mounting adjustable light & avoiding wires

[Leaf it to me]

Hey all, I want to put my lamp into this closet by drilling some 2x4s into the cieling and using S-hooks and a chain.




I just wanted to know if I should use a stud finder to locate where the wood should be drilled to, and also what I should use to find out where the electrical wires are running to in the cieling.

 

[2buds]

Man be careful whatever you decide. I wasn't pickin man.

 

[Guest]

hey hey, a stud finders good (if you have one) though if not, use a small screw driver and push it up by hand (if its a flat roof could be trial and error) knocking helps find the studs, if you can get into the roof just stick a peice of wire or somthing visible in the hole you made with the screw driver to see how close you are to the nearest stud.

hope that helps

 

[Guest]

Yea sometimes you can tap the ceiling with the back of a screwdriver to find that "hollow" sound where the board would be.When you hit a joist there should be no electrical wires running along the bottom of it so that shouldnt be of concern.Most studs/joists are on 16 inch centers I believe but you cant count on that

 

[Leaf it to me]

^I thought the hollow sound would indicate that there wasn't a wood piece there.

Since it looks like 2 400s are going to fit in there perfectly, I'll probably cut a 6" hole in the cieling to vent the air cooled lights directly into the attic.

 

[2buds]

6" exhaust, oh yeh. There ya go leaf. Nope, the hollow sound means theres nothing back there man. I've always been a firm believer in picking that spot you need, push a straight coat hanger or stiff piece of wire (peice of 12-14gauge solid copper) through the ceiling, through the insulation, then crawl up there with a light and a tape measure, no matter how big a bitch it is and evaluate things from above. You never know what kinda dead wood has been nailed in to stiffen things. Sometimes surprises are not good. The tape measure is so you can confirm the spaceing between the boards and measure how far from a board you wire is, gives you a good place to start from below. Sometimes the insulation is a bitch to move or work with; quit itchy as well, so plan it out good when cutting so you only get itchy once. You don't wanna cut 2 6" holes unless you planned it that way which would allow you to externally cool those lights. :smile:
From what everybody says 2 600's is better than 2 400's for very little increase in cost.

Oh yeh, if you got someone who can stand below and tap on the ceiling it helps get you to the spot easier. After all the sweat and scratching and bleeding you'll be rewarded with some centerfold smoke.

Good luck leaf,
2buds

 

[Leaf it to me]

Okay, thanks for the advice. I will put it into play shortly.

It will be only one 6" air cooled exhuast (the lamps will be linked together and then exhausted in one duct).. 400's will be used because MH only comes in 400.

 

[Leaf it to me]

6" exhaust, oh yeh. There ya go leaf. Nope, the hollow sound means theres nothing back there man. I've always been a firm believer in picking that spot you need, push a straight coat hanger or stiff piece of wire (peice of 12-14gauge solid copper) through the ceiling, through the insulation, then crawl up there with a light and a tape measure, no matter how big a bitch it is and evaluate things from above. You never know what kinda dead wood has been nailed in to stiffen things. Sometimes surprises are not good. The tape measure is so you can confirm the spaceing between the boards and measure how far from a board you wire is, gives you a good place to start from below. Sometimes the insulation is a bitch to move or work with; quit itchy as well, so plan it out good when cutting so you only get itchy once. You don't wanna cut 2 6" holes unless you planned it that way which would allow you to externally cool those lights. :smile:
From what everybody says 2 600's is better than 2 400's for very little increase in cost.

Oh yeh, if you got someone who can stand below and tap on the ceiling it helps get you to the spot easier. After all the sweat and scratching and bleeding you'll be rewarded with some centerfold smoke.

Good luck leaf,
2buds

Okay, i hadn't totally understood what you were saying, now I realize that you were talking about just exhausting.

I do need to do that, but right now I need to drill a 2x4 into the ceiling. I'm afraid when drilling I might hit some electric. Can you please advise how to avoid hitting the electric?

If I'm not mistaken, the electrical wires may be running on one of the boards I want to drill into, correct? Cause look at that light right there especially (upper left corner of photo).

 

[assuck]

turn off breaker

turn off breaker

could always turn off the breaker. drill what u gotta drill and hope for the best

 

[Leaf it to me]

There has to be a right way to do this.

 

[MTF-Sandman]

There has to be a right way to do this.

Use a stud finder to find the studs (use a small awl or icepick to verify it's not a false reading) and mark them with a sharpie. Attach a 1x4 or 2x4 across the room where your light will be by screwing it into the studs. Then mark the center of the room on the boards you installed and hang your light accordingly.

The only place you run the risk of hitting electrical wiring should be right next to the fixture...otherwise the wiring should be attached to the studs at least 2" from the nailing surface. This of course assumes that the house is built to current NEC electrical codes.

If you're in doubt, just go into the attic and take a picture of the wiring in the area so that you can compare it to what's below the ceiling.

 

[Mad HattersWrld]

There is, you have to have access to the attic to see what you are working with. If it is an apartment you could have ducting and if thats the case are you filtering the air from the lights?

 

[2buds]

MTF is hitting the nails on the head. :smile:
Sorry man, we was on different pages.
The common denominator here is, unfortunately a trip in the HOT attic will answer many of your questions. If it were me Leaf, I'd shove the wire up through the ceiling and crawl my fat ars up there and scope out the situation. ( be careful of your duct work, that duct register would make a great landmark for trying to find that room from above along with the electrical for the light) I really don't think your gonna hit a wire running some screws up in the ceiling as long as you screw into the wood which I realise finding the wood is your problem.
The stud finders are great but can give a false reading. As said above, an ice pick or awl works great for confirming the location of the rafter. After confirming with the pick, measure over 16" and test with your stud finder, if you get a positive reading then your rafters are laid out on 16" centers so every 16", you got solid wood. You can also use the stud finder to confirm the direction of your rafters.(front to back / side to side) With that light being centered in the room, I doubt you'll find electric wires at the ends of the room. I whish we leaved near one another Leaf, be glad to come over, smoke a bowl and help ya out man. I ain't no virgin to attics after running phone/network cables for 10 years. I will say be careful around your duct work if you go up there. If you have to move your insulation from around that duct, make sure you put it back, uninsulated duct is a condensation/water stain on your ceiling waiting to happen. Whish there was an easy way without risk but, in the end its your call Leaf.
Be safe in whatever you decide to do.
Peace