Ops drilled through beam!

[chrisbell17]

Hi,

I was drillin up into the loft to run a cable up for the ariel and checked and double checked where i was going through but when i had finished i went in the loft and had managed to drill through a beam one of the thin ones . Its only about 1/6 the width of the beam and the drill hole only small. it was in a cupboard so the beams sitting on two walls about 30cm each side of where i did it.

Also on most beams we have screwed in pasterboard in underneath and in the loft we have boarded it out. The screws used for tht are about the same as the hole i made. I know its not the same thing.

What u think, dosent look big enough to be a prob and as the beams have the screws the same width top and bottom they must sooort of be the same thing. Dont plan on doing it again.

what you think?

 

[Stevey]

Looks all right to me mate, it's not something you wanna be doing all the time. Chippys on here can tell you were and were not to drill re: joists and wotnot.. Better to drill closer to walls than to drill right in the middle of a span.

 

[big-all]

i wouldnt worry probably weakens it as much as a small notch for the electric cable
and as its not mid span then youll be fine

 

[333rocky333]

My garage has similar beams and due to the length, the wood is actually joined with sort of long metal plates with lots of teeth.

These appear to be just hammered on to each side of it.
They were purchased made like this from a proper builders merchant.

Not sure if you could use them to strengthen the beam, if you are concerned.

I suppose you must obviously support the other side somehow before hammering on to prevent causing more damage.

 

[penpusher]

My garage has similar beams and due to the length, the wood is actually joined with sort of long metal plates with lots of teeth.

These are nailplates and are pressed into the wood of pre-fabricated "trussed rafters" also refered to as gang-nail plates.

 

[bernardgreen]

The vertical hole has taken out a lot of the timber that is stressed under load and may have weakened the beam considerably.

You should "splint" across the area where the hole is.

Two pieces of similar cross section timber about a foot long screwed and glued either side of the hole.

 

[saxondale]

The vertical hole has taken out a lot of the timber that is stressed under load and may have weakened the beam considerably.

You should "splint" across the area where the hole is.

Two pieces of similar cross section timber about a foot long screwed and glued either side of the hole.

your scaremongering


look around your loft O/P the sparks will have drilled bigger holes for the light cables

stop worrying about it and relax

 

[jwilliams]

The vertical hole has taken out a lot of the timber that is stressed under load and may have weakened the beam considerably.

You should "splint" across the area where the hole is.

Two pieces of similar cross section timber about a foot long screwed and glued either side of the hole.

your scaremongering


look around your loft O/P the sparks will have drilled bigger holes for the light cables

stop worrying about it and relax

Will the sparks have drilled vertically through the joists?

I doubt it.

 

[saxondale]

The vertical hole has taken out a lot of the timber that is stressed under load and may have weakened the beam considerably.

You should "splint" across the area where the hole is.

Two pieces of similar cross section timber about a foot long screwed and glued either side of the hole.

your scaremongering


look around your loft O/P the sparks will have drilled bigger holes for the light cables

stop worrying about it and relax

Will the sparks have drilled vertically through the joists?

I doubt it.

think about it then - more often than not they`ll have drilled at an angle too (even worse IMO)

lets look again at the O/P`s problem -

he`s drilled a small hole (less than 1/6th of the width) vertically through a joist - a VERTICAL hole won`t weaken a joist

the joists are all tied together anyway with the boarding

heck I even see 20mm pipe drilled through some times and theres not much wood left after that


tell you what - if his house falls down because of this hole I`ll rebuild it for him

 

[big-all]

[
he`s drilled a small hole (less than 1/6th of the width) vertically through a joist - a VERTICAL hole won`t weaken a joist

in this case i fully agree with you the hole wont make much difference

just to explain how the a vertical hole will actualy weaken the joist

with a horizontal beam/joist the top is under compression the bottom is under tension with the centre under neutral load so provided the the holes are within spec in the neutral load area they wont affect the strength at all

a vertical hole will effect the strength because it passess through the compression and tension
it will actualy weaken it by the full 1/6th which in this instance is irrelivent because the joist is only on a short span between 2 cupboard walls

 

[masona]

If you're really that worried then buy some wooden dowel into the hole with glue