Garage: Progress
The garage after it was cleaned up enough to get the car in, but before it was fully organized.
It took about 3½ years to get to it, but the garage was finally organized on 05/13/2020. We used the four shelf units that used to be in the laundry room as temporary kitchen storage, and added four additional units.
The original lighting consisted of these two 8-foot-long light fixtures with 2 8-foot fluorescent tubes on each. I replaced these fixtures, and an old ceiling fan, with 4 new integrated LED lights, detailed below.
On 05/15/2020, I removed the light that runs across the middle of the garage. I also had to fix some code violations that were overlooked when the house was bought. There were two junction boxes without covers, one mid line, and one that the old light fixture was wired into. The second one also had an improper wire clamp and a missing knock-out, so I replaced the box with a new one. I installed a new cover on the first one, installed my new wires for two of the new lights into the second one, and then installed a new cover on that one also.
At each location I installed recessed 2 x 4s to hang the new lights on. I also installed junction boxes, porcelain light bulb sockets, and the new LED lights. This first light was installed directly above the bay door, and is controlled by a switch just inside the small door. The last picture in this group shows how much light it provides under the hood of our vehicle.
The second new light is in the rear of the bay area, just behind where the end of the old fixture was located. This light is also controlled by the switch inside the small garage door.
The first picture here shows the outlet where the new switch was installed. The black wire entering the top is the source wire, and the white wire exiting the bottom goes to the ceiling fan. The white cord plugged into the top center outlet used to feed the old workbench light. Before installing the third and fourth lights, I removed the ceiling fan wire from the outlet, and installed it on a new switch, which I then wired to the existing outlet (yellow wire entering bottom of junction box).
The third new light is in the back of the garage opposite the second light. It replaced the old ceiling fan that I never used, and the 2 x 4 support and junction box were already in place. This light is controlled by the new switch installed above the work bench. A new wire was added to the junction box to supply power to the fourth light.
On 05/16/2020 the second old light fixture was removed, and the fourth new fixture went into its place directly above the work bench. It is controlled by the new switch above the work bench.
The first picture shows the garage with no lights on, and the only light was sunlight coming through the windows. The second picture is with just the bay lights on, the third picture is just the work bench lights on, and the last picture is will all four lights on.
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