Running TV cable from attic to bedroom - am I OK to cut these bits of timber?

[Participant]

Hi all

I've run a TV coax from the roof through into the attic via an old overflow pipe from when my house had a cold water storage tank. Anyway I am now trying to get it down into our bedroom so we can get decent Freeview reception there.

Our bedroom is in an extended part of the house, which currently has no loft access. It looks like this:



You can see the thermalite blocks where they've built an internal wall between the old part of the house and the extended part. On the far side of this I guess is some stud work and plasterboard.

My questions:

- Am I safe to cut those thin pieces of horizontal timber away from the rafter so I can access the extended roof area? Looks like someone's already smashed one away for some reason, though I'm not sure of their purpose since they're surely too weedy to be structural.

- What's the best way to get the co-ax cable down past the breezeblock into our bedroom? Just lift the insulation and waggle it down there, then cut through the plasterboard on the other side?

Many thanks.

 

[Nightglow]

Those thin pieces of timber is tile batten, you usually have roof felt, then these tile battens which then support the roof tiles.
See no why reason why you can't cut a couple of them.

Why not put a loft access hatch in the other area while your at it..

Just lift the insulation and waggle the cable down, but there is usually noggin half way down in a stud wall, which you need to overcome.

 

[Participant]

Ah right! Haha, I'm safe to chop away then. Thanks. For some reason I assumed they were done as part of the extension.

Any tips on the cable thing?

 

[Nightglow]

From your poor photo it's part of the old roof, before the extension was added.
Be careful stepping through, want to lay a crawling board down first, then cut fourth batten out, will give you enough room to poke your head through & have a proper look first, & move that insulation so you can see the joists, before proceeding further.

Is it a block wall lined with plasterboard or just a stud wall?

 

[Participant]

Lol . Looks like a block wall with plasterboard because I can see breeze block running all the way along, and when I tap on the bedroom wall below I can hear hollow bits between battens. But then why did they add breeze block to create the internal wall instead of just using the old external wall and screwing the stud work into that? Maybe something building regy. Or maybe because they had to knock down the old external wall to create the doorways?

Anyway I'll go back up into the loft now with a saw and some gloves, and investigate further, cheers.

 

[Nightglow]

They just dry lined the wall, quicker than plastering it, as the battens are only vertical behind plasterboard, you shouldn't have a problem dropping a cable.

 

[Participant]

Just removed several of the tile supports and had another poke around. I lifted the insulation (there was loads) and found the conduit that I think feeds the main light switch (on the other side of the plasterboard):



It's definitely block then a small gap, then plasterboard of some kind. The gap between block and plasterboard is so small that it makes me wonder if they didn't dot and dob the whole thing .

Anyway I reckon I can get one of those cable access kits off eBay and shove it down there, then fish it through the plasterboard next to the power cable. Must remember my dust mask next time *splutter*

 

[Nightglow]

Might get away with the old trick just using a length of string & a weight, a nut tied on, a flat piece of lead squished on & just lower it down the gap,if enough space & fish it out by the socket.

 

[Participant]

Cheers. Got a few cable run jobs to do including under floorboards etc., so I just bought a 10m access kit and a coax faceplate off eBay.