Sorry if this isn't the appropriate group for this question... searching
Google for questions about setting up workshops always seemed to lead me
here...

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 used to always have the same quandry until my wife started building houses.
Now I have learned. You just plan on spending a few bucks for a good drywall
punch guy and cut a hole in the drywall. Life becones a lot easier. Actually if
you score and cut a 24" or 16" piece on the stud/purlin it isn't really beyond
the ability of a handy homeowner to replace it. A big hole is easier to patch
than a small one. Cut it back to the next joint. If you do a little planning
you might only end up with a couple patches.

Plan B is to try to fish the wire or use surface raceways, both can be ugly in
their respective ways.

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 05:08:37 GMT, "Scott Smith"
wrote:

|Sorry if this isn't the appropriate group for this question... searching
|Google for questions about setting up workshops always seemed to lead me
|here...
|
|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?

Jeeze, you can afford a house in SD, what's another $10 or $20K for a
coupla lights [g].

Seriously, I'd just surface mount the fixtures and wire them up using
conduit. If it's a work area, a little industrial strength ambiance
seems totally appropriate.

I would however, make sure that the fixtures are rated for residential
use. A lot of the garbage at the Borgs is not and the radio frequency
noise they generate is outrageous.

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 05:08:37 GMT, "Scott Smith"
wrote:

Sorry if this isn't the appropriate group for this question... searching
Google for questions about setting up workshops always seemed to lead me
here...

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


If you're worried about the wires showing, use "external conduit"...
it's those funny looking 1/2 round tubes that you see in older
buildings, running to the lights and switches...
Most BORGs have it..

We did my neighbor's garage last year and just used white romex with
white staples.. pretty close match to his paint, as luck would have
it..



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Scott Smith asks:
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 appreciate

I'd go with straight EMT, but if you're really worried about the looks, do what
I did in my home office: use Wiremold.

www.wiremold.com



Charlie Self
"One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise above
that which is expected." George W. Bush

"Scott Smith" wrote in message

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.


All you have to do is replace that 60w bulb with a 100 Watt and it will be
more than you ever need. Fast, cheap, can't be beat.

If that is not good enough for you, surface mounted fixture will be just
fine. Depending on the garages size, four to six fixtures is about right.
Placement may be more important than total. There are wiring strips made for
surface mount that will look fairly decent.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
om...

"Scott Smith" wrote in
message

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.


All you have to do is replace that 60w bulb with a 100 Watt and it will be
more than you ever need. Fast, cheap, can't be beat.

Kids. What do they know?


If that is not good enough for you, surface mounted fixture will be just
fine. Depending on the garages size, four to six fixtures is about right.
Placement may be more important than total. There are wiring strips made
for
surface mount that will look fairly decent.



Ignore Edwin. He's youthful and unaffected by those things that plague us
over time. Put up light bars - strings of them on the ceiling. Put a
couple high up on the walls too. You may not appreciate the value of them
just now, but I promise you, there'll come a time...

--

-Mike-

Heck, I think a nicely bent surface mount conduit job adds to any home
decor... But anyway If you surface mount a fluorescent over the existing
fixture and use that for your power supply you should be able to safely end
to end chain several fixtures with out too much ugliness...

Knothead

Another thought:

None of the lights in my shop are where I originally put them. I have
to keep moving them around as my use and tool population changes.

If I were faced with your task, I'd install a lot of ceiling mounted
outlets (controlled by a switch) and then hang lights where I want
them, and plug them into the nearest outlet.

And, I never realized until I got old, that the reason us old geezers
need more light is not that things are dim, but that old eyes don't
focus well in dimmer light. (Has to do with lens opening and depth of
field) If I ramp up the watts, the marks on the ruler (or the
locations of the screwhead) become a lot clearer. So plan on adding
more lights in the future.

And, have some task lights you can move around as needed.
New shop!! Wonderful!!!

WaltC

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 11:39:38 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:


"Scott Smith" wrote in message

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.


All you have to do is replace that 60w bulb with a 100 Watt and it will be
more than you ever need. Fast, cheap, can't be beat.

If that is not good enough for you, surface mounted fixture will be just
fine. Depending on the garages size, four to six fixtures is about right.
Placement may be more important than total. There are wiring strips made for
surface mount that will look fairly decent.

no way... replace it with a 200 watt heatlamp... then the shop will be
lighter and warmer..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On 12 Jan 2005 10:54:32 GMT, otforme (Charlie Self)
wrote:

I'd go with straight EMT, but if you're really worried about the looks, do what
I did in my home office: use Wiremold.

www.wiremold.com



Charlie Self

thanks, Charlie... I used "external conduit" cuz I couldn't remember
"wiremold!

OTOH, he could build false beams in the garage and run the wiring
there.. maybe get that spanish hand carved look? ;lol


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

I thought that that was illegal in most states. Romex is supposed to be
used within enclosed walls. Exterior (to a wall) wiring should go in
some type of tubing (a few different ones are around)

Len

mac davis wrote:

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 05:08:37 GMT, "Scott Smith"
wrote:


Sorry if this isn't the appropriate group for this question... searching
Google for questions about setting up workshops always seemed to lead me
here...

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



If you're worried about the wires showing, use "external conduit"...
it's those funny looking 1/2 round tubes that you see in older
buildings, running to the lights and switches...
Most BORGs have it..

We did my neighbor's garage last year and just used white romex with
white staples.. pretty close match to his paint, as luck would have
it..



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Greetings,

I had the same situation, but with no dry wall on the ceiling. First
I will tell you what I did, and then suggest what you might want to
possibly consider as suggestion for you to adapt to your own needs.

I changed the one bulb socket into a junction box by changing the
cover plate. I mounted duplex outlet boxes on the ceiling where
ever I wanted a fluorescent fixture, and ran power cables from
the old bulb box to each of them. From Home Depot, I bought
fluorescent shop lights, hung them from the ceiling where I wanted
them, and plugged each into the closest duplex outlet box. The
five foot cords of the shop lights allowed a lot of flexibility.

For your situation, replace the socket cover with an extension.
The extension looks like a junction box with no back. It fastens
to the existing box using the same screw holes as a cover would
use. From this extension, run conduit to where you want the
ceiling duplex outlet boxes. To keep things easy, buy a conduit
bender to put corner bends in the conduit rather than using the
corner boxes that you cannot pull wire through. Put the
conduit and boxes up temporarily to get everything cut to length,
take them down and paint everything the color of the ceiling,
permanently mount the painted hardware, pull the wires, and install
the outlets.

Your one bulb light circuit probably has a switch for 300 to 600
watts of lights on a 15 or 20 amp circuit, so you can easily
put several dual 48 inch bulb shop lights up with no problems.
I would not run any equipment from these outlets. I would not
want the overload caused by a tool to put me in the dark at the
same time. Since users normally cannot reach these outlets,
you might not need a GFI outlet. Check with the county building
inspector about this. In Sacramento, garage outlets someone can
reach, must have GFI protection.

Please post a follow up about what you actually do.

Sincerely,
Bill Thomas.

Scott Smith wrote:
Sorry if this isn't the appropriate group for this question... searching
Google for questions about setting up workshops always seemed to lead me
here...

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

Wed, Jan 12, 2005, 5:08am (EST+5)
(Scott=A0Smith) says:
Sorry snip

And paint the whole thing the glossiest white you can find.



JOAT
Success is getting what you want.
Happiness is wanting what you get.
- =A0Dale Carnegie

"Scott Smith" writes:

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.


Use 1 watt/sq ft as a design guide for fluorescent lighting.

It will get you close.

Lew

"Leonard Lopez" wrote in message
...
I thought that that was illegal in most states. Romex is supposed to be
used within enclosed walls. Exterior (to a wall) wiring should go in some
type of tubing (a few different ones are around)

Len

At least in some places it was OK for a surface like a ceiling. It has to
be a certain minimum height to avoid being used as a clothes line etc.
Romex generally has to be routed through holes in the ceiling joists. Code
may have changed since I checked that though.

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
news
"Scott Smith" writes:

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.


Use 1 watt/sq ft as a design guide for fluorescent lighting.

It will get you close.

Lew



1 watt/sq ft?
Really? Seems low to me !
900 square foot garage, all painted white.
I have over twice that, 2080 watts of fluoresants, plus six 100 watt
incandesants and I want more!
Greg

Pull power from the existing light fixture, and run metal conduit to surface
mount flouoresant light fixtures.
Greg

In article ,
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:

It is interesting that Romex may be illegal for many appolications but a
plain extension cord is OK. There is really nothing worse than an
extension cord.

Dick



"Leonard Lopez" wrote in message
...
I thought that that was illegal in most states. Romex is supposed to be
used within enclosed walls. Exterior (to a wall) wiring should go in some
type of tubing (a few different ones are around)

Len

At least in some places it was OK for a surface like a ceiling. It has to
be a certain minimum height to avoid being used as a clothes line etc.
Romex generally has to be routed through holes in the ceiling joists. Code
may have changed since I checked that though.

Richard Cline wrote:

In article ,
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:

It is interesting that Romex may be illegal for many appolications but a
plain extension cord is OK. There is really nothing worse than an
extension cord.

The building and electrical codes only apply to stuff that is permanently
installed. Extension cords are not addressed by the electrical code
anymore than garden hoses are addressed by the plumbing code.

Dick



"Leonard Lopez" wrote in message
...
I thought that that was illegal in most states. Romex is supposed to be
used within enclosed walls. Exterior (to a wall) wiring should go in
some type of tubing (a few different ones are around)

Len

At least in some places it was OK for a surface like a ceiling. It has
to be a certain minimum height to avoid being used as a clothes line etc.
Romex generally has to be routed through holes in the ceiling joists.
Code may have changed since I checked that though.



--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 12:14:48 -0600, Leonard Lopez
wrote:

I'm assuming that it's legal here, since my neighbor is a contractor..
of course, being a contractor means that he KNOWS the codes, but might
not mean he follows them at home..

Anyway, he was very specific about 3 wire, heavy gauge, etc., etc, so
if nothing else, we built one hell of an extension cord with 4 circuit
breakers.. lol
I thought that that was illegal in most states. Romex is supposed to be
used within enclosed walls. Exterior (to a wall) wiring should go in
some type of tubing (a few different ones are around)

Len

mac davis wrote:

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 05:08:37 GMT, "Scott Smith"
wrote:


Sorry if this isn't the appropriate group for this question... searching
Google for questions about setting up workshops always seemed to lead me
here...

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



If you're worried about the wires showing, use "external conduit"...
it's those funny looking 1/2 round tubes that you see in older
buildings, running to the lights and switches...
Most BORGs have it..

We did my neighbor's garage last year and just used white romex with
white staples.. pretty close match to his paint, as luck would have
it..



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing