Phase 3: Finish
Work
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Shop
Planning
Phase 1: Site Prep and Foundation
Phase 2: Framing
Phase 3: Finish Work
Phase 4: Shop Setup |
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Lighting To
light each of the three shop bays, I chose high-output
fluorescent strips, 8' long with double tubes. I
installed two rows of two lights in each of the bays; I
had planned on three rows in the boat bays, but found
that two was more than adequate, so I eliminated the
third row. In its place, I installed a switched
outlet, which would be handy for auxiliary lighting or
other uses later on when working on elevated boat decks. |
Each fixture required minor assembly on the ground, and
then I lifted them onto the tall pipe staging for
installation into the ceiling strapping with screws,
after which I installed the long bulbs. One bay at
a time, moving the staging in between, I completed the
lights over a period of two days. |
 I
ran into a slight problem in the two boat bays. I
had planned to run lights along the entire length of the
bays, but discovered that the garage doors left
inadequate clearance above them when they were opened.
This meant that I could install no permanent fixtures in
the front 16' of the shop. Fortunately, I found
that the four lights towards the back were adequate to
light the front part of the shop, though I'd have to
come up with some form of portable or wall lighting to
help at that end, as it was dimmer than I would have
liked despite it all. More on this later. |
 Overall,
I was very pleased with the lighting. When first
installed, the insulation and white plastic on the
interior was incomplete, but even with the wood framing
and pink insulation, the lighting was significant.
Later on, once all the walls were covered with the
bright white plastic, the effect was nearly blinding in
its intensity. |
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 I
began installing some of the outdoor lighting on a warm
day in January. I was waiting for use of the man
lift in order to install a gable light on the front of
the building, since the location was too tall even for
my 32' ladder, and some motion-detecting lights that I
planned for the upper reaches of the sidewalls could
wait too. But I installed a couple simple fixtures
at the two side doors (office and shop bay
2)--inexpensive, yet attractive, glass-globe fixtures. |
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 Inside
the shop bay containing the man door (bay 2), I also
installed a single-bulb fluorescent fixture near the
door, with a switch at the door, to make lighting the
bay possible if entering through that door. The
switches for the main overhead lights were located at
the back end, near the doors through which I'd normally
be entering from the woodshop bay, and rather than go to
the significant trouble of running 3-way switches, I
figured the simple fixture would be more than adequate. |
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This page was originally
posted on January 23, 2006. |
