"Ian Stirling" wrote in message
...
dundonald wrote:
I'm laying flooring [1] in my loft. The wiring is simply thrown over
the
joists rather than a hole drilled centrally through the joist and the
wiring
passed through the hole. Is it good practice to cut a little nick out
of
the joist, enough to lay the wiring for the flooring to flush with the
joist
over the top? Is this detrimental to the structure?

Yes.
Cutting out a 10% section of beam at the top reduces strength by at best
20%.
What about routing a groove in the chipboard?

I tried searching the archive of this group for the answer, but after a
couple attempts trying to guess what others might call what I call a
'nick'

Or possibly nail thin strips of wood the same width of the joists on top of
the joists. These only need to be deep enough to raise the floor above the
wires. My loft was the same and this worked a treat. Doesn't add much
weight and doesn't decrease strength of joists.


Mark