Under or Over Drywall?

[Lightyear68]

I have a 20X21 attached garage that is still set up with builder specs: unfinished drywall, 1 electrical outlet, and 2 over head lights.

I'm planning to convert to a finished garage for detailing cars and have decided to begin with electrical.

Given that I have a living space above I know I need to conform to firewall codes.

To install outlets, switches, lights, and ceiling fan, I'd like to know whether you would:

(1) Remove all drywall (glued to studs), run electric, and then replace with new drywall.
(2) Run wires through conduit over drywall.
(3) Am I missing a third option?

 

[apexit1]

I think your budget should answer that. Unless you want a more industrial look you should go with option 1. It is more expesive though.

 

[CNGsaves]

Yes, option 3 is tear out portion of drywall to install more outlets, AT SAME TIME, you also run bigger electrical service with a small sub-panel (say 6 circuits). That way you can have better lighting, 240volt circuit for compressor / welder, and outlets where you need them.

Plan ahead for all your needs like putting outlet up on ceiling where you will want a hanging garage heater (ie 45K Btu Hot Dawg, for example) - - also put in black pipe steel for natural gas. Put your wall outlets at proper height so they are above your bench. Plan storage up near ceiling and could even have lighting under that storage to shine down. BEFORE you install that upper storage, you could also install black pipe steel airline system (perimeter of garage up near ceiling) so that you would have drops where you want them, with DRY air.

Moral of the story . . . planning, planning, planning. Use free Sketch-Up software and layout everything.

 

[bobemmerich]

Depends on weather or not you want to redo the drywall (or parts of it). Me personally, if it was already finished, I would just run the wires through conduit, then paint over the conduit to match. Easier to run and add/remove if necessary (Unless building codes do not allow-Follow codes for your area).
Just my .02

 

[Flange]

Personally I like the industrial look and I plan to go with option 2 in my garage when in rewire it in a couple of months time.

I guess its down to personal preference though as some people might hate conduit.

Option 1 will also take longer as well as be more expensive.

Only you can decide which one you want to go for.

 

[Kevin C]

Option #3. Conduit is probably the most cost effective and allows for future expansion or changes. I used 3/4 EMT for a lot of mine. Most of my runs have plenty of room to pull new circuits.

 

[ford33]

I ran the electrical conduit over the drywall. I like the look and it is easy to make changes. However, if I had the time and extra money and did better planning, running everything behind the wall would be nicer.

You don't say where you are located. Adding 240v lines for heater and A/c and larger machines would be a good idea. Same applies for compressed air lines and water lines.

How long do you plan to stay in the property? Why go through the additional work of tearing down drywall if only for a short stay in the shop.

 

[longlivepunk]

I'm going to be doing external conduit. I like the look, I'm low on cash, so it allows me to add more outlets as I get the money, and I LOVE the flexibility of being able to add, relocate, and upgrade outlets and lighting all I want without tearing into drywall!

 

[bczygan]

My garage walls are 2 wythes of brick, in other words, a solid wall, so surface mounted is the only option unless I fur out the walls for insulation.

In your situation, I would try to fish new wires. This still involves some holes in the drywall, and patching, but keeps most of it intact.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Hmm...question tears me up.
On one hand, I prefer in wall wiring, looks better and down the road if you want to sell the house, it just looks cleaner. On the other hand, I'm notoriously cheap...so wasting perfectly good drywall is hard for me to do.

I think all things being equal, I'd go with Surface mounted EMT, and I'd probably go the extra mile and paint all the EMT prior to installing it. Paint it a nice contrast color..integrate it nicely into your garage. EMT "plumbing" done right looks excellent.

From your OP, you said you want to detail cars...doesn't sound like you're looking to wire in circuits for huge compressors, plasma cutters, 50A here, 40A there, etc.. I'm thinking a handful of normal 120V/20A circuits is really all you're looking for...ShopVac, Buffers, etc And that's why I'd go with surface EMT. Even a 30A 240V dedicated run for a decent compressor is well within "easy EMT" wiring territory.

 

[Zippercat]

Some things to consider besides wiring: are all of your garage walls/ceiling areas insulated? You didn't mention where you are, but in a lot of areas builders don't insulate garage walls/ceilings that are not facing heated/cooled interior space. You might want to pull the drywall to insulate the garage to help keep warm/cool year round.

Do you have a sink in the garage? Almost a necessity for detailing, if you can get access to plumbing.

Are you going to be mounting cabinets or other items on the walls? If so, putting blocking between the studs in those areas makes installing the cabinets, etc. a lot easier.

Good Luck!

 

[crewchief888]

since this is an attached garage i'd 1st check with local zoning before proceeding, just to verify what is, and is not, allowed by your local building codes.

adding a location to your profile is helpful when asking these types of questions.

 

[RVDan]

Go with surface mount and conduit to get 100% sealed between the garage and living space.

No matter how well sealed you think it is, fumes, vapour, and smoke will get through the tiny holes in your electrical boxes etc. by using surface mounted electrical your ceiling can be completely sealed.

 

[Lightyear68]

This is some great feedback. I completed my brief bio and listed my location as Maryland to help those who want to give geographical building code help etc.

The posts really have me thinking conduit is the way to go...will keep reading future posts, as I'm keeping an open mind and willing to learn.

 

[crewchief888]

personally, even with a detached garage, (like mine that is bare stud walls), i'd be inclined to run surface mount EMT.


"garage stuff" is a backburner project, that gets done when time and material is available.
nearly everything in my garage is salvaged, dumpster dives, trash pickup and repurposed.

right after we moved in, i layed out a design for electrical outlets, lights and switches.
going on 8 years now, and none of it's done.

i'll get rocks thrown at me for this,
but the garage isnt top priority