Routing cables - New Build

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I am in the process of routing cables internally, trying to get cables form the loft down into the lounge. I am dropping the cables down through a hollow upstairs wall, then I am HOPING to drill drill under the skirting board to route the cables from said internal wall into the underfloor of the upstairs bedroom (feasible?), drill through the joists (via 110mm holes cut into the floor boards to get me access) and then drop the cables down through the wall into the lounge.

So far I have drilled a 110mm hole through the floorboards of the bedroom and now have the issue of getting the cables dropped down inside the wall of the lounge.

I have drilled through the thermalite brick and dropped a fishing line down and think I have made it 90% of the way down through the wall.

It has occurred to me though I am now on the wrongside of the thermalite, so would need to drill through the plasterboard/25mm dot&dad cavity and then fish around trying to find the string to bring it back out into the lounge - a massive ball ache esp for routing several cables.

If I drill straight down BEFORE the thermalite, would I enter the dot & dab cavity of the lounge below? Surely the thermalite brick is one solid wall of the house, and the dot & dab/plasterboard of the bedroom I am in & lounge below is built off of this? So if I drill within 25-30mm of the thermalite would I enter the cavity and not the lounge itself?

Cheers guys

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/72120595/IMG_20130704_062643.jpg
 
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MODs, this was moved from Building.

Seeing as the cables are out of the equation, and my issue is routing through the house/plasterboard, an dhow I do this would this not be better off in the building, or decorating, section?
 
We are no longer permitted to use the cavity for cables mainly due to thermal insulation so we have to use other methods.

These will include SWA cable outside the building for power cables.

Since you say loft one would guess at data cables i.e. TV coax which does not really have a heat problem.

I have used lengths of conduit or trunking i.e. anything at hand to work out exactly where the cables stop and often there is some wood at that point and by removing plaster at that point I have been able to continue with least amount of redecoration.

I have even used my daughters rats to pull a string point to point then connected cable to the string plus used works cat and raised a laugh when I presented a time sheet for cat.

Ball ended draw cords, old speedo cable inners and bits of trunking lid have all been used. However there is no magic wand and one has to as a professional consider time and there comes a point where chasing a wall is cheaper than time waisted trying to thread cables.

So there is a limit to how much we will try.
 
If the joists are at a right angle to the wall in question then likely there will be nothing between the joists to stop you dropping a weight from the bedroom to the room below apart from the dot and dab.

If the joists are parallel to the wall then one may be in the way.


Look in the wiki for cable routing.
 
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Cheers guys

Based on research into dot & dab, and having seen inside the wall at the bottom (via plug aerial socket) I am pretty hopeful there wont be any joists in the lounge wall - just the plasterboard fixed to the Thermalite brick.

I was wondering if anyone with experience in New build houses could confirm if I drill into the plasterboard ''floor'' shown through the cut out (in the pic I posted), right next to the thermlite whether I would enter this dot & dab cavity.

edit: Also the cables are only going to be Cat5 cables, no power! :)
 
Based on research into dot & dab, and having seen inside the wall at the bottom (via plug aerial socket) I am pretty hopeful there wont be any joists in the lounge wall
There won't be any joists in the wall.
Joists are what hold up the floor.

just the plasterboard fixed to the Thermalite brick.
Yes.

I was wondering if anyone with experience in New build houses could confirm if I drill into the plasterboard ''floor'' shown through the cut out (in the pic I posted), right next to the thermlite whether I would enter this dot & dab cavity.
Not sure what you mean by plasterboard floor but - yes.
The 'dot and dab' cavities upstairs will be vertically above the downstairs.
 
Thanks for your reply mate!

I am hoping that the ''plasterboard wall'' downstairs is butted up against the plasterboard sheet used as the ceiling in the lounge, hence us not being able to see into the dot & dab cavity from the picture I posted.

I am hoping that if i drill close enough to the brick work, i will break through into the dot & dab cavity, and not into the lounge ceiling!
 
I am hoping that if i drill close enough to the brick work, i will break through into the dot & dab cavity, and not into the lounge ceiling!
Yes, you would probably be able to poke something thin past the plasterboard without drilling.

Although sod's law says all the dot and dabs will be where you don't want them to be.
 
I have a new build and the dot and dab is sealed around all edges with the adhesive so you would have to drill through that.
 
To get into the dot and dab cavity you would need to make a hole diagonally downwards immediately above the ceiling.

Then make a hole dead vertically in the lounge.

But since most dot and dab walls have blobs of adhesive very randomly placed, it may not be possible to get a clear run for the cables.

You need to tap the wall the whole way down for a hollow sounding route.

You may have to make holes in the plasterboard where the dots are.
 

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