I'm just doing up my garage/workshop and would appreciate advice on
what sort of lighting to put up. It's a double-width garage, one
smallish window on one side. During daylight that's sufficient but
with the evenings drawing in I'm going to be relying on candlepower
more and more.

I currently have a 100w bulb centrally, and one 40w flourescent either
side. That's sufficient for me to find my way around, but for workshop
purposes I'm wondering about how to improve the lighting so as to be
able to work comfortably.

Have thought about putting a 100w bulb in each corner (as well as the
central bulb), but that adds up to 500w of power consumption - quite a
lot relatively speaking. Perhaps someone has used other types of light
source which they could recommend.

PoP

PoP wrote:

Have thought about putting a 100w bulb in each corner (as well as the
central bulb), but that adds up to 500w of power consumption - quite a
lot relatively speaking. Perhaps someone has used other types of light
source which they could recommend.

I'm about to install the lighting in my shed and have decided to
go for 8 double 5ft fluorescent fittings. Lots of light, and not
that expensive.

--
Grunff

"PoP" wrote in message
...
I'm just doing up my garage/workshop and would appreciate advice on
what sort of lighting to put up. It's a double-width garage, one
smallish window on one side. During daylight that's sufficient but
with the evenings drawing in I'm going to be relying on candlepower
more and more.

I currently have a 100w bulb centrally, and one 40w flourescent either
side. That's sufficient for me to find my way around, but for workshop
purposes I'm wondering about how to improve the lighting so as to be
able to work comfortably.

Have thought about putting a 100w bulb in each corner (as well as the
central bulb), but that adds up to 500w of power consumption - quite a
lot relatively speaking. Perhaps someone has used other types of light
source which they could recommend.

PoP


Fluorescent tubes with reflectors are the best sources of light for a
workshop IMHO.

Perhaps more importantly, if your garage is brick built, it is well worth
emulsioning the walls/ceiling with brilliant white paint. Just doing this
will make an unbelievable difference to the level as well as the quality of
light available, as the reflected light will reduce and diffuse shadows.

It is also worth sealing the floor (if plain concrete) with a floor paint.

Dave

Dave Gibson wrote:

Perhaps more importantly, if your garage is brick built, it is well worth
emulsioning the walls/ceiling with brilliant white paint. Just doing this
will make an unbelievable difference to the level as well as the quality of
light available, as the reflected light will reduce and diffuse shadows.

How timely. I was just thinking about doing this in my garage.

Do I need to undercoat the walls first, to paint on normal house bricks,
or just slap on a couple of coats of emulsion?

It is also worth sealing the floor (if plain concrete) with a floor paint.

Again, I've seen Garage Floor Paint in various guises, and I'm a little
bemused whether it needs a sealer or primer or something, because the
literature I've seen for various brands is contradictory or just plain
confusing.

--
Ben Blaney
Must try harder

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 15:17:02 +0100, PoP
wrote:

I'm just doing up my garage/workshop and would appreciate advice on
what sort of lighting to put up. It's a double-width garage, one
smallish window on one side. During daylight that's sufficient but
with the evenings drawing in I'm going to be relying on candlepower
more and more.

I currently have a 100w bulb centrally, and one 40w flourescent either
side. That's sufficient for me to find my way around, but for workshop
purposes I'm wondering about how to improve the lighting so as to be
able to work comfortably.

Have thought about putting a 100w bulb in each corner (as well as the
central bulb), but that adds up to 500w of power consumption - quite a
lot relatively speaking. Perhaps someone has used other types of light
source which they could recommend.

PoP


I've used double 55W fluorescent fittings (quantity 6) at ceiling
height (2.5m) and two further at 2.1m height in the space below
where the doors open. I have timber storage racks above the garage
doors and these extra two fittings go below these. Each fitting has
a reflector and all have electronic ballasts because I am sensitive to
fluorescent light flicker from 50Hz mains. I replaced the tubes
that came with the fittings with daylight types.

I also have the walls boarded with plywood and have painted these and
the (boarded) ceiling with white emulsion.

For most activities I switch on about half of the lights, but for
certain operations needing more light, I can turn all of them on.



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 17:49:38 +0100, Ben Blaney
wrote:

Dave Gibson wrote:

Perhaps more importantly, if your garage is brick built, it is well worth
emulsioning the walls/ceiling with brilliant white paint. Just doing this
will make an unbelievable difference to the level as well as the quality of
light available, as the reflected light will reduce and diffuse shadows.

How timely. I was just thinking about doing this in my garage.

Do I need to undercoat the walls first, to paint on normal house bricks,
or just slap on a couple of coats of emulsion?

It is also worth sealing the floor (if plain concrete) with a floor paint.

Again, I've seen Garage Floor Paint in various guises, and I'm a little
bemused whether it needs a sealer or primer or something, because the
literature I've seen for various brands is contradictory or just plain
confusing.

It depends on the floor and on the paint.

I used a system of two part epoxy paints. This has a sealer (1 coat)
and a top coat (2 coats). On the basic paints you would probably
find that if a sealer is not said to be required, you will not get the
theoretical coverage and will require more coats.
..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Andy Hall wrote:

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 17:49:38 +0100, Ben Blaney
wrote:

Again, I've seen Garage Floor Paint in various guises, and I'm a little
bemused whether it needs a sealer or primer or something, because the
literature I've seen for various brands is contradictory or just plain
confusing.

It depends on the floor and on the paint.

Right. I'm a DIY numpty, and I'm starting with the easy stuff -
painting, etc. I'm quite enjoying it, though, and the house is looking
better.

I used a system of two part epoxy paints. This has a sealer (1 coat)
and a top coat (2 coats). On the basic paints you would probably
find that if a sealer is not said to be required, you will not get the
theoretical coverage and will require more coats.

Got it. So, probably the best thing to do is talk to the bloke at the
paint shop, and he'll know what's what. I'll do that.

--
Ben Blaney
Must try harder

On Sun, 7 Sep 2003 16:23:54 +0100, "Dave Gibson"
wrote:

Fluorescent tubes with reflectors are the best sources of light for a
workshop IMHO.

Perhaps I've been slightly worried about using rotating machinery (saw
bench, drill, etc) under flourescent lighting. I was led to believe
that flourescent lights were prone to producing strobe effects.

Perhaps more importantly, if your garage is brick built, it is well worth
emulsioning the walls/ceiling with brilliant white paint. Just doing this
will make an unbelievable difference to the level as well as the quality of
light available, as the reflected light will reduce and diffuse shadows.

Brilliant idea! Why didn't I think of that.....?

It is also worth sealing the floor (if plain concrete) with a floor paint.

Just finished doing that. I suppose I should have emulsioned the walls
first....

PoP

"Ben Blaney" wrote in message
news
Dave Gibson wrote:

Perhaps more importantly, if your garage is brick built, it is well worth
emulsioning the walls/ceiling with brilliant white paint. Just doing this
will make an unbelievable difference to the level as well as the quality
of
light available, as the reflected light will reduce and diffuse shadows.

How timely. I was just thinking about doing this in my garage.

Do I need to undercoat the walls first, to paint on normal house bricks,
or just slap on a couple of coats of emulsion?

I did mine about 12 years ago, single leaf brick construction. Just vacuumed
all the loose dust off and gave it two good coats using a deep pile roller.
Still good as new.


It is also worth sealing the floor (if plain concrete) with a floor
paint.

Again, I've seen Garage Floor Paint in various guises, and I'm a little
bemused whether it needs a sealer or primer or something, because the
literature I've seen for various brands is contradictory or just plain
confusing.


The main reason I put floor paint down was to kill all the dust you normally
get from a bare concrete floor, plus makes it a bit more 'homely'. As I
recall I used a heavy duty polyurethane based floor paint which was
literally poured straight onto the floor and then spread with a rubber
squeegee, one single coat. I think it was made by Leyland paints but can't
be sure. Its still serviceable but has the odd chip where heavy items have
been dropped. Could be retouched if I was fussy. Again its been down 12 odd
years now and has had a *lot* of wear and tear!


