We recently bought a house, and it still has the original garage lighting: a
single 60W bulb mounted on the wall next to the door.

I want to work in the garage, so I need to add some lighting. We live in
San Diego, and our winters don't usually get below 50 degrees, so I figured
I'd go with fluorescent lights.

The problem is that the walls and ceiling are all finished (sheetrock and
paint). Any thought of running the wires outside the walls sounds (at least)
ugly, but the idea of tearing out the sheet rock just to run wires around
the ceiling doesn't sound that appealing either (there are rooms above the
garage, so there's no attic or crawlspace to use).

I'm trying to figure out what my options are (after just buying a house in
San Diego, SWMBO would balk at the expense of just hiring a pro to take care
of it). Anyone out there done anything like this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

-Scott

On 1/13/2005 1:58 AM US(ET), Scott Smith took fingers to keys, and typed
the following:

We recently bought a house, and it still has the original garage lighting: a
single 60W bulb mounted on the wall next to the door.

I want to work in the garage, so I need to add some lighting. We live in
San Diego, and our winters don't usually get below 50 degrees, so I figured
I'd go with fluorescent lights.

The problem is that the walls and ceiling are all finished (sheetrock and
paint). Any thought of running the wires outside the walls sounds (at least)
ugly, but the idea of tearing out the sheet rock just to run wires around
the ceiling doesn't sound that appealing either (there are rooms above the
garage, so there's no attic or crawlspace to use).

I'm trying to figure out what my options are (after just buying a house in
San Diego, SWMBO would balk at the expense of just hiring a pro to take care
of it). Anyone out there done anything like this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

-Scott


I installed 5 FLs on the ceiling of my garage. I got them for a
commercial building demolition site, so they didn't cost anything
(except for bulbs). They are 4" surface mount no-frills, no lens cover
lamps. I wired them off the existing incandescent box, so the garage
switch lights them all. I stapled the elect cable to the ceiling joists
through the sheetrock. I had intended to use the surface track covers
for the cables, but I never got around to it. They've been up there
around 10 years now.

--
Bill

Scott Smith wrote:
We recently bought a house, and it still has the original garage lighting: a
single 60W bulb mounted on the wall next to the door.

I want to work in the garage, so I need to add some lighting. We live in
San Diego, and our winters don't usually get below 50 degrees, so I figured
I'd go with fluorescent lights.

The problem is that the walls and ceiling are all finished (sheetrock and
paint). Any thought of running the wires outside the walls sounds (at least)
ugly, but the idea of tearing out the sheet rock just to run wires around
the ceiling doesn't sound that appealing either (there are rooms above the
garage, so there's no attic or crawlspace to use).

I'm trying to figure out what my options are (after just buying a house in
San Diego, SWMBO would balk at the expense of just hiring a pro to take care
of it). Anyone out there done anything like this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

-Scott



There is a product out there called wiremould. It is a small cross
section two piece raceway designed for surface mount. You can mount it
on interior walls, I wouldn't put it on my living room ceiling, but in a
garage it should look fine.
Dave

Scott Smith wrote:
We recently bought a house, and it still has the original garage
lighting: a single 60W bulb mounted on the wall next to the door.

I want to work in the garage, so I need to add some lighting. We
live in San Diego, and our winters don't usually get below 50
degrees, so I figured I'd go with fluorescent lights.

Good call. I strongly suggest you get the good ones. I have the 8ft
ones rated for cold weather. I suggest you get the cold weather ones even
if you don't get cold weather. They are better made overall. You will be
far less likely to get hum or slow starts and they are more efficient.

They also now make some new style lamps in four or eight foot sizes (the
eight foot ones use 4 lamps) using special green (high efficiency) lamps and
are worth the price as well.

Those cheap 4 foot handyman specials are just that cheap.

The problem is that the walls and ceiling are all finished (sheetrock
and paint). Any thought of running the wires outside the walls sounds
(at least) ugly, but the idea of tearing out the sheet rock just to
run wires around the ceiling doesn't sound that appealing either
(there are rooms above the garage, so there's no attic or crawlspace
to use).

