# Disorganized Wiring in Attic



## pawned79 (Apr 5, 2011)

I have two points of egress to my attic space: one in the house proper which contains the HVAC and one over the garage that is large enough to store seasonal items.

The usable area is covered in wires.  Every contractor that has ever run a line in the house has done so in starburst style without respect for the potential useful area that is this attic space.  Electrical, cable coax, telephone and security lines all run in various directions.  Some of the lines have a lot of slack, and simply rest in the space, but many are pulled tight and have wires draped over them.  The result is that I have a 20ft x 10ft slanted-height space that I can only really use about 3ft x 5ft of before I start laying boxes on top of or arround wires.  Even the clothes dryer duct runs across the area consuming a portion of the space.

I would like to renovate the space to make it very useful, but the house isn't worth a lot of money given the style and the area it is in, and I don't think that the attic yields a big investment return.  I wouldnt mind having a roughed in storage area though.

I thought about cutting and junctioning all the wires and the duct in an organized fashion, but after recent review, there are like 20 power lines, 15 security wires, two telephone lines and four cable coax wires.  Im confident in my personal ability to junction a data line without unnecessary loss, and most of these lines, if not all, run digital signals, not analog, so junctions shouldnt hurt their capability much.

Alternatively, I could attempt to just run all new line, but that seems like too much of an investment.

I am considering tacking down a lattice of wood that allows the wires to run disorganized through the space, and then putting a floor of plywood on top of that.  This would give me a 20ft x 10ft area that is free of wires at the expense of height.  I imagine something similar to deck plates that hide computer Ethernet conduits in a server room.

Any constructive thoughts, comments, suggestions or questions?

Thank you for your time,
Patrick


----------



## nealtw (Apr 5, 2011)

I suspect you have a truss system and all contractors that ran the wire understud that you have no usable space in the attic. None of that lattice work can be removed. Truss are very strong from the roof side but they are just bearly strong enough for drywall and insulation for the ceiling below.


----------



## pawned79 (Apr 6, 2011)

The "floor" of the attic is made of 2x8s at 16in apart.  I am sure it is suitable for storage.  I suspect that all the contractors did their job as quickly and cheaply as possible, because whichever homeowner at the time, including myself, was too ignorant of the situation to insist they respect the space.


----------



## nealtw (Apr 6, 2011)

Take some pictures of the system up there and go talk to a local truss company.


----------



## pawned79 (Apr 7, 2011)

A truss company will rewire my attic, or are you concerned that the attic space isn't strong enough for storage, and that is why it was never roughed in?


----------



## nealtw (Apr 7, 2011)

Now you got it. Go check out this site.Boardwalk Builders - Support for Sagging Trusses


----------

