I have been asked to install some lights on a soon to be built stone wall. I haver never encounter this before and was looking for someone that has. The light fixtures will sit on top of the wall. The light fixture does not look to have enough room to make the taps. Is there a box to use that will have enough room for the taps. I will be running 12/2 uf to the first light then out to the second light.
Thanks

Jbfan, do you have a manufacturer and model type for the fixture?

Roger

I will see them again monday.

I'd be interested in info regarding outdoor lights being installed in a wall, too. We're about to break ground in our front yard to build a patio entry with a retaining wall and we want to have downlighting on the driveway side as well as inside under the benches which will be wood built into or onto the retaining wall. The idea is to sort of have the similar feel as you might have in a theater or in the aisle of an airplane (though not the runway type lights, just the 'down lights').

We were in the big blue box store today for caulk & edging pavers (for yet another project) and walked through the lighting dept and even asked for their help in determining what might be available for exterior lighting. Pathetic.

We have a professional electrician (smart, aren't we? ) and we want to give him the reins to get the right equipment and supplies but we wondered what was available in terms of the aesthetically-pleasing fixture side - - came up with a big 'zero'. And to show that I am trainable, I wouldn't have bought anything anyway because I don't want to tick off the pro based on the wealth of info I've learned here.

So, any discussion or suggestions would be appreciated and we'll be happy to share ours (and hopefully pics of the job & finished project).

[This message has been edited by BuggabooBren (edited 07-24-2005).]

There is a base available that would mount to the top of the wall. This would allow you to use any light fixture that is made to install as a post light. I think they have them at Home Depot.

Did a large project last yr. which had several lights mounted on 6X6 granite bollards and several mounted on rock walls. The fixtures were designed to mount on 2 1/2" round poles or 2 1/2" conduit, so would be found in the pole light section of the catalog. Progress makes a round mounting flange which has holes to anchor down thru and also has a short upright section of 2 1/2" pipe which worked well on the perfectly level granite post tops.(These were very expensive 8 ft bollards with a hole drilled thru them lengthwise) These rock walls were without mortar, however, and the pillar tops at the ends where the lights were mounted had uneven tops, and varied spacing of rocks making anchoring impossible. We ran 3/4" PVC underground to the center of these pillar locations(before they were built) and left a stub up high enough to stick up 6" or so above what the rock wall builder gave us for height.

When we came back to install the heads, we took a section of 2 1/2" PVC(painted to match the head canopy) and slipped it down over the 3/4 PVC and worked it down in the rock pile far enough to give it strength, even adding our own various sized rocks for shims. The splices were made and tucked down in the 2 1/2" PVC, and the end product was all very servicible and removible, as well as sturdy.

Obviously, great care was taken to ground the fixtures.

This doesn't help with your down light application, but worked great for wall top lights. I know this isn't a UL listed solution, but after 2 or 3 trouble free years I am going to declare it PB (POORBOY) approved.

[This message has been edited by poorboy (edited 07-24-2005).]

[This message has been edited by poorboy (edited 07-24-2005).]

You haven't given much info here but if you're running UF, you can't run it in concrete or agragate. I think you would need to run conduit in the masonry. Also you will need a box to support the fixture, it should be sized to the fixture hardware, most likely octagonal and deep enough to accomodate 5 #12's including 1 ground in the wire count.

Thanks for the replies. After giving her the price for the job, she decided to go with low voltage. I think the price for digging the 150' of trench was the turning point.