Dave

"PoP" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 7 Sep 2003 16:23:54 +0100, "Dave Gibson"
wrote:

Just finished doing that. I suppose I should have emulsioned the walls
first....

PoP


.... a bit of 'PoP' art on the floor never hurt anyone !!!!

Dave

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 19:07:13 +0100, Ben Blaney
wrote:

Andy Hall wrote:

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 17:49:38 +0100, Ben Blaney
wrote:

Again, I've seen Garage Floor Paint in various guises, and I'm a little
bemused whether it needs a sealer or primer or something, because the
literature I've seen for various brands is contradictory or just plain
confusing.

It depends on the floor and on the paint.

Right. I'm a DIY numpty, and I'm starting with the easy stuff -
painting, etc. I'm quite enjoying it, though, and the house is looking
better.

I used a system of two part epoxy paints. This has a sealer (1 coat)
and a top coat (2 coats). On the basic paints you would probably
find that if a sealer is not said to be required, you will not get the
theoretical coverage and will require more coats.

Got it. So, probably the best thing to do is talk to the bloke at the
paint shop, and he'll know what's what. I'll do that.

You could also usefully contact Max Bone at Decorating Direct. He
posts here from time to time, certainly knows his stuff. The web site
shows a good range of quality products that you don't often see in the
shops.




..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"PoP" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 7 Sep 2003 16:23:54 +0100, "Dave Gibson"
wrote:

Fluorescent tubes with reflectors are the best sources of light for a
workshop IMHO.

Perhaps I've been slightly worried about using rotating machinery (saw
bench, drill, etc) under flourescent lighting. I was led to believe
that flourescent lights were prone to producing strobe effects.


Whilst it is true that the light from a fluorescent is not constant, it does
not turn on and off as some suggest, but merely slightly changes brightness
at a 100Hz rate due to the persistence in the tube phosphor integrating the
electron bombardment over time --- as it were!. I have a pillar drill, a
myford 7 and a woodworking lathe and can't honestly say its ever been a
problem. At certain revs you can perceive a slight moving pattern on the
chucks, but nothing more than that.

Dave

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 19:50:23 +0100, PoP
wrote:

On Sun, 7 Sep 2003 16:23:54 +0100, "Dave Gibson"
wrote:

Fluorescent tubes with reflectors are the best sources of light for a
workshop IMHO.

Perhaps I've been slightly worried about using rotating machinery (saw
bench, drill, etc) under flourescent lighting. I was led to believe
that flourescent lights were prone to producing strobe effects.

They can do. This is another reason to use electronic ballasts which
run the tube in the tens of kHz.

Perhaps more importantly, if your garage is brick built, it is well worth
emulsioning the walls/ceiling with brilliant white paint. Just doing this
will make an unbelievable difference to the level as well as the quality of
light available, as the reflected light will reduce and diffuse shadows.

Brilliant idea! Why didn't I think of that.....?

It is also worth sealing the floor (if plain concrete) with a floor paint.

Just finished doing that. I suppose I should have emulsioned the walls
first....

PoP

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Dave Gibson wrote:

garage walls
I did mine about 12 years ago, single leaf brick construction. Just vacuumed
all the loose dust off and gave it two good coats using a deep pile roller.
Still good as new.

Lovely. I'll do that, then. I wonder about pale blue walls with a deep
red floor...

garage floor
The main reason I put floor paint down was to kill all the dust you normally
get from a bare concrete floor, plus makes it a bit more 'homely'. As I
recall I used a heavy duty polyurethane based floor paint which was
literally poured straight onto the floor and then spread with a rubber
squeegee, one single coat.

That sounds pretty numpty-proof. I'd be hard-pushed to cock that up.

I think it was made by Leyland paints but can't be sure.

I'll look it up.

Thanks Dave.

--
Ben Blaney
Must try harder

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 21:38:41 +0100, Ben Blaney
wrote:

Dave Gibson wrote:

garage walls
I did mine about 12 years ago, single leaf brick construction. Just vacuumed
all the loose dust off and gave it two good coats using a deep pile roller.
Still good as new.

