Electrical and plumbing layout

[gastgarage]

Brand-newbie question:

Can anyone direct me to resources (here or elsewhere, print or web) that can help me figure out how to design electrical and plumbing into a garage?

I am in the late planning stages and early lot-clearing stages for a new 26x34 freestanding garage, have the permit pulled, basic engineering done, etc. I am contracting out the shell but want to do the interior myself, including plumbing, electrical, sheetrock, and insulation. I'm pretty handy, having done some plumbing and basic electrical up to and including installation of a subpanel (that hasn't caught fire yet...).

I know the basics, like where I want 120 vs 240 outlets, what size wire to use for 15 amp vs. 20 amp circuits, but want to make sure the electrical layout is both safe and efficient, and likewise for the plumbing.

Figure there's gotta be books out there, a saved thread on this forum, or maybe a website or two....

Thanks in advance for any pointers.
Warren P.

 

[hilld]

While there are some general guidelines, a lot of the layout is personal preference. For example, where you have work benches you want the outlets to be above work surface, which is generally 36", so the outlets should be around 44-48" high, while on the floor they should be around 18". If these outlets are going into a garage, they should be GFCI protected, either with a GFCI outlet (first outlet) and the others connected to the load side of the first outlet, or simply protected by a GFCI breaker.

Plumbing goes along the same way, if you need a toilet, you will want to install the drain before pouring concrete, the same goes for a floor drain.

For electrical, if you want to run 20A circuits, you need to use at least 12Ga wire (possibly larger if the runs are really, really long), for 15A circuits you can use 14Ga wire. For 120V, you will want to use a 2 conductor wire (black - hot and white - neutral) plus ground (if using Romex, it is generally referred to as 12/2 or 14/2 wire). For 220A circuits, you will use 2 hot wires (black and red generally) plus a ground. You can use the same type of Romex wire if you mark the white wire as a hot wire (usually red tape).

As a general rule, you can never have too many outlets, but limit the number of outlets per circuit. Also consider the placement of lights and switches, but you need to sketch out how you will lay out the garage and plan on outlets and plumbing from your sketch. If you are going to install equipment such as hoists, it might be a good idea to prewire the circuit to a junction box near the final location, you can then extend the circuit from the jbox to the equipment once you know where it goes.

I know lots of stuff to think about, but take your time with the design/layout, you will be happier later.

Derek

 

[little d]

^^^^ the only thing i can add to this is, run your lights on a seperate circuit, that way when you run something drawing lots of amps, your lights dont draw down.

 

[gastgarage]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

 

[rodnok1]

You have to figure out the plumbing now. I installed 2 inch PVC pipes running inside to outside under the slab for future upgrades(water,cable,ouside electrical) and ran one the entire length under the slab are for any unknowns. If I can find my books I'll post the names...

 

[rodnok1]

Found them
Mostly Tauton's for pros by pros,
Graphic guide to Frame construction
Wiring a house
Plumbing a house

Others
Ortho Books: Basic wiring techniques has some good diagrams and goes over some basci items

Now those being list are used by someone who has done alot of electical work, but never a new installation of meter, etc... The plumbing was used to find setbacks, sizing and vent locations(PITA). It is alot easier working on a standard house where you have access to everything and can fix foul ups easily. Any plumbing mistakes are not going to be easy to fix under the slab. It would prob benefit you to have a plumber install/desgin at least the in slab stuff, JMO