I buy at Wickes). This also copes with joist centres not matching the requirement for the boards especially for old houses. A good tip is to mark out the route of any wires as you lay the boards so that in the future less hole cutting is necessary to find a problematic cable.