Lovely. I'll do that, then. I wonder about pale blue walls with a deep
red floor...

Bear in mind that the reflected light may throw a slight colour hue
over any work you do. This doesn't matter for a lot of things but may
be an issue if you are painting projects.


garage floor
The main reason I put floor paint down was to kill all the dust you normally
get from a bare concrete floor, plus makes it a bit more 'homely'. As I
recall I used a heavy duty polyurethane based floor paint which was
literally poured straight onto the floor and then spread with a rubber
squeegee, one single coat.

That sounds pretty numpty-proof. I'd be hard-pushed to cock that up.


Just remember to start in the corner *opposite* the door :-)
..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Andy Hall wrote:

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 21:38:41 +0100, Ben Blaney
wrote:

Lovely. I'll do that, then. I wonder about pale blue walls with a deep
red floor...

Bear in mind that the reflected light may throw a slight colour hue
over any work you do. This doesn't matter for a lot of things but may
be an issue if you are painting projects.

And it may not be wise to allow the noble claret and blue to infiltrate
/every/ sphere of my life.

That sounds pretty numpty-proof. I'd be hard-pushed to cock that up.


Just remember to start in the corner *opposite* the door :-)

Fortunately, there are two doors (well, three, really).

--
Ben Blaney
Must try harder

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 20:35:42 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

You could also usefully contact Max Bone at Decorating Direct. He
posts here from time to time, certainly knows his stuff. The web site
shows a good range of quality products that you don't often see in the
shops.

Their web site is at:

http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/

I've just used their product to paint my garage floor. I think maybe
they've made some product changes in the last few weeks as the product
I used doesn't appear to be an option any more (closest match is the
line paint in 5L cans, but the stuff I've got didn't dry in under an
hour, more like a day).

In case it is of interest to the OP, I bought 2 x 5 litre cans.
Painted a double width garage floor completely, and I've got about
half a can left (so about 7 litres to do the full two bays).

PoP

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 15:17:02 +0100, PoP
wrote:

I'm just doing up my garage/workshop and would appreciate advice on
what sort of lighting to put up.


Hi.

Just one more tip with fluorescents: if the ceiling is painted white,
I'd suggest putting the fls on their side on say a 10" shelf a bit
above eye level, so you dont see the bulb directly. The light is
diffused over the ceiling, so much better than bare tubes.

Or if youve got much racking /shelving in there, they can just sit on
top out of view.


Regards, NT

PoP wrote:

I'm just doing up my garage/workshop and would appreciate advice on
what sort of lighting to put up. It's a double-width garage, one

I used 4 x 5' 65W tubes in my 12' x 8' workshop. With magnolia walls and
ceiling you get a very good working light.

Also make sure you buy the diffusers for the strip lights - they have
saved a tube numerous times when I have accidentally clomped one with a
bit of wood!



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Mon, 08 Sep 2003 02:02:08 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

Also make sure you buy the diffusers for the strip lights - they have
saved a tube numerous times when I have accidentally clomped one with a
bit of wood!

I'm glad I'm not the only one

PoP

On Mon, 08 Sep 2003 06:56:33 +0100, PoP
wrote:

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 18:59:06 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

I also have the walls boarded with plywood and have painted these and
the (boarded) ceiling with white emulsion.

What did you board the ceiling with? Plywood sounds a tad expensive to
do this double garage.

PoP

The roof is pitched with tiles (this is a detached building) and has
trussed roof frames. I boarded onto the top side of the "ceiling"
joists - if you imagine it like a house, the underside would have had
plasterboard. This boarding is T&G floorboarding, of which I was
able to obtain a good price for quantity at a timber yard. So from
below you can see the joists and the underside of the boards.

The roof is insulated with Celotex between the rafters, with air gap
behind, soffit vents etc. - the floor boarded area is not. The
effect of this is that the boarding reduces the effect of heat rising
all the way up into the top part of the roof but still allows some
passage of warmth through the boards to keep the roof area slightly
warmed.

