wiring with metal walls

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gserve

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New Hampshire
Has anyone seen metal roofing panels used as walls? I am wiring a garage where these panels are going to be used for the ceiling and walls.It seems to me that only a surface mounted wiring method could be used seeing that the boxes would have to be mounted on the flat surface between the raised ribs.And pipe would have to be dropped from the ceiling.I don't think that boxes mounted to the side of studs could be used seeing you would need to be on the flat part of the metal to have the plate flush with the box.With that being said does anybody have a better idea or advise. Thanks
 
gserve said:
Has anyone seen metal roofing panels used as walls?
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Yeah, almost every modern barn, agricultural building, and large garage in the area is like that. They have "girts" at intervals between the posts to attach whatever wiring you run. (similar to the way purlins are used for the roof, but for the walls).
 
gserve said:
Any ideas on the best way to wire it?
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If you rough wire it before the tin goes on the walls and ceilings, that sounds like a trainwreck waiting to happen. No guarantee that the switches and receptacles will be in the flats. Sounds like an EMT job after the wall and ceiling finishes go on, to me.
 
Can you get down the wall after it is installed if so drop the romex (if permissable)to a pre drilled hole and apply an exterior j box or if possible cut in a remodel box depends how much they want to pay!
 
normbac said:
Can you get down the wall after it is installed if so drop the romex (if permissable)to a pre drilled hole and apply an exterior j box or if possible cut in a remodel box depends how much they want to pay!
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If you have a passion to do so, but i did something EXACTLY like this last year. It was 1/2 office 1/2 shop for a heavy equipment rental business . EMT in the shop and Wiremold 700 (as per owners request) in the "office"
 
When I had a similar installation in an aircraft hangar, the guy installing the siding had a very exact start point for the pattern. IIRC, the pattern was exactly a foot, so we knew that if we centered a box at 9", or 1' 9", and so forth, it was likely to land on the flat of the pattern.

I think the wheels fell off once or twice, because the guy who laid out the patterns wasn't there when one of the walls was started, and so the workers present started siding from the wrong side of the wall.

We had to get some gigantic p-rings for the light fixtures, since for the wiring to be fully concealed behind the fixture it was necessary to land squarely on the deepest part of the pattern.

So, it can be done, but you should make somebody else determine and stick to the pattern with minimal input from you, IMO.
 
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