How To Cover Romex in the Attic

I have unfinished attic space that I used for storage. I have a plywood fl oor up there, and there's romex running along the floor.

I want to protect the romex from people walking on it / stuff leaning or ru bbing on it/ etc.

Does anybody have any suggestions about what to use? It needs to be someth ing that I put right over it, and staple down to the plywood so conduit it not going to work. I thought about using some wire moulding but it's kinda expensive and I need about 30 feet of it.

Is there some rubber product that would work in this application?

Reply to
FTR
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floor up there, and there's romex running along the floor.

rubbing on it/ etc.

thing that I put right over it, and staple down to the plywood so conduit i t not going to work. I thought about using some wire moulding but it's kin da expensive and I need about 30 feet of it.

From a code standpoint, just wood stips, eg furring strips, higher than the cable is all that's required. That's cheap, but they would also be easy to trip over, depending on where they are located. I can't think of anything that has the profile you likely want, except products made specifi cally to cover up cords, etc so that you can walk over them.

Reply to
trader_4

Cut a channel in the ply for it to lay in

Reply to
dpb

I was going to suggest the "homemade cover" as you suggested. If tripping on the raised furring cover is a concern, why not "go low."

If the Romex is running perpendicular to the joists (which would seem likely in this scenario - else why run the Romex above the joists and on top of the floor), why not just move the Romex out of the way and cut out a strip of the plywood just wide enough to lay the Romex back in it and tack it down where it crosses over each joist?

I'm thinking that 1½" max ought to do the trick.

Not knowing the exact circumstances that FTR is looking at it's difficult to come up with THE best solution.

I'm sure that there is a solution that will work but the "Pick Two Rule" (as always) comes into play.

"Cheap, Fast, Correct! Pick two, because that's all you get!"

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

If you're using the attic enough to be concerned then the only right way to do it is to put the wire under the floor, through the joists or stapled. Either way it should be as close to mid-joist as possible. (It's apparently legal to run it on top of the ceiling below, under the joists, but that's not really safe. Someone might decide to hang something from that ceiling.) It shouldn't be covered in a way that hides the romex but still allows a nail or sharp object to go through and pierce it. A rubber cover that can be stepped on can also allow for rubbing. That's not a big risk, but I remember one case some years ago in Cambridge, MA. A handyman ran romex under a carpet. The romex wore through. The house burned down. People died. The handyman was charged with manslaughter.

Another method would be pipe conduit. It's not terribly expensive. I expect you'd pay more for a thick piece or rubber. But you might need to add one or more junction boxes, depending on where the end o the wire is.

I want to protect the romex from people walking on it / stuff leaning or rubbing on it/ etc.

Does anybody have any suggestions about what to use? It needs to be something that I put right over it, and staple down to the plywood so conduit it not going to work. I thought about using some wire moulding but it's kinda expensive and I need about 30 feet of it.

Is there some rubber product that would work in this application?

Reply to
Mayayana

Perhaps you can put a couple of 1 x 2 along each side, then of you need more protection, put a 1 x 6 (or strips of plywood or hardboard) across the top of them for form a channel.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

It's not legal, ie code compliant either. Nor can I imagine why anyone would even think about running it between the bottom of the joists and the ceiling sheetrock. There is no room for it there to begin with.

Reply to
trader_4

cover floor with furrying strips then add plywood floor over entire area. good time to insulate too...

Reply to
bob haller

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