Opinions requested: "Attractive" surface mount molding for shop / garage power wiring

[Kent A Bathurst]

Jim...........

You have your priorities absolutely, positively, 100% in the correct order. I was just joking, obviously..........

My arrangements have come to this after 35 years: The upstairs is hers. I will build, repair, replace anything and everything that is identified as needing to be done. The outside of the house is hers. No front yard, no back yard, entirely gardens. With shop-made hose manifolds, timers, etc. Again - I will do whatever is instructed.

The basement shop, though...........That's mine. Including, I might say, the laundry room - I do that chore. But the stuff in the shop, and any structure, wiring, Blue Spruce, whatever......

Reminds me of the Arthur C Clarke book: 2010 Odyssey Two, where the message came across:

"All these worlds are yours, except Europa. Attempt no landings there."





BTW - I think you've nailed it with the planned 10ga, etc. Wherever you end up, you'll be good to go.

[Steve Meliza]

Jim, it sounds like you've decided on a solution that will work for you and I'm not even going to try to talk you out of paying $200 for 250ft of NM-10/3 if that is what you need to do to get the job done. It wasn't clear to me if you were drilling holes in the studs or not, so if you are you'll need a lot of holes and will need to be very careful with size and placement as the wall is probably load bearing. When you go to buy your NM-10/3 try to find a loose end on a spool and give it a bend, now picture yourself having to make those bends when routing the wire so you can be sure to plan out a wiring route that isn't going to be a bear to follow. And finally, take a quick look and make sure all of the outlets you buy will fit a #10 wire under the screw terminal.

[Jim Neeley]

Mike,

We're on pretty much the same wavelength.. and drilling or notching the studs, installing metal nail-guard plates and replacing the sheetrock are key steps. Several key sources of ignition exist in my garage; the furnace and water heater, not including the gas-powered snow blower and her car and, should a fire break out, I want all of the fire break I can get!

I was originally planning on drilling but with 2 of the 3 affected walls already insulated with fiberglass insulation, I'm now looking at notching the studs rather than fighting with the insulation, after reading 300.4(B)(2) of the code, an approach I hadn't considered until suggested here. My walls are all 2x6 construction, used for energy efficiency rather than strength, so I'm not too worried about structural.

I'm thinking about using a circular saw set for a shallow cut for the edges of the notch, a few taps with a sharp chisel to hog out mose of the rest, and perhaps my little Bosch Colt router to finish the hogging. That would preclude the need (or is that opportunity? ) to buy or rent an angle drill.

I made this post because although I'm an EE, my 30 years of experience have been in the Industrial (oil processing) sector rather than the commercial or residential sector. As a result I engineer bulletproof systems, independant of cost, for my clients. I really appreciate the opinions of the Engineers, Electricians and Field Hands that have the knowledge and experience to help me make "cost-concious but not necessarily the cheapest" decisions for my home. Thanks to you all!!! I'm still open to more ideas, hints and tricks!!

Jim

[Jim Neeley]

Ours is pretty much the same, Kent.. except she does the laundry, I hire out the mowing and trimming, she does the flowers and shrubs, except I trim them for her.

Isn't "negotiated peace" a great thing??

[Jim Neeley]

Steve,

Thank you for your post. You're the second person to recommend I go bend the end of some 10/3 before locking in on it. Your post, together with the others, finally got it through my thick head to consider notching.

Jim