There’s nothing more boring than having to come home to finish a meal with friends when you don’t have outdoor lighting. I will therefore explain to you through this post how to install exterior wall lights.
List of materials to use
Before starting the work, here is the list of the materials you will need:
- A roll of 50 or 100m of 3×1.5mm² electrical cable
- An electric drill with a long concrete drill bit
- Cutting pliers, wire strippers and a hammer
- Screws, concrete anchors and a Phillips screwdriver
- A stepladder, a tape measure, a pencil and a level
- A trunking and a switch
Once you have purchased everything you need, you will be able to put on the coveralls. Normally you should have installed two or three exterior wall lights in half a day
Take the time to do things right
First, you need to locate a junction box inside the house which is usually in the sub-ceiling. Remove one or more plates to see where the box is located that is closest to the wall where you are going to fix the sconces. Strip the wires and connect them to the junction box.
I advise you to drill your holes in the sub-ceiling. But before that, you must first draw a cross in pencil to have a drill mark. Take your meter and measure from the ceiling then draw a line of 20 or 30 centimeters.
Prefer drilling from the inside of the house outwards, taking care not to go too fast so as not to make a big chip on the wall which will require touching up the coating.
Start by laying the trunking on the wall after drawing a vertical line to make sure it will be straight. You can fix it with screws (after drilling holes in the wall using the markings in the trunking) or use special glue.
To finish in the house, fix the box with the switch and connect the cable after stripping the wires to the same junction box as the one containing the wires where the wall lights will be powered.
Fix the sconces outside
You will be able to pass the cable outwards, making sure to leave a sufficient piece of excess to connect it to the wall lights (20 centimeters should be enough).
Take your stepladder, your pencil and your level and go to the terrace. Using the level, draw a horizontal line that will be used to drill the holes to fix the sconces to the wall. It would be a shame if your lights were not properly aligned.
When you are ready, you can drill the holes and hammer in the dowels. Attach the wall brackets to the wall, strip the wires and place them in the brackets, taking care to tighten the screws. You can finally put your light bulbs and finish the installation of the sconces.
If you followed all these steps correctly, you should have lighting in your garden.
As you may have read, it is not rocket science to install exterior sconces. However, care must be taken to ensure that all the screws (in the junction box, in the switch socket and in the brackets) are correctly tightened to avoid any electrical problem.
With these tips, I have no doubt that your meals with friends or family will last longer thanks to the lighting you will have installed in just half a day.