Hi all,
Can anyone give any advice in regards to safely navigating the roof space in a new single story house. Need to gain access to string some speaker cables and cables for security cams. Just looking for advice on where I can typically safely walk. Tossing up whether it's worth the risk of damaging plaster or frame from above or whether I just getting someone in to do it for me?
Thanks in advance.
haha OP i got the same issue :)
Previous house, I did damage the ceiling by accidental step in.
yeah i stuck my head up there to have a look and there is a nice platform where heating and cooling system is but from there its all bats and hard to tell where anything is.
I'm going to give it a another go, hope this will help me next time
https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/construction/workplace-hazar… :)
Ah for the cabling, get you self a snake from bunnings, make your life much easier.
If by snake, you mean a cable puller, yeah i have a few of those. Wont help me with getting to where i need to go to actually feed cables though. think i will make some calls and see how much someone will change me to feed the cables. If i end up cracking plaster, it will probably cost me more in repairs.
walk on the ceiling joists use binders to balance back to joist I wouldn't put more than 20 kg briefly on a binder.
Sounds like i have a decent chance of damaging things. Not sure its worth the chance to be honest. Had no issues with tiled roof as i could just slide back tiles and work from there. This house is colour bond so have no way to access roof space from above.
I'd walk on the trusses only - if you need extra support, you can bring up a couple of planks of timber a few meters long (so they rest across several trusses) and support yourself on those. Just watch they don't tip if you put weight on the ends!
I've been in roof spaces for years - just take it slow and think every step through. Yes plaster damage is a risk but it can be repaired. You falling through the roof is a far bigger risk and far harder to "repair"! Choose the right time to go into the ceiling (ie not during the middle of summer and not during the middle of the day - early morning best) and watch for dehydration and exhausting your muscles - holding yourself in weird positions will tire you quickly and you are then more likely to make a mistake and do damage. Be aware of snakes and spiders too. And watch for electrical cables that have been damaged by rats exposing wires or not terminated correctly leaving live power exposed (yes I've both of those)
It may be worth getting someone else to do it especially if they are awkward places to get the cables to - a tradie will have the tools and experience to get it done quickly/easily but it may take you hours if you haven't done it before. More if you don't have the right tools too…
Yeah im thinking it might be easier to get someone in and do it for me. Im pretty handy and can the install of the cabling part but im not so sure about the navigating the roof part alas. Wife would kill me if i damage anything.
If the pitch of the roof is at 22 degrees or below the ability to walk is questionable more likely a tight crawl. Roof pitch 25 degrees and above will permit a walk through,at 27 degrees you have a beautiful storage possibility or party area.For safety sake put in walk boards on purlins to area of travel or be prepared to call in a ceiling fixer!Over 35 years experience on cabling and building, and falling through ceilings is not pleasant. PS joists on floors. purlins in roof.
Photo of the roof space showing the 'floor' of the space?
stop fussing, just walk on the joists.
if you are worried take a couple of bits of wood up. They only need to be the width to bridge two joists, and you can walk them through the whole roof space.
Also be aware of dangers such as exposed electrical cables (prob no issue in new house).
Also run your cables at right angles, that is dress it in so its out the way.
I was once at the same point, unfortunately for me, it wasn’t a new build, but that’s another story.
So, best bet;
When you get up in the roof, crawl around on your hands and knees. Use the roof joists, or the trusses, to get around. You could put in boards but it would IMO be a waste of time.
When you’re stringing cables and what not, use a small clip to hold the cable at one end, and then unravel it so that you don’t get half way through laying out your cables only to then have to go back and rerun it. Also, seeing as your doing it, give yourself some extra slack so that if you ever need to get up there and lift up a batt of insulation because a rat has perished up there, you don’t want to be stretching or pulling on really tight cables.
Go slowly, take your time.
When you find a spot you’d like to put a speaker, you can do a couple of things.
If you’ve got a tile roof, and no sarking (reflective sheet between the tile battens and the rafters) it may be easier to do from l outside the cavity. I have a very low roof profile which is a massive pain in the buttinskie, so I do pretty much everything from outside the cavity.
Wear loose, comfortable clothes. Ideally, trackies a loose shirt so you’re not constricted when you’re moving around. You’ll probably end up with fibreglass bits all of over your clothes so when you get out of the cavity, chuck it in the wash and have a shower.
And have fun. It’s definitely something you can do yourself. Just takes a bit of patience.
If it's a tile roof you can just kick tiles and run your cables in the eves to make it easier
Its not overly difficult. My 130kg fat arse managed to do it, to lay some new Cat6 cable down. Wasn't fun, but managed. Just take it slowly. And watch out for Danger Noodles.
Just walk on the trusses. You'll be fine. Do not walk on the plasterboard. Your trusses should be spaced every 600mm.
Get yourself an LED head torch. This will free up your hands to carry stuff and navigate around safely. As others have said, just be aware of your surrounds, and go up there early morning if possible - it can get extremely hot up there. Also wear some comfortable shoes/joggers.
I found wearing work boots makes it much easier than wearing joggers. The much thicker sole of the work boot make it a lot easier to put pressure on the trusses, than a jogger which is more likely to bend and put the pressure on one spot of your foot.
Just do it.
- get a headlamp or decent torch or lantern
- only venture in when it’s cool. Mornings in summer.
- let someone know you are going up and keep in contact so they know you are ok. It’s easy enough to call out through the ceiling, you don’t need a radio.
- Only put weight on timber, not bats and not plasterboard.
- Don’t put any load on any cables (they should be protected by being beside timber not on top anyway)
- dont venture in where you can get stuck if you can avoid it. Lifting a few tiles or sheet of iron might mean you can thread the cable through from outside for the last bit.
Next time or anyone looking at this organise with your site supervisor to get in and run your cabling before plaster goes on!
get a small RC drone or buggy