# Forum Home Renovation Electrical  Mounting new points in colorbond shed- ideas?

## JDub

Hi all, 
Just after some ideas on how to best mount new powerpoints in a colorbond shed (all steel including framing). 
I dont plan to line the inside of the walls. 
Obviously you would use the standard plastic mounting blocks but what is the best way to mount them to the walls etc? 
Run timbers on top of the side wall girts and mount to that?  
How have you done it? Ideas (pics even) would be appreciated...... 
(BTW I am running the wires and conduit and my sparkie is wiring  :Wink:  ) 
Cheers
Joel

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## silentC

I got the sparky to run his cables in the girts and I cut some sheet metal plates the right size to mount a PP block and screwed them to the flanges on the girts.  
You could run conduit for the cable in the girts. What I did was just ran bare wires and then cut some zinc sheet into cover strips. Helps that my BIL runs a sheet metal business. You could use MDF or something. 
Are your girts hat section, or is it rectangular bar?

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## DJ's Timber

My sparky screws the mounting box directly onto the girts and puts a blob of silicone over the head of the screw to insulate it. The conduit then runs inside the channel section of the girt with the wires coming in thru the back of the box.

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## JDub

> Are your girts hat section, or is it rectangular bar?

  
Havnt got em yet but I believe they will be 'top hat' style......

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## custos

For my colourbond shed I framed the inside using cheap F7 KD hardwood -- 80 x 55 I think from memory, the standard house framing stuff that's dirt cheap from Bunnies. It made the shed rock solid for a start but also gave lots of places to attach hooks, tool boards, power points etc. I ran framing along the bottom and top of the walls, uprights every 2-3 feet, and batons between them. I used self tapping screws to put it together in about one day, but if you have access to a framing gun that would be quicker and cheaper.

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## silentC

Same as mine. So you already have three sides of a conduit. I reckon some light guage zincalume sheet will be cheaper per metre than PVC conduit.  
I got him to run a cable along the roof as well and hung three points from a chain to about 1900mm from the floor. Very handy.

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## JDub

Thanks Custos but......   

> I dont plan to line the inside of the walls.

   :Wink:   :Tongue:

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## Jacksin

I like you JDub did as much prep work when having my garage/workshop wired.  
Yes I used the spacer blocks behind the power points. Its regulation here (I think) that sheds/garages have cables in conduit should they ever be lined, but as I will never line the walls the sparky didnt bother. 
On the wall girts (light-steel C section) I drilled a 4mm hole, 10mm up from the bottom edge of the girt every 350mm along for him to fix the cables, tucked inside the C section, with cable ties. Same where he wired the lights along the purlins. I also used a 20mm hole saw and fitted a short piece of flex conduit where the cables entered or turned corners in the girts and purlins, and fitted a board near the door between middle and top girts for circuit breakers, light switches and telephone. 
Good luck.

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## Dan

Whoever did my shed used weatherproof outlets (clipsal wsc227/2) mounted on the girt at chest height, then a bit of conduit bent in towards the wall sheeting so it sits in \_/ shaped section, the conduit goes up the wall behind the top girt where the cable emerges and is laid on top of the top girt until the next conduit. 
The weatherproof outlets aren't really required but they have a better shed feel to them. :Rolleyes:

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## silentC

> Its regulation here (I think) that sheds/garages have cables in conduit should they ever be lined, but as I will never line the walls the sparky didnt bother

  Hang on, that doesn't make sense. If the shed is lined, ie. the cables are behind the lining, you don't need conduit but if the shed is never to be lined, all cables should be in conduit.

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## Bleedin Thumb

> What I did was just ran bare wires ........
> Are your girts hat section, or is it rectangular bar?

  
Boys and girls Silent actually means insulated wires not encassed in conduit.

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## Doughboy

JDub  
In my shed I ran the wire in the channel of the 100mm top hat purlins and then simply cut 100 mm strips of peg board sheeting and tek screwed it on. Put the power points in and secured with regular screws. 
I did put the wires for the hanging points in conduit but that is all. 
Pete

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## woodcutta

JDub 
I ran mine in conduit and into mounting brackets which were attached with pop rivets 
Woodcutta

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## Jacksin

> Hang on, that doesn't make sense. If the shed is lined, ie. the cables are behind the lining, you don't need conduit but if the shed is never to be lined, all cables should be in conduit.

