oak beams

[paul b b]

hello chaps,

have a job to do with oak beams. bugger to drill, i dont suppose there is a reg that allows me to re-use old cable runs? i have to do it from below as the floor in the bedroom is elm and the customer doesnot want it lifted.

any suggestions?

thanks

paul

 

[Lurch]

Which reg says you can't?

 

[paul b b]

building regs say 50mm from floor board

 

[revjames]

Better off re using an old slot or holes rather than weakening the beam re drilling/ cutting.

 

[kme]

Depends on circumstances mate.

Do you want to use the ROUTE that the old cable took; or re-use the old cable itself??

n.b. pushy shovey by rev. This is also the way I`d think.,....

 

[Andy™]

could be argued that you are doing less structural damage by re-using existing holes. just note on cert if they are then less than 50 deep

 

[Lurch]

So you're saying the holes are currently <50mm from the board? And I thought some of my posts were brief!

I would use my judgement on a per job basis, you generally have 2 options;

1. Comply with most regs and do a safe job.

2. Inform the customer you can;t do it without lifting boards or spending a couple of days drilling beams and let them get someone else who will happily reuse the old runs.

depending how many cables you've got to get in though I'd maybe try drilling, I've managed to drill oak beams with augers before without much effort.

 

[kme]

But you`re still weakening the joists. IMO, if there`re existing notches, I`d try to use `em.

(maybe with some form of "shielded" cable, to better protect from nailing problems?????)

 

[Lurch]

But you`re still weakening the joists. IMO, if there`re existing notches, I`d try to use `em.

Well yeah, this is where the per job thing comes into it, some places you could remove half the oak beams and nothing would move. They don;t build 'em like they used to!

 

[wozz]

how old are these beams in questions? is it a listed building?

 

[Evans Electric]

If you are drilling from underneath it would be difficult to get the hole in the top section and seeing as you are not permitted to drill below the centre line you have no choice but to use the original holes , just do it .

 

[sellers]

if its original notches using these with decent metal plates over conforms to the regs. They sell decent ones at tlc

 

[Lurch]

if its original notches using these with decent metal plates over conforms to the regs.

No access above.

 

[Dane]

Well yeah, this is where the per job thing comes into it, some places you could remove half the oak beams and nothing would move. They don;t build 'em like they used to!

My dads hosue was built in 1602

Oak beams.

there is only 8 in the loft space! although they are 18 inch wide lol (quite a large loft area too)

Walls are also over 1m thick stone! ****er for drilling through when we rewired it

 

[paul b b]

the beams, well ummm how do i explane, large beams x 4 going from right to left and 1 x large beam going other way, giving 6 sections, inbetween there are smaller oak beams that are going to show, depth of them is about 3 inches, so by the time the plaster is on i will only have about 2 1/2 inches anyway.

the house was rewired about 3 years ago but she wants extra sockets and surface mounted spots.

i think i will note it on the cert as i cant get the distance needed.

thanks for your help chaps

paul

 

[NozSpark]

My parents old house had oak beams and you couldn't even hammer a drawing pin into them (except for into the cracks) like steel they were!!!, floor boards were laid directly on top with another layer going the opposite direction!!

The house is 500 years old mind! ; )

 

[green-hornet]

the beams, well ummm how do i explane, large beams x 4 going from right to left and 1 x large beam going other way, giving 6 sections, inbetween there are smaller oak beams that are going to show, depth of them is about 3 inches, so by the time the plaster is on i will only have about 2 1/2 inches anyway.the house was rewired about 3 years ago but she wants extra sockets and surface mounted spots.

i think i will note it on the cert as i cant get the distance needed.

thanks for your help chaps

paul

No, you just have to comply with the regulation that says any cable not deeper than 50mm should be rcd protected, so it can be just below the surface, be rcd protected and still comply.

As far as building regulations, there is very little chance of a nail being driven into an exposed beam, so there would be, if you did a full risk assesment attached to your job, a miniscule chance of any damage to a cable because of its location, in this instance. The joists for this type of construction run above the beams and I have found very little space anyway between the beam and final floor surface.