Adding Attic Floor Over Electrical Wire the Easy Way
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ม.ค. 2023
- I'm adding some flooring to my attic to make room for more storage and making the flooring we already had, more safe and secure. I'm using standard construction studs that I bought at Home Depot along with a 4x8 sheet of subfloor plywood, also bought at Home Depot. The construction screws I used were 2 1/2" #8 construction screws.
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I have always been amazed by the eternal rant from municipal construction auditors in the US ranting about "building code this, that and the other" yet allowing cabling and wiring to run through a perfectly good house more resembling a rats maze than human living space. It never seizes to amaze me. Thank you for not starting to cut out inlays in the floor beams at least. :)
And I believe code says that work should be done in a "craftsmanlike manner". I've yet to have a contractor leave adequate slack, run lines in bays without taking shortest path, use neat, parallel runs...
Great idea and laying the 2x4 on their side added extra strength to the floor 😁 Glad to see your son helping and learning some handy homeowner skills 😁 Excellent job
Smart thinking. The more you do this kind of thing, the more the simple answers come to you.
Fantastic idea 💡 I was looking for this solution to my attic problem. Keep up the good work 👏
Great video my man, seem like a genuine guy and your son is a trooper for helping.
Thank you!
Thanks, have a good day!
I finished a pocket space in a house like this. With a rat cage for the gutter line, insulation, and drywall.
I like your approach, I have a 1962 build I'm working that starts in a 1958 attic and is bridged by a breezeway to get to the electrical box. Part of my project is finished, but like what you have here I need to add height in the next run to hover wires and insulation.
Awesome idea
Smart move....Nice job....thanks for info !!!
To add the 2x4s on top the joists. I would sister the beams with a 2x4 on at least one side to give me a better screw grip. It's more expensive but that's where I am. It's typically leftover lumber pieces, nothing long. The house is old and I don't just want to screw into the existing narrow beam alone.
Ps this is so genius! Thank you so much man ! I could have never thought to do this !(I've had a mouse problem but couldn't reach one corner of attic due to this here similar prob 70 year old house wiring is a death trap lol
Hey guys, I like wha t you did. I have a similar situation and I was on my out to but OSB to start my project. I kinda wondered what I was going to do about the wiring, now I know. Thanks for the video!😊
Glad this helped you!
Same I was thinking about buying cable concealers, to avoid notching, because like you said why mess with the studs/ joists / rafters integrity when you can just raise them with 2x4's. Now I need more 2x4"s
Good job
I took a different approach before installing blown-in insulation. I took 2x10s about a foot long and nailed to them pieces of plywood extending down about three inches. That combination slips over the existing 2x4 rafters and won't move from side to side. I then placed two of them alongside one another on adjacent rafters. Then I nailed another 2x10 between those two. That created a platform, that was enough to get about in the attic. But to make it even better, I nailed longer 2x10 boards to connect the platforms. I now have a path I can take to almost anyplace in the attic above my 16" of blown-in insulation. To create flooring, plywood sheets could be nailed on top of the platforms.
Thanks. I need to do this so bad . Thank you
Thank you!
Thanks, im gonna do this too, but with 1x2's instead of the 2x4's, and various scrap 2x_'s instead of osb
There is a need for this creative improvement type of videos
I did similar but didn't use long studs, just short blocks, predrilled holes in blocks before screwing down. I had to get at the wires a few times but i was easy to run the wire under the floor because of the short blocks instead of long studs. blocks about 5 inches long each. thing is you lose about 2 inches of headroom. Also installed led lights in the attic, the attic is brighter than the kitchen heh. The switch to turn on the lights is in the garage so the attic is lite already when you go up the drop down stairs (also installed that)
I’ve been thinking of doing the same. Wires fan out everywhere in my attic.
Mine too! EVERYWHERE! Ridiculous.
Me personally, we have an ancient house in a cooler climate. I'm going to add 2x6 perpendicular to fix the wiring issue, and make room for more cellulose insulation. In other areas where i dont want to loose headroom, i plane on using 1x2 stock with just enough gap for the romex and put a nailing plate over that.
thank you!!!!
Nice!
Thank you!
I like the 2x's laid flat. It's 2½" - 3½" of wood to anchor the floor to vs just 1½". Easier.
Reminder to all: Don't use nails on the new 2 x 4's that you install. If you do, the sheetrock ceiling below may get all screwed up by using a hammer... There is nothing more fun than refinishing a sheet rock ceiling... again...
And, consider getting some very cheap nail plates that you can put over the exposed wire that is between the 2 x 4's. This will help to prevent a screw going through the OSB into the wire by mistake when you are installing the flooring.
Good idea. I might have laid them perpendicular but I'm not sure the plus and minus of switching directions.
Great video man! I have been wanted to do this as well. One question, why did you run the 2x4's with the joists and not across. I was thinking it would take less 2x4's. Just curious before I start mt project. Thanks!
It was mainly because of how the wires were running. I wanted to but the gaps in very specific spots and the wires were going diagonally across the joists. I might have done it differently had the wires been traveling perpendicular or parallel to the joists.
Curious, would it be better to have the 2x4's face the same direction at the plywood sheets?