I use the roof area for storage - things don't rust or otherwise
deteriorate. I put in a loft hatch with integrated fold down
ladder for daily access, and then a much larger removable panel behind
it with a hoist above for lifting up larger or more awkward items like
bicycles.

I framed in front of the (single brick) walls with pressure treated
75x50 timber, screwed to the joists at the top and the floor at the
bottom and with a 25mm air gap behind. I fitted Celotex between the
framing, and then plywood onto that. The plywood was quite a good
quality external 18mm WBP from Finland, sourced from Jewsons. One
side tended to be better than the other and small defects were easy to
sand and fill.

The trick seems to be to buy all the materials at once and contact a
few places for pricing. Once the order is of a reasonable size and
they realise that they are in competition, the prices drop quite
markedly.



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

In article ,
PoP wrote:
I'm just doing up my garage/workshop and would appreciate advice on
what sort of lighting to put up. It's a double-width garage, one
smallish window on one side. During daylight that's sufficient but
with the evenings drawing in I'm going to be relying on candlepower
more and more.

As others have said, fluorescents are ideal for this use. New twin 6ft
fittings with metal reflectors will cost about 40 quid each from the likes
of TLC, so will be fairly pricey to do the job properly.

It's worth looking for a factory or office block which is being
demolished or re-furbished - these are usually scrapped at this time, and
can be had for very little. Try and get more than you need for spares,
although many designs have a very long production span so are easy to
repair.

--
*Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.*

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

In article ,
nightjar nightjar@insert my surname here.uk.com wrote:
As my garage is unheated, I used IP65 sealed units, which not only
protect the tubes from accidental damage, but also, if you make sure the
entries are sealed and close them in warm, dry conditions, from
condensation in winter.

I was going to say it seems an expensive solution to a problem that
shouldn't exist in a garage, but looking at TLC prices, you get a Telco
twin 6ft IP65 for 47.50 quid against about 35 for a 'normal' fitting with
reflector. Prices plus VAT, of course.

--
*Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

Simon Avery wrote:

I'd go for 3 or 4 5' or 6' flourescents.

I'd also use a filament bulb spotlight over the main workbench on a
seperate switch.

I agree with the flouries, perhaps taking the layout into consideration
you need to think about what task lighting you require. Having 8 6ft
doubles in my painted walls 4m x 10m workshop here fed from 3 phases,
the full splash proof type, we still have incandesant task lighting on
all rotating machinery, the strobe effect is dangerous and is avoidable.
If good colour rendition is important blue daylight simulation bulbs in
task lights are invaluble.

Niel.

On Mon, 08 Sep 2003 08:40:49 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

The roof is pitched with tiles (this is a detached building) and has
trussed roof frames. I boarded onto the top side of the "ceiling"
joists - if you imagine it like a house, the underside would have had
plasterboard. This boarding is T&G floorboarding, of which I was
able to obtain a good price for quantity at a timber yard. So from
below you can see the joists and the underside of the boards.

Thanks for that. I imagined you'd boarded from below (as well).

PoP

So, general consensus - paint the floor first, or walls?

Definitely walls. Then you don't have to worry about splashing paint on the
floor, because you just don't care. This means you can go like the clappers
with the roller!

Christian.

On Mon, 08 Sep 2003 13:00:09 +0100, Ben Blaney
wrote:

So, general consensus - paint the floor first, or walls?

Walls. Any paint drips will be covered over when you paint the floor
(and paint tends to drip downwards, not upwards).

PoP

In article ,
PoP writes:
Have thought about putting a 100w bulb in each corner (as well as the
central bulb), but that adds up to 500w of power consumption - quite a
lot relatively speaking. Perhaps someone has used other types of light
source which they could recommend.

In a single garage with white ceiling and bare brick walls,
I have 3 x 5' 58W single fittings, and that's good enough for
regular woodwork. Bought a 4-pack and the 4th went into the loft.
It might not be good enough for very intricate work.

