# Garage crawlspace lighting



## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

Added some lights to the garage crawlspace so I don't need to drag a lamp in there when cleaning up spider webs. Some pics and details here:

http://www.redsquirrel.me/2011/01/crawlspace-lighting.html


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

Adding lights was a great idea. It's nice & clean down there now.

In a house I rented years ago, the basement had spider webs everywhere. I'd clean them out, but the the little buggers kept making more. I set off 3 cans of the aerosol bug bombs down there and never had to clean them out again (for the year that I was there).

That crack is a little scary. Have you had anyone look at that?


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

I had a house inspection, but not sure how far in there he went, don't think he went too far. Even a typical person without my phobia is probably somewhat creeped out by what there was there before. My grandpa did stick his head right in there though. He makes me laugh sometimes. He's the type of person that will stick his hand through a hornet nest, calmly, and not even get stