Doubling a floor joist with cables going through

Hi all

I need to double one of my floor joists, have no problem with fixing into the wall or with bolting it to the old joist.

However, about 1 ft from the internal wall side there are 5 different holes in the existing joist, each around 4" from the last one. So first hole is about 12"from the wall, second hole is about 16"from the wall etc.

Two of these holes run through the centre of the joist and the other ones are at various heights all above the centre.

Each hole has electric cables through it.

I can't remove the cables so is there any feasible way of doubling up the joist please?

What I was thinking of possibly doing depending on whether people think its a sane idea would be to simply cut out rectangles from the top of the new joist, the required width and depth to allow the new joist to slot into place (am fitting from room below) and then replace the cut out rectangles with rectangles cut from a spare bit of joist and glue into the rectangular holes (obviously the original rectangles I cut out will be too small to glue back due to the saw blade thickness)

Does that sound like a sensible idea please?

The joists are only 6x2 and span about 9 ft at a guess (typing this in bed, not going to measure now ): )

Thanks

Joe

Could you not cut and re-join the cables? (using proper crimps)

I presume to do that, in theory I would have to get a qualified electrician and get a certificate?

pjo123 said:

I presume to do that, in theory I would have to get a qualified electrician and get a certificate?

Click to expand...

What else can you do?

We had a similar scenario earlier this year and had to remove and re-drill all the cables and pipes etc.

pjo123 said:

I presume to do that, in theory I would have to get a qualified electrician and get a certificate?

Click to expand...

You will, unless you happen to have the required tools and know how to use them etc.

However don't assume that having someone cut and then rejoin a set of cables will cost a fortune - with proper planning, the cables could be cut, new joist installed and cables reconnected in an hour or two.

Look in the electrics forum for crimping method.
Even if you have to buy a decent crimper it will be a useful learning lesson and cheap enough. With luck there will be some slack in the cables.
You will not need certificates
Do switch off the electric properly.

You could use maintenance free junction box either side as well.

Can probably do it for less than a tenner that way. Just make sure you isolate the electrics before you start cutting.

Well that went better than I thought it would

Out of the 9 cables, I managed to remove 5 of them, 4 from the consumer unit and 1 from a lighting junction box.

Now all back in and working fine.

The other 4 I had no option but cut. However there was a fair bit of spare cable there. Temporarily I've fitted them into junction boxes, but before I replace the ceiling, I am going to invest in some crimpers and do the job properly.

Many thanks for all the advice (and yes I know I shouldn't play around with the CU, but it was very straightforward and I know the bottom bar is still live)