Wiring Pole Barn around Posts?

[Nate0918]

I'm looking at planning the wiring in my pole barn and wondering how I can get around the main support posts. The girts and siding are actually offset by 1.5" from the poles to the outside, leaving a 1.5" gap between the posts and siding. There are spacers nailed to the posts that offset the siding, see pics. Could I drill through these spacers and run the wire inbetween the posts and siding? If so, this would make the wiring much easier. If that spacing isn't enough, could I just sleeve this section with a chunk of emt? The plan is to use romex, staple to the girts, then insulate and sheath the walls. Finally got the panel installed yesterday after a year and a half of exentesion cords from the house!

 

[RPH]

Why not surface mount with conduit? Easier to change when the inevitable change comes. It’s a shop and things change overtime.

 

[Norcal]

If Proper Prior Planning had been done conduits could have been placed before the concrete was poured.

 

[duneslider]

I'm no electrician but I think your plan is fine. There is a part of me that wouldn't bother with the emt sleeve but then there is a part of me that says if you ever redo the siding there is a chance to hit a wire then so the emt is a good idea. Surface mount conduit is nice to work on in the future and for changes and such but I'm not a super skilled conduit guy and I don't like the exposed conduit look in a home shop, but I understand that some do like it.

 

[olytdi]

In my pole barn, anything below 8 ft I run as armored or in conduit if exposed or at risk (like you infer going behind the posts might be). I think you'd be fine putting romex through PVC conduit "sleeves" but technically, both ends of each of those sleeves should have a bushings glued-on so that there are no abrasive edges to the inner and outer lips of the conduit.

I put pre-painted plywood panels, between my posts and bookshelf girts, that are recessed to the posts (the posts stick out into the room from the wall panels). My bookshelf girts, however, are flush to the inside edge of the posts. At the building's inside corners, I put a piece of two-by at a 45 deg angle from girt-to-girt at the corners making a continuous shelf from the bookshelf girt on one wall to the next wall. I ran my metalic cable wiring for receptacles on the bottoms of the bookshelf girts and those 45 deg "shelves" at the corners allowed me to continue the wiring run underneath the bookshelf girt avoiding having to bore through the posts or wrap cable around the front of the corner posts.

For posts that were between corners on the walls, I was able to run the cable behind the posts like you're describing. My 2 gang steel receptacle boxes are mounted under the bookshelf girts around the entire inside perimeter of the building such that they're slightly recessed and thereby protected.

Hope that all made sense. I could shoot some photos tomorrow if needed.