Tread lighting prep for a concrete pour

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frizbeedog

frizbeedog

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A side project for my retired parents who have decided not to sell their home but fix it up. I think my payment for this project will be a brisket dinner and a batch of peanut butter cookies. :cool:

For step lights in concrete.
Anyone have any pics showing the prepwork or ideas about the install prior to the pour?

These lights will be in the step facing the tread and not on the sides.
 
Many of them require that you paint or tar the body of the housing prior to placing them in the formwork for corrosion protection. I prefer to rope these together with FNMC because it's just easier to get that to lay in a step pour versus rigid PVC. I get long 8-32 (or whatever it takes) and put them through the riser form to hold the body of the fixture tight to the form, and normally put a bead of silicone on the face of the body prior to doing so to exclude concrete slop.
 
frizbeedog said:
For step lights in concrete.
Anyone have any pics showing the prepwork or ideas about the install prior to the pour?

These lights will be in the step facing the tread and not on the sides.
Click to expand...

I helped with a bunch of these on a large set of stairs going into a store.

We had four or five fixtures per risers so we just ran pipe straight through each and then had to get creative to move from one rise to the next.

Major pain and take as much time as you need to get them perfect, hard to straighten them after the pour.

We had rectangular ones, if it was my choice I would get round ones, alignment is less critical.
 
iwire said:
Major pain and take as much time as you need to get them perfect, hard to straighten them after the pour.
Click to expand...

It will no doubt be a major pain and take plenty of time. My Dad will be helping. :roll: :grin:

On the last project I had to keep sending him to Home Depot to get him out of my hair.
 
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mdshunk said:
......with FNMC because it's just easier to get that to lay in a step pour versus rigid PVC.
Click to expand...

At first glance I thought, no, it'll collapse the conduit. But I can't think why it would.

Good idea.
 
Depends on the layout, but PVC is much easier to snake than flex. We usually drill out the riser form and use long machine screws to fasten the housing in place. Tip- make sure the housings are level with the riser- not by themselves-sometimes masons will pitch the stairs for drainage and if you only level the lights to themselves it wont look right
Bill
 
frogneck77 said:
make sure the housings are level with the riser- not by themselves-sometimes masons will pitch the stairs for drainage and if you only level the lights to themselves it wont look right
Bill
Click to expand...

I think this could be argued both ways, since the eye can be "annoyed" by out of plumb fixtures.
 
danickstr said:
I think this could be argued both ways, since the eye can be "annoyed" by out of plumb fixtures.
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Plumb IMO is relative- I only wrote that because I installed Hadco step lights in concrete stairs last year. I leveled each housing with my trusty torpedo. When we came back to install the trims we realized the steps werent level and the contractor made mention of how the lights should have been parralel with the treads and not level with the earth. I could probably start another thread with the topic-"To level or to look good"-Maybe some other day
 
frogneck77 said:
Plumb IMO is relative-.... I could probably start another thread with the topic-"To level or to look good"-Maybe some other day
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Sort of like when you run pipe across a block wall. Sometimes the joints in the block are so out of level, it's hard to decide whether to level the pipe or make it match the joint line.
 
scrooge said:
The light cans should be flush with any finish to the concrete,tile or such if any. Trim goes on easier.
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PVC is your friend here strap it all...
Remember that Crete is one of the heaviest materials per square that one might deal with brace accordingly.

Be a rod buster and strap it good, cross brace it, cross the braces, then put another wrap of bailing wire... all in the Crete'.

Note the illumination requirements for the desired coverage.

Is there going to be a handrail ? Drill and epoxy later.
Or just drill a set hole later... if in horizontal wall.

Call that guy that builds motor cycles, he got his start in working iron, ask him what the going rate is for some with a nice goats tail.
 
I did a job a few years back with my brother- a complete kitchen remodel. We installed the cabinets level. The main wall in the room was 3" out of plumb over 12' The upper cabinets looked terrible in reference to the ceiling. My brother(the gc) had it out with the homeowner over this and ended up not getting paid for the job. Since then Ive made it a point to discuss this issue with whoevers paying the bill before I complete the installation. I was working at a high end home once where a company was installing a custom library. the room was out of plumb. The millworkers refused to install anything that wasnt level. The GC had to pay a company to fur down half the ceiling @400 ft sq. to make the ceiling level.
 
frogneck77 said:
Plumb IMO is relative- I only wrote that because I installed Hadco step lights in concrete stairs last year. I leveled each housing with my trusty torpedo. When we came back to install the trims we realized the steps werent level and the contractor made mention of how the lights should have been parralel with the treads and not level with the earth. I could probably start another thread with the topic-"To level or to look good"-Maybe some other day
Click to expand...

Been there, done that.

New 300a service on a 100-year old 2-story duplex remodel. Took my trusty 24" level out as I installed the riser, all 19' of it. Has all happy until the end of the day when I packed up and started to pull out of the drive. Man, that thing was crooked! I stopped, got out, and started cussing my level. I pulled it out, and checked the riser. No, it says plumb!. So I got my torpedo out. Plumb. My CheckPoint said plumb. Turns out, the building was off 5?" from the meter to the roof.

Boss said to leave it, so I did. Then the gutter guy came along and put a downspout right next to the service.... that really made it look horrible. So the day before it got energized I changed it.

Maybe the mods can move this part of the discussion to a new thread, seeing how we've kinda hijacked it.
 
Choosing the right fixture IMO is the aboslote best you can do - non-corrosive material brass, or composite housings not AL or steel. (Like these)

As mentioned put some time into lay out, and make sure to mark them well so any fastener you use to put them on the form doesn't get ripped out when the pry it off. I usually use some orange spray paint so they stand out and use some 8/32 or 10/24 (whatever the face plate of the thing uses) to hold it to the form - long screws with a nut and washer so it doesn't pull through - nice an tight to the form. Some people like to tape the fixture so it makes like a gasket on the face - then cut the tape away after.
 
frizbeedog said:
A side project for my retired parents who have decided not to sell their home but fix it up. I think my payment for this project will be a brisket dinner and a batch of peanut butter cookies. :cool:

For step lights in concrete.
Anyone have any pics showing the prepwork or ideas about the install prior to the pour?

These lights will be in the step facing the tread and not on the sides.
Click to expand...
If you dont have the fixtures put blue styrofoam chunks in prior to the pour. Last time I did one mc cable was aproved for use in masonary so I laced ckting in mc. that would be quick and easy next option is to lace smurf tube and pull mc or thhn or rx or whatever you wanted as long as the smurf was located in a good spot. cheap and dirty yet practical. Hey I like brisket too!!
 
frizbeedog said:
PM with recepie? :grin:

This is an Electrical / Cooking forum, right?
Click to expand...
when we were kids my brother made a hamburger cooker using tow blocks of wood and the discarded metal lids of two cans, he dilled a hole in the center of each block of wood and each metal lid he inserted a screw through the metal lid and the wood block he then stripped the end of extension cord and attached one end to each of the screws with a bolt placed a hamberger patty between the metal plates and pluged it in ,blew the main fuse ,seemed like a good idea at the time.
 
Rewire said:
when we were kids my brother made a hamburger cooker using tow blocks of wood and the discarded metal lids of two cans, he dilled a hole in the center of each block of wood and each metal lid he inserted a screw through the metal lid and the wood block he then stripped the end of extension cord and attached one end to each of the screws with a bolt placed a hamberger patty between the metal plates and pluged it in ,blew the main fuse ,seemed like a good idea at the time.
Click to expand...

Laughing my a...... oops
LMAO

.....so when did you first decide you might like to become an electrician? :grin:
 
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