  Thats what I thought at the time silentC. But unless I am horribly mistaken my sparky explained the conduit was to protect the cables (should the shed be lined) from screws etc.

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## silentC

I'll ask my sparky when he comes to wire up my new office but that sounds counter-intuitive and it's the exact opposite of what he did. I've lined one bay of the shed for the office and all the wires are bare, just as they would be in the walls of a house, but anywhere that the wires run along the shed wall or ceiling with no lining, they are in conduit. He also made me fix my cover plates over the purlins where there were bare cables before we had the inspection done.

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## arose62

> Thanks Custos but...... 
> Quote:
> Originally Posted by JDub  
> I dont plan to line the inside of the walls.

  Errr, he didn't say he *LINED* the inside of the walls, he said he *FRAMED* inside the shed. ("Uprights every 2-3 feet") 
I read that as meaning he put a wooden "skeleton" inside the shed, which strengthened it, and gave him a framework to hang stuff off.  Lining a shed with 80*55 timbers would have been an interesting exercise:confused:  
Cheers,
Andrew

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## JDub

ahhh true, he didnt say line did he  :Wink:  When I read it originally I just made the jump in my mind from frame to lining (as thats what you would _normally_ frame a shed for)  :Wink:  :Shock:  I will keep it in mind custos, I _may_ just do one wall as you have suggested to hang peg boards etc from...... 
Thanks for the all the responses, I will see what it looks like once the shed is up but I will either go with the method woodcutta has pictured with conduit in the top hat girts or silents method but using MDF or PLY instead of zinc al...... 
Cheers
Joel

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## custos

Yeah, i did just mean a frame, not full lining. Actually it was amazing the difference it made to the stability of the shed... well perhaps it shouldn't have been amazing. It was a pretty good (read: expensive... I went shopping with SHMBO  :Rolleyes:  ) shed to begin with but even so when the wind blew or you bumped against a wall it tended to rattle a bit. The size of the colourbond wall sheets are pretty big. Once the frame was all locked into place it became rock solid. Even the big bad wolf couldn't blow this sucker down.

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## JDub

Re: Running the wires etc for my sparky to hook up... 
Can I use 2.5mm twin + earth cable for both general 10 amp outlets and lighting circuits? Or should I use something else to run for the fluros? 
Cheers
Joel

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## silentC

If you have been following that other thread about wiring, you'll anticipate my answer, which is: "ask your sparky"!! 
He has to certify it, so you should ask him what cables you need to run. Much better to do that than have to pull it out and do it again later because you didn't do it the way he likes it done.

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## JDub

> If you have been following that other thread about wiring, you'll anticipate my answer, which is: "ask your sparky"!! 
> He has to certify it, so you should ask him what cables you need to run. Much better to do that than have to pull it out and do it again later because you didn't do it the way he likes it done.

  yer yer yer  :Wink:  thought there might be a simple answer.. just didnt want to bother him with silly questions is all, would rather bother you lot instead  :Tongue:  
I will give him a call.  :Wink:   :Tongue:  
edit: Just to reinforce I am not doing any actual wiring, just the labor/time intensive stuff so the sparky can finish it off / check it out  :Wink:

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## Abug

2.5mm 2 core and earth for the power circuit. 
I use 1.5mm 2 core and earth for the light circuit. 
2 core switching wire to go to the switch. (Red / White in the flat sheath). 
2.5mm for the light circuit is overkill.

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## JDub

Just cause I like to follow up on the threads I start.... 
I ended up going with a method very similar to woodcutta's, except instead of mounting the block on sheet metal attached with pop rivets, I mounted the block on some left over Marine grade HDPE I had, attached to the tophats with Tek screws  :2thumbsup:   
Cheers
again 
Joel

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## spartan

> 2.5mm 2 core and earth for the power circuit. 
> I use 1.5mm 2 core and earth for the light circuit. 
> 2 core switching wire to go to the switch. (Red / White in the flat sheath). 
> 2.5mm for the light circuit is overkill.

   :Mad:  
Something in here is not good advice....  
Anyway, if the cable is within reach it should in conduit. Obviously if you have a wall lining, then it can be run pretty much as normal, but perhaps with some additional consideration for insulation..... :Biggrin:

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