Running Wire in Exposed Ceiling Basement

[Buzzen812]

Hello ALL,

I am trying to Clean up the wiring in my basement. I pulled down the poorly installed drop in ceiling. I found a mess of wires, dead mice, and 37 cents. I would like do have the ceiling sprayed a dark gray.
The issue I am having is the proper way to run all the wiring to keep it more protected then being stapled to the floor joist.( also replace any old 2 wire and replace it with 2\w ground wire.
I read that you cant run romex in conduit for heat dissipation reasons: Understandable.
I don't want to run single strand everywhere because that would be a pain.
I was wondering if there is a raceway system that can bused for electrical.

My Idea was to use pcv and cut a narrow slot and drop in the romex that needs to be run from one side of the house to the other then it can run up through the floors and into the wall where it originally came from.

Now lets hear all the rule of why I cant do this.
And a few ideas that I can use.


https://www.dropbox.com/sh/55au2k3ijmlpeie/geMktaBuqv

There are 3 images of my idea.
and one of what I would like the finished product to look like

-James

 

[Stuart in MN]

First thing: let us know where you're located. The regulations can vary depending on what state or country you live in. Secondly, there's no rule in the US against putting Romex inside conduit, as long as the conduit is sized properly.

I'm not as familiar with residential wiring requirements (I deal mainly with industrial work) but I believe exposed Romex overhead in a residential basement is acceptable. If it's running along the joists it just gets stapled in place, if it's going crossways across the joists it either goes through holes drilled in each joist or along running boards (for running in this direction you could use conduit as well.)

 

[Buzzen812]

I am located in Minnesota.

I did see that you can put romex in conduit but its does not current carrying count the same way as single strand in conduit. I thought it was something absurdly low like 2 x 14-2 in a 3/4 pipe.

 

[pattenp]

Conduit fill with Romex is sized by taking the wide dimension of the cable and calculating the area as if the cable is round. So you will find that Romex eats up the fill limit very quickly.

 

[Buzzen812]

On top of that romex is kind of sticky. It becomes hard to pull more than one down a small pipe.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

If all of the cables are run together, then there are cable trays that can be had for this purpose. Just as easy to mount some sort of running board and secure all of the wires to it. There are some special clamps that are designed to secure multiple Romex cables.

On top of that romex is kind of sticky. It becomes hard to pull more than one down a small pipe.

Indeed, if the pull is more than a very short distance, you will be hating life shortly after you start pulling.

Charles

 

[Buzzen812]

Who sells these? I would like to take a look at them.

If all of the cables are run together, then there are cable trays that can be had for this purpose. Just as easy to mount some sort of running board and secure all of the wires to it. There are some special clamps that are designed to secure multiple Romex cables.
Charles

 

[pattenp]

They are a multiple Romex cable staple.

 

[eeprete]

They are a multiple Romex cable staple.

they have these in bags of about thirty at HD.

 

[Buzzen812]

After using these what can I do to
Shroud the wires to hide them to give a clean look.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Take a look here:
http://www.aifittings.com/catalog/n...upports/cableway-cable-runway-support-system/

 

[Buzzen812]

That is great. exactly what I was looking for!