At Home In The Woods

[tony Cecil]

You might consider putting a small hook for a washcloth , which would be high enough to miss the shower head...Very handy....vs just looping it over the control valve...Tony Your framer sounds like he is doing a good job...Tony

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have 3 motion lights at my place. 2 are 18' up and one is 10' up. they are just the simple white 2 bulb flood lights with a motion sensor. It think they were about $15 each. The one 10' up is more sensitive that the other 2 that are high up. I know I am going to jinx myself but I have only change 1 bulb in 7 years. I only have 16" overhang or so and I know they get rained on a lot and no issues.

By the way I remember when I put them in. I had to wire them and put each on a switch. 2 are on my pole barn and one on the house. The instructions say if you shut it off then back on in 10 seconds it will stay on. To reset it to motion you turn it off for something like 2 minutes then back on. I have never done that, I just keep it on motion.

Chris

 

[dstig1]

I hung a double flood/motion sensing on my MILs house at the 2nd story corner eave (much like you are wanting to do). Not sure how high, but it must be around 20'. Simple extension ladder for changing bulbs, which isn't great but works fine. They sense motion at ground level just fine, and have day/night sensor so they stay off during the day. Same basic function where you can leave them on by flicking the switch twice.

If you really want to, you can just get a separate motion sensor, and tie it to basic flood lights via X10 home automation, or hard wiring it. The X10 stuff would be nice here as you could then control those lights from elsewhere in the house, like if you heard something and wanted to wake up whoever or whatever was rummaging around out there.

-Dave

 

[buckeyefarmer]

The shower stall will need to be replaced before the drywall goes in, if you go that route. I used to know a guy who made a living repairing fiberglass tubs, most of his work was new construction boo boo's. Last I heard he now lives in Tenn somewhere.

 

[Obed]

Outdoor Electric Boxes in the Brick

Is it a good or bad idea to use blue plastic electrical boxes for the outside outlets that will be installed in the brick veneer walls?

The brick will start being laid this Monday. Yay! The electrician has run wire through the exterior wall sheathing to the places where the boxes for the outside outlets will be installed in the brick. He intends to use the blue plastic electrical boxes that you see for indoor outlets for the outlets on the exterior walls.

We have asked for metal boxes to be installed in the brick instead of the blue plastic boxes for the outside outlets. He will comply with our request but is discouraging use of the metal outlets. He says the screws and screw holes in the metal boxes rust. He also doesn't like the metal boxes because of risk of a wire in the box shorting against the metal box.

I'm just wondering if the plastic boxes are cheaper and don't last as long. I hate to think of the plastic boxes decaying while they are mortared into the brick.

What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance,
Obed

 

[dstig1]

Plastic really doesn't decay. Ever. The galvanized steel boxes will rust and disappear much faster. If that is your only issue with steel vs plastic, I'd say you want plastic. But either one should outlast you.

A box that is sealed might be wise in the brick as brick sucks up a ton of moisture.

-Dave

 

[2manyrocks]

I think there are couple of grades of the blue plastic electrical boxes. One is flimsy to my thinking. There's a higher grade blue box that is more sturdy. Then there is the gray plastic box used for outdoor conduit.

Since it's concealed in the house, I don't think it would deteroriate, but I do think the low end stuff is flimsy to start with, and there's not a good way to anchor it to make it not flimsy.

Metal tends to rust over time, but 20 years from now it will still be more sturdy than the plastic IMHO.

 

[Obed]

Shower Update

Our plumber told us that if we replaced the shower/tub, most of his plumbing would have to be redone. He says he has seen fiberglass tub repairs that were done so well that you couldn't tell the tub had been repaired. The plumbing supply store that sold us the shower gave as a number of someone who repairs fiberglass tubs. The wife talked to them. It will cost $95+ for the repair. We are most likely going to get the tub repaired instead of replacing it.

Even if the repair is not perfect, I don't think it will bother me, mostly because I like this framer and it was an honest mistake. It's kind of strange but if the original CM/framer had damaged the tub, I think I would have been forever annoyed every time I looked at the tub. Go figure.

 

[CurlyDave]

Obed:

I can't give you any held on good-looking lights to mount on your house -- I just think you need to consider how you are going to change the bulbs and select a mounting location that makes sense.

The only thing I know of that will degrade plastic electrical boxes is sunlight. If they are covered, I would go with the high-quality plastic ones. They will be good for many, many years.

I agree the metal ones are corrosion prone and I have regretted using them every time I did.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I used the heavy plastic ones throughout my house including outside boxes and I prefer them to the metal for corrosion resistance and they are dielectric so no shorting of wiring to worry about. I think your electrician is stearing you right. It isnt a cost issue. You just need to put a sturdy cast aluminum cover with gasket seal and flip covers on the outside boxes to keep out water and spider webs. I would go with any outside exposed to sunlight plastic.
By the way, A spider web will carry enough current to trip a GFCI circuit. I had this happen once. The GFCI kept tripping and there was nothing plugged in. I changed the GFCI and still tripped. Finally I started checking the receptacles and found that the outside box was hooked to my bathroom GFCI and was covering in spider webs. I brushed them all off and the problem was solved.