Have replaced the ballasts in the ones in the garage with instant
start electronic as the freezer is in there, and nipping in for a
few seconds to access the freezer could be anoying when the lights
only finish coming on as you have finished in there. (Actually,
only got round to replacing two of them so far -- last one's been
waiting a couple of years for me to get around to it;-)

--
Andrew Gabriel

Being perverse I did the floor first because it was dusty. I then
put newspaper on the floor near the walls and painted the walls.
There was still the odd drip,which wipes up with a wet cloth anyway.

I did mine the right way round. Then, when I'd finished, I smacked my roller
on a pole (loaded with taupe floor paint) into the lovely white ceiling. The
splat is still there!

Christian.

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
PoP wrote:

I'm just doing up my garage/workshop and would appreciate advice on
what sort of lighting to put up. It's a double-width garage, one

I used 4 x 5' 65W tubes in my 12' x 8' workshop. With magnolia walls and
ceiling you get a very good working light.

Also make sure you buy the diffusers for the strip lights - they have
saved a tube numerous times when I have accidentally clomped one with a
bit of wood!

As my garage is unheated, I used IP65 sealed units, which not only protect
the tubes from accidental damage, but also, if you make sure the entries are
sealed and close them in warm, dry conditions, from condensation in winter.
As the tubes lose light output with age, it is a good idea in a workshop to
replace them every 2 or 3 years, depending on the use they get. Cleaning the
diffusers regularly also makes a lot of difference.

Colin Bignell

On Mon, 8 Sep 2003 14:16:32 +0100, "Christian McArdle"
wrote:

Definitely walls. Then you don't have to worry about splashing paint on the
floor, because you just don't care. This means you can go like the clappers
with the roller!

Following on from a suggestion raised on this forum yesterday I
decided to paint the inside of my garage white.

I did a few feet of wall today (one car bay width). I have to admit
that I haven't had to work that hard getting paint from tin to wall
when painting before!

Actually, getting the paint to the wall with a roller is no problem,
but getting those pesky mortar runs between bricks using a roller,
that's another matter. In the end I made better progress with a large
brush. At this rate I should finish the garage by the end of the week.

PoP

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
PoP writes:
Have thought about putting a 100w bulb in each corner (as well as the
central bulb), but that adds up to 500w of power consumption - quite
a lot relatively speaking. Perhaps someone has used other types of
light source which they could recommend.

In a single garage with white ceiling and bare brick walls,
I have 3 x 5' 58W single fittings, and that's good enough for
regular woodwork. Bought a 4-pack and the 4th went into the loft.
It might not be good enough for very intricate work.

Have replaced the ballasts in the ones in the garage with instant
start electronic as the freezer is in there, and nipping in for a
few seconds to access the freezer could be anoying when the lights
only finish coming on as you have finished in there. (Actually,
only got round to replacing two of them so far -- last one's been
waiting a couple of years for me to get around to it;-)

Add an ordinary light or 2 for quick acces jobs like getting to the freezer,
no point firing everything up when all you need is a little lighting.

--
James...
http://www.jameshart.co.uk/

"Dave Plowman" wrote in message
...
In article ,
nightjar nightjar@insert my surname here.uk.com wrote:
As my garage is unheated, I used IP65 sealed units, which not only
protect the tubes from accidental damage, but also, if you make sure the
entries are sealed and close them in warm, dry conditions, from
condensation in winter.

I was going to say it seems an expensive solution to a problem that
shouldn't exist in a garage,

Until I glued a rubber speed bump across the door, my garage would flood
every time there was heavy rain. As the raft has sunk in the corner furthest
from the door, it could be a couple of inches deep there. Even now, a
rain-laden North wind can bring water seeping through the single skin brick
wall after a few hours. Painting it with Aquaseal has been on my to-do list
for a few years now.

but looking at TLC prices, you get a Telco
twin 6ft IP65 for 47.50 quid against about 35 for a 'normal' fitting with
reflector. Prices plus VAT, of course.

I don't think I paid as much as that, but I don't have the invoice to hand.
One of my factory units has a low-roofed mezzanine floor and I used sealed
units there to protect the lights from damage. When I bought those, I added
a couple of units on for my garage, so was able to buy them with both trade
and quantity discounts.

