How to mount cables on masonry wall without conduits?

dave.murphy

Hi, have a simple question.

I have to run a long electrical cable along masonry wall.

What are the options?

If I use the "U" shape cable holder / fastener (that uses nails), I'm afraid it will crack the masonly wall or does not have enough grip as the cable is a little bit heavy.

Any opinion is appreciated, thanks!

Dave.

Christopher

Dave,

Chose the right size cable strap (the one hole type).

Fasten to masonry wall with tapcon screws:

http://www.itwbuildex.com/tapcon.htm

These are sold at the "big box" home centers. Use only the drill bit that comes with the screws.

...Christopher

jwhite

in most cases it is just plan illegal to run a cable as you suggest without conduit.

whybminor

Dave - What kind of cable and what size? And from what to what? And is the wall exposed or in a crawl space, indoors or outdoors? Exposed romex and other non-armored cable isn't permitted in places that are used for living or work, But I don't off hand know of a code provision that says we can't run "romex" along a concrete wall in say a crawl space.

I need coffee.



Phil S.

round2it

There is another option to conduit...it is called wiremold and it can be fastened to masonary walls with the tapcon's mentioned or there are also anchors that some call "redheads" which require drilling a hole pushing in a small plastic plug and then use a screw thru the back of the wiremold and attach. Pre-drill the holes to match where you will place the anchors. This way you will be able to add wires later if the need arises. Personally I prefer the conduit, but you decide what you are more comfortable with.

JoulesWinfield

Yea if the space that the wall is in is occupied or used at all you should definately use conduit or cable rated for that purpose.

As far as anchors go, I have recently purchased a Remington powder actuated driver. It was about $45.00 at Lowes. It uses .22 caliber loads to drive the pins (nails) directly into the concrete. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...720&lpage=none

Very quick and easy to use. I have also herd that you can rent the driver and just purchase loads and pins.

Although if this is the only time you will be putting fastners into concrete you may want to use the cumbersome method of drilling and screwing. If thats the case I would say tapcon is the easiest. Red Hats are the more trustworthy in relation to holding up to stress over time. But they are way more expensive.