It might. In my case, the wiring was going across the joists diagonally, so it made more sense to do it this way.
Video Ideas:
Replace your insulation with Rock Wool
Dry wall the space
Install Lighting
Make sure if the slant connects to the outside you install a rigid metal gating/caging to prevent animals getting in before anything else.
I’ve shot screws on many projects for my dad.
What did you do to ensure the screws didn’t hit the wires under the plywood?
I wasted a bunch of time measuring the plywood to mark the places that the gaps would line up with, only to realize it was just attic storage floor so I only used enough screws that the board would never move and I screwed them in far away from any high risk area.
Is there any reason why you didn't put the 2x4s perpendicular to the existing joists, rather than right on top of them?
The wiring was going across the joists diagonally, so it was easier to do it this way in my case.
I’m curious, why wouldn’t you run the 2x4’s perpendicular to the joists? Then you could have run them 16” on center.
I did it this way because of the angle that the wires were going. It was easier to do the gaps this way. You could do them perpendicularly if that works best for your situation.
Looks good. May I suggest that you top up the insulation before covering it up.
You want an air gap between the floor and insulation to prevent moisture accumulation
@@MrCarter24 That's an interesting point. Usually in wall insulation though there is not air gap right?
In this case, let's see, the warm side (typically) would be on the bottom of the insulation.
Good idea, but it would have been easier, cheaper and faster to use firring strips or 1x2s and ordinary hammer and nails instead of 2x4s and screws. Good luck with your new channel.
Even faster to use brad nails with the 1x2
Yep, 2x4s just add extra weight to the structure. furring strips bring the height up to the perfect level to run all your wires and add minimal weight. This method works great though, just a bit overkill is all!
Except hammering a multitude of nails into the joists would probably have popped the ceiling below.
Good video. Tip, with fiberglass in the area, wear a mask. NEVER speed up and use music, if you must speed up do a voice over. TOH, never does speed up,
David Archy is my favorite amazon boxers too hahahaha
How long from start to finish?
Not counting the trip to the hardware store for the studs, it took maybe 3 hours.
Why wouldn't you air seal and fill the cavity with insulation before putting the floor down?
Because it's always going to be nothing more than attic storage. It's just to keep people from falling through ceiling while they're moving boxes around, but also pass an inspection if I ever sell my house.
@@tinkercraftsandtravels6575 but sealing and filling those areas underneath the walkway increases the therm as l efficiency of the home. Thereby increasing the comfort of the living space below them. It was a missed opportunity that is now more difficult because the steps weren’t done before installing the subfloor.
@Kory Leach It was already filled with insulation. This was a rush job after Christmas, so it needed to be done fast and cheap. If people are looking for pro level floor insulation, then this is the wrong video to watch. 😅
Rush job fast and cheap?
@@tinkercraftsandtravels6575
@tinkercraftsandtravels6575 Man these guys. Well I guess if you post something on TH-cam you have to be willing to take all criticisms along with the praise lol.
FF to 1:35 for the good stuff.
great job... have you gone back to undo the subfloor to add more insulation ?
You should just raise where the wire as a step up
could have saved cost and weight using partial 2x4s.
Great info TYFS. One suggestion is to remove the music and narrate as you work. Maybe share insights or explain what you're doing and why. The blaring music isn't pleasant.
I would consult the 2023 NEC, National Electrical Code, for the best Legal way and Highest Resale Value. I will look also as I need to do something similar myself in places. Thanks.
Great project. Excellent work.
But, no knee pads... That's how I messed up my knee doing my attic. On my knees 8 hours and the next day couldn't walk. Of course I'm much older than you. Now after 5 years suffering, finally had to do 'total knee replacement' .
Use knee pads please...
Pretty cool, but you still fight like a dairy farmer.
no nail plates over the wires does not comply with NEC codes
1x1s or simple furring strips rather than 2x4s. Same concept, just to save money for others watching. Sistering as others have suggested is overkill but works fine.
Would have been sensible to put down more insulation between the joists before boarding. What you have appears to be the bare minimum and wholly inadequate.
You're right about the bare minimum part. That was really the point here.
If you were to build a new house today, you would be required to have R-38, or about 14 inches, of insulation in the attic. Using more insulation than required doesn’t offer a significant advantage and can detrimentally affect how well your attic ventilates or could cause more harm than good.
This is illegal because you didn't use any nail plates of the wires.
Not sure it's illegall but it might not pass an inspection. I could always unscrew it and add them later, but since I'm the current home owner and I never intend to add anything else to the area, it will be fine unless I decide to sell my house. But in hindsight, I probably should have added them to be safe.
Not illegal and because these aren't going through a drilled hole in a joist or wall frame I'm not sure nail plates apply to this specific case. Wall plates are meant to protect wire runs through framing from getting hit with drywall screws by installers. However I would brush some orange paint on the OSB and label "electrical wiring" where the wires run under. Not so much for your sake but for any future homeowners that come after.
nice father n son home project video... but concerns about wire plates, inspection for resale, local code vs safety vs 'quick n cheap before Christmas... AND no face mask for either father or son in the midst of fiberglass...
Please learn / do better before making more videos. (Politely)
You are making a video from behind you, could you at least tuck in your shirt?!