On Apr 11, 12:02 pm, "G" wrote:
I am restoring a 200 year old stone farm house.
I'm at the electrical stage now.
I have the panel installed. Now I need to start running romex to
various locations in the cellar for the first and second floors.
The joists are a minimum of 6X8
The center beam is 14X14
Can I put the boxes on the bottom of the joists...or on the sides?
How do I run the wires? I know(now) I can't go from joist to joist
because of the "do not hang" clause.
And these joists are oak which makes drilling a real chore
I'm at a loss as to how to do this.

What kind of boxes are we speaking of? Outlets or junction boxes?
What size?

As for running the wiring, having done old houses in the past, two
basic choices (with innumerable variations, of course)...

First, I'm assuming this is going to be unfinished space in the
basement/cellar. If so, the simplest yet neatest way is typically to
run conduit below the joist beams in cases like this that are large-
dimension members. You can probably get by with the furring strip
hiding/protecting the cable route, but it isn't as nice-looking imo,
although a little cheaper and less labor.

Alternatively, even though drilling in oak is somewhat of a bother,
typically there aren't that many members as compared to conventional
construction so while each hole may be more of an effort, there really
aren't that many necessary to be drilled. Obviously here ymmv...
If you choose this route in the end, get a good quality heavy-duty
drill and some also high quality ship augur bits and I think you'll
find the holes go much more simply than you think they will
(particularly if you've just been using cheap spade bits or something
similar). I would expect spacing in your case to not be an issue so
doubt the need for a right-angle drill although, of course, you
undoubtedly before getting done will find a use for a new tool...

Some of the decision in my case has always had something to do with
the actual nature of the original construction, too. If it's "just a
house" and while it's post and beam and of some vintage, drilling and
such doesn't seem much sacrilige. If, otoh, it's a really unique
structure of some historic value and the beams are hand-hewn w/ nice
scarf joints, wooden pegs and wedges, etc., etc., it seems like a real
shame to go making all sorts of holes and stuff willy-nilly. In that
case, I tend to try to do what is least invasive despite it probably
being more expensive and time-consuming.