Running cables in lofts.

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Jono Pashley

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Seeing as we cant drill or notch roof joists, how do you run your cables around the loft, should i clip down the side of the joist then just go over the top when i need to or am i thinking about this the wrong way?.

 
Most sparks do it that way...the alternative would be some very long and complicated cable runs or boarding out across joists jono.

Note : the joists do tend to get notched when lofts are boarded out ,not sure how this would comply with building regs though due to the ratio of joist removed..from memory I think the notches are to be no more than one eigth of the total joist depth......Ithink someone should tell this to Plumbers/Central heating Engineers, some of their joist notching is horrendous especially across 1st floor hall/ landing areas

 
You cannot drill any rafters in roofs unless they are Attic Trusses and then only in zones set out by the manufacturer.

 
Timbers in the older lofts are only big enough to span the room and carry the lath/plaster, not load bearing really so drilling is not a good idea. Personally the less time I spend amongst the 10 foot of lagging we now have, the better. My mate pokes a rod up each light position and I just dump the cable on top of the lagging.

If anyone wants it clipped or neat they can do it themselves I ,m afraid.

 
Bear in mind that cables laid directly in contact with the loft insulation are a different

installation method / reference method than ones clipped to sides of joists in indsulation

and need to be taken into account in cable calcs.......admittedly not usually a problem with lighting circuits in T&E on 6A CBs

 
I normally run the cables around the outside and then along joists to lights etc but on new builds with truss roofs you can usually find room along the centre. Every job is different, I personally don't run cables over joists as people like to board there lofts out to put all there crap up there.

Batty

 
i do like evans electric.. its like a spiders web when i do a roof . :)

 

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