Colin Bignell

In article ,
Ben Blaney wrote:

Christian McArdle wrote:

So, general consensus - paint the floor first, or walls?

Definitely walls. Then you don't have to worry about splashing paint on the
floor, because you just don't care. This means you can go like the clappers
with the roller!

Good thinking!

Can you tell I'm new to DIY?

Get a nice long handle for your roller to do the floor, better for your
back.

Peter

--
Peter Ashby
School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Scotland
To assume that I speak for the University of Dundee is to be deluded.
Reverse the Spam and remove to email me.

On Mon, 08 Sep 2003 10:41:04 +0100, Dave Plowman
wrote:

I was going to say it seems an expensive solution to a problem that
shouldn't exist in a garage, but looking at TLC prices, you get a Telco
twin 6ft IP65 for 47.50 quid against about 35 for a 'normal' fitting with
reflector. Prices plus VAT, of course.

I was in Focus DIY shed earlier today and swung by the lighting
section.

4ft x 38w with diffuser costs £25, VAT included. May not be IP65 spec
but it looks like I'll be grabbing 4 of those shortly.

BTW, I thought metrication had taken over big time these days? Why are
flourescent lights described in feet then?

PoP

On Tue, 9 Sep 2003 19:44:32 UTC, PoP
wrote:

BTW, I thought metrication had taken over big time these days? Why are
flourescent lights described in feet then?

Especially when flour is measured in kilograms...! :-)

--
Bob Eager
rde at tavi.co.uk
PC Server 325*4; PS/2s 9585, 8595, 9595*2, 8580*3,
P70...

In uk.d-i-y, PoP wrote:

BTW, I thought metrication had taken over big time these days? Why are
flourescent lights described in feet then?

Describe 'em how you want: call the 5ft length 150cm if you're being
usefully descriptive, or 2.54 * 60 = 152.4 if you're being inappropriately
exact (like those recipes which tell you to take '56g of butter' when it
meant 'about 2 oz'. But, unusually, I digress ;-). Not even the Society
for Mass Metrication is going to suggest changing the physical dimensions
of existing flourescent tube fittings, meaning people having to keep twice
as many tubes in stock and fitting too-loose/too-tight or otherwise
marginally incompatible tubes into fittings made 20 and more years ago!

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 01:43:19 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

4ft x 38w with diffuser costs £25, VAT included. May not be IP65 spec
but it looks like I'll be grabbing 4 of those shortly.

Sounds rather pricey to me!

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Menu_Index/Lighting_Fluorescent_Index/Fluorescent_Batten_Fittings/index.html

Agreed - I went to the TLC web site last night.

I was comparing the Focus price with the 40-50 quid someone quoted in
an earlier message for IP65's. They must have been talking about
something different

PoP

PoP wrote:

Actually, getting the paint to the wall with a roller is no problem,
but getting those pesky mortar runs between bricks using a roller,
that's another matter. In the end I made better progress with a large
brush. At this rate I should finish the garage by the end of the week.

I need to finish the glosswork in my hall - and, ideally, do my bedroom
- before getting cracking on the garage.

--
Ben Blaney
Must try harder

In article ,
writes:
In uk.d-i-y, PoP wrote:

BTW, I thought metrication had taken over big time these days? Why are
flourescent lights described in feet then?

Describe 'em how you want: call the 5ft length 150cm if you're being
usefully descriptive, or 2.54 * 60 = 152.4

It really doesn't matter much, since there's no dimension on a
5' tube which measures 5' anyway. The bi-pin tube size measurement
for the original tubes was the spacing between fittings when you
ran them in a continuous line. However, that doesn't apply to
all tube sizes. A quick check of the datasheets shows 18" and 6'
tubes must be based on some other scheme.

In practice, tubes are now quoted in mm sizes, but again, not their
real size -- the conversion is simply to convert the old tube size
to mm using conversion factor 300mm = 1', so a 5' tube is now called
a 1500mm tube. Of course, there's no dimension on it which is 1500mm,
and because 300mm is not really the same as 1', the quoted measurement
is not even the fitting spacing anymore either ;-)

--
Andrew Gabriel