Framing challenges and electrical mess


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Old 02-21-17, 09:48 AM
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Framing challenges and electrical mess

Hi all! I am adding a bathroom to my basement and as such, new walls are going up in previously unfinished places. Specifically - I need to put up a wall between the window and the electrical panel box as shown here (there will be enough room for the box - I checked local code!).

There are a lot of ceiling obstacles in this route...it seems there is metal conduit for electrical work running right underneath each joist. (The big wooden structure hanging down is just a clothes line - that's not a problem to take out). So I'm trying to figure out how to do this.

Should I have my electrician come in and move all the existing wires? (or maybe do this myself?) I could drill through the joists and run the wires through them so they sit higher up but this seems like a lot of work for otherwise-functioning electrical setup. So then I started thinking I would leave them alone and just leave a gap between the top wall frame and the joists - securing the frame with 2x4 pieces that comes down from the joist? Then maybe try to find a drop ceiling grid that would accommodate leaving it all there - does one exist? Or are there other options?

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Thanks for the input!
 
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Old 02-25-17, 06:42 AM
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Suspended Ceiling

I would leave them alone and just leave a gap between the top wall frame and the joists - securing the frame with 2x4 pieces that comes down from the joist? Then maybe try to find a drop ceiling grid that would accommodate leaving it all there
This is the way I would go. You will need 3 inches between the top edge of the ceiling grid and the bottom of the electrical conduit to allow space to install the ceiling tile.

What is the height from the floor to the bottom of the conduit?
 
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Old 02-25-17, 06:54 AM
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Before Wirepuller commented, my thought was going to be that, since this room is "right by" the box, it shouldn't be too big of a deal to move all the wires up into the joists where they then probably wouldn't need to be in conduit, unless the runs require it.

I also wouldn't want to lose any headroom with a drop ceiling. Nothing wrong with drywall if you get the wires moved up.
 
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Old 02-26-17, 05:42 AM
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Thank you both for weighing in! My ceiling to floor height is 89 in. so I don't think losing 3" to a suspended ceiling would be that big of a deal and it sounds easier than trying to move all the electrical...so I'm leaning towards that at the moment. I had planned to do a drop ceiling anyway vs. drywall b/c there are other things up in the joists (plumbing and HVAC related) that I think having easy access to would be good. Anyone have any suggestions on drop ceiling options that come down 3 in?
 
 

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