Romex In Attic Insulation

The newer romex has improved insulation qualities with wiring such as 14 2 14 3 12 2 and 12 3 etc.

Romex in attic insulation.

It is ok to touch the outer jacket with your bare hands provided the insulation is not damaged. I cannot find this specifically in code so here is my question. Instead cut to the middle of the batt s thickness so you have a flap under the wire and one over the wire. An attic that is accessible which is defined by the nec as having a permanently installed stair or ladder in place must have protection for any cables that run across the top of the attic floor joists or within 7 feet where they run across the face of rafters or studs.

Romex can be installed above or under the insulation. As i m doing some rewiring and have a large amount of leftover nm romex cable i was wondering if i can run that just sitting on top of and secured to the. It is almost impossible in some attics to move the insulation out of the way to install the wire. Iaccording to the nec if you run them across the top of the attic floor joists you must install a.

When romex is run across rafters in an open unfinished attic it is my position that a raceway of some kind 1x3 s or even 2x4 s should first be attached across the affected rafters perhaps 3 to 4 above the joists then the wiring be stapled to the raceway. Old knob and tube style wiring does however pose a problem with insulation. Don t compress the insulation to fit behind pipes or wires. Accordingly can romex touch insulation.

As long as the wiring is newer romex type wiring and the circuit breaker is sized correctly there should be not problem with insulation. All the visible cables in my attic are old armored cables thus protected from possible critters trying to chew them i ve had squirrels there before and other forms of direct impact. A good rule of thumb when working with electricity is to wear insulated rubber sole shoes and to always keep one hand in your pocket. Also know can you lay insulation over electrical wires in attic.