I suggest you call in the professional here. It is not all that
difficult, but it involves a number of tricks that depend what the installer
finds as they work it out. An experienced professional has learned to
handle the many kinds of problems that are out there.


I'm trying to figure out what my options are (after just buying a
house in San Diego, SWMBO would balk at the expense of just hiring a
pro to take care of it). Anyone out there done anything like this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

-Scott

--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 06:58:36 GMT, "Scott Smith"
wrote:

We recently bought a house, and it still has the original garage lighting: a
single 60W bulb mounted on the wall next to the door.

I want to work in the garage, so I need to add some lighting. We live in
San Diego, and our winters don't usually get below 50 degrees, so I figured
I'd go with fluorescent lights.

The problem is that the walls and ceiling are all finished (sheetrock and
paint). Any thought of running the wires outside the walls sounds (at least)
ugly, but the idea of tearing out the sheet rock just to run wires around
the ceiling doesn't sound that appealing either (there are rooms above the
garage, so there's no attic or crawlspace to use).

I'm trying to figure out what my options are (after just buying a house in
San Diego, SWMBO would balk at the expense of just hiring a pro to take care
of it). Anyone out there done anything like this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

-Scott

Walmart has some new stainless steel workshop lights that have
electronic ballasts and will take energy efficient T-8 lights. The
price is right.

Find you some flat cable that can be stapled to the ceiling and then
paint it.

PJ
..

Scott Smith wrote:
We recently bought a house, and it still has the original garage lighting: a
single 60W bulb mounted on the wall next to the door.

I want to work in the garage, so I need to add some lighting. We live in
San Diego, and our winters don't usually get below 50 degrees, so I figured
I'd go with fluorescent lights.

The problem is that the walls and ceiling are all finished (sheetrock and
paint). Any thought of running the wires outside the walls sounds (at least)
ugly, but the idea of tearing out the sheet rock just to run wires around
the ceiling doesn't sound that appealing either (there are rooms above the
garage, so there's no attic or crawlspace to use).

I'm trying to figure out what my options are (after just buying a house in
San Diego, SWMBO would balk at the expense of just hiring a pro to take care
of it). Anyone out there done anything like this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

-Scott




This sounds like an ideal application for "wiremold" (3/8" EMT
manufactured with a painted trim applied to it, and special connectors).
It is made for surface-mounting in offices and finished living spaces,
and you can buy it at any building supply store or electrical supplier.

Or, since it is a garage, you might consider surface mounting 1/2" EMT
conduit. I like the look of EMT in a garage.

Bob

"Ignoramus30333" wrote in message
...
Because I find myself working more in my garage, I recently upgraded
lighting. I bought four 4' fluorescent "shop lights" at Walmart and
hung them under the ceiling. The difference it made is unbelievable.
Now I have a brightly lit, friendly garage.

i

4 - 4" fixtures? Geez, I have 26 - 4"fixtures in my garage!!
Greg

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 18:34:35 -0600, "Greg O"
wrote:

"Ignoramus30333" wrote in message
...
Because I find myself working more in my garage, I recently upgraded
lighting. I bought four 4' fluorescent "shop lights" at Walmart and
hung them under the ceiling. The difference it made is unbelievable.
Now I have a brightly lit, friendly garage.

i

4 - 4" fixtures? Geez, I have 26 - 4"fixtures in my garage!!
Greg

Sure looks like 4' to me.

"Alan" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 18:34:35 -0600, "Greg O"
wrote:

"Ignoramus30333" wrote in message
...
Because I find myself working more in my garage, I recently upgraded
lighting. I bought four 4' fluorescent "shop lights" at Walmart and
hung them under the ceiling. The difference it made is unbelievable.
Now I have a brightly lit, friendly garage.

i

4 - 4" fixtures? Geez, I have 26 - 4"fixtures in my garage!!
Greg

Sure looks like 4' to me.

Sorry, 4' not 4", anyway the amounts stay the same!
Greg