The Conduit Garage

[Hingebird]

Hello Everyone!

Finally, I decided to start publishing what I have named "The Conduit Garage", a three-car garage. I started to wonder around the GJ back in Nov '13 after, after a search in Google brought me to a post on this site when I was looking for tiled garages.

Why the name? Essentially, I had to use conduit to run additional electricity to my garage, as I wanted to buy a 220v welder, and install additional 110v outlets to better match the layout of my work space. Because the main electrical panel is on the opposite side of the house, I did not feel cutting squares every 16 inches to run the wires through the walls. Hence, I decided to use conduit to keep it within code, and mostly, to my liking.

Below pictures of my garage as I started retrofitting it with conduit.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

-Conrad

 

[Thruxton]

Looks nice - love that coupe! And I think conduit is a great way to go. It looks good and it's fun to bend More pics!

 

[volleyball]

I had the same year and color 46 as yours that I had to sell when I went into the military. Would be nice to have it now. Wanna send me yours?

 

[Hingebird]

Thank you, Thruxton. I will be posting later today how I got the conduit into the garage.

I never bent conduit before, so off course that I did it wrong. I watched a YouTube tutorial and that helped a lot.

 

[Hingebird]

Thanks, Stanley is not for sale yet. As for what I can tell, he was Burgundy. Someone had the idea to hot rod it and painted it black. It is a complete original car that does not run. I'm fixing the garage, so I can start working on the car.

 

[Hingebird]

Here the pictures I took while trenching the conduit from the main electrical panel to the garage:

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Digging through the mixture of clay and rocks was painful, especially as I did not have the right shove:

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Then I needed to verify that I stayed within code requirements, after turn # 1. There were very challenging 18 inches:

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By the end of the day I was able to run the conduit under the cement walkway, after creating a mess of water and clay:

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... and finally reached the garage wall and I was able to drill through the wall and install "Checkpoint Charlie" box:

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I will be posting more pictures, but first I need to make them much smaller. There is not much detail to show right now.

-Conrad

 

[C96]

Not seeing it

 

[Hingebird]

Hello C96,

Thank you for pointing it out. For some reason, they did not post when I used my tablet. They should be Ok now.

 

[poorhouse]

Watching with interest.

My shop with finished walls, is wired for overhead lights only...

Instead of fishing through drywall I thinking about going with conduit.

 

[Hingebird]

All,

Sorry that I have been remiss posting updates. Here are more pictures about the progress.

I have completed the conduit run across the walls to serve my three-car garage. It includes a 220v outlet, capped right now, as I decided to go with an Eastwood 135 welder. Much passionate debates are going around in the GJ with going with either a Lincoln or a Miller welder. However, since my time is limited, I decided to purchase an Eastwood one instead. So far, Santa is disappointed as I had only put it together and sat it on the welder cart since Christmas.

Apologies for the picture sizes, but I am still fighting getting the right size for the pictures to post. Hopefully, the third time will be a charm.

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Panel box:
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Transition time! I needed to keep the cold ones so I run a "temporary" extension from the switches to the fridge in the laundry room until the conduit work was completed. The romex going to the fridge runs inside the drywall from the junction box that can be seen in the picture. Basically, I cut the romex to length so 75% of the laundry room work was already completed
View media item 40511
More of the conduit run to its final destination:
View media item 40515View media item 40514

 

[wrench409]

I too converted my outlying garage wiring from Romex to conduit. When I examined the Romex wire I removed I found 5 places where nails and staples penetrated the Romex. Some were brown from heat, one rather severe. It was built in the late 60's and the previous homeowner did the wiring. None of it could have passed code even for back then.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Hingebird]

Wrench409,

The risk with old construction is that people usually hack through a solution and unfortunately a fire hazard is waiting to materialize.

I used conduit, because I didn't want to go through the drywall every 16 inches. Also, I am able to reroute and add power.

 

[wannabridin]

any idea the cost to run all the wiring? I have the same issue as you, main breaker on the farthest side of the house and I'd REALLY like to get better electrical out in the garage!! I was going to run wires through the attic, but use conduit for the outlets. the more i think about it, the more i NEED to do it!!

 

[Hingebird]

Wannabridin,

The cost is a function of the distance from the electrical service point from your house to the intended garage location for the panel, and the layout of the outlets in you garage.

Additionally, you need to factor in how many 220v outles and 120v outlets you want, and location. To that, you need to add the cost of conduit, the outlets, panel, and breakers. Once, you have that don't forget the City permit which is usually a percentage of your overall cost.

My recommendation is to sketch it first so you buy the correct gauge for the wires you will be using.

BTW, my cost was in the $500 ballpark.

I hope this helps.

Conrad

 

[Hingebird]

Hello,

I am adding the pictures that I have remaining for the conduit run, and the extension that went into the laundry room to keep the drinks cold --your choice of a definition of a "cold" one.

The "Saving" Fridge (we are already into our AZ scorching heat and it is not Summer yet) laundry upgrade, and the shelves rearrangement to keep my wife happy:

View media item 40687
The conduit run across the second bay that also takes power to the side of the house of a security light, and a 20A and 25A circuits so I can weld outside:

View media item 40683
View media item 40681
...and it goes around to very back of the third bay ending the run next to the water heater:
View media item 40684View media item 40682
Finally, I couldn't resist the glowing light switches for the garage. I thought they looked cool, at least for me:
View media item 40686View media item 40685
Keep you posted with other projects. I acquired some stuff recently from Craigslist and swap meets that I will be restoring in between working out my frustrations with my '46 Ford:

• Wilton Vise (no not a machinist one yet)
• Columbian
• Walker Turner Drill Press circa 1948 (shop floor model)
• Craftsman hand saw circa 1946 with original metal box, and user's manual
• Kenmore? fan circa 50's
• Kennedy tool box (needs help)

Thanks,

 

[UN4GTBL]

That's a great space, thanks for sharing!

 

[Hingebird]

UN4GTBL,

Thank you. It is still messy... I need to start working on that right away because having the third bay with always my cars there leaves me with little room to play.

Looking for ideas to maximize the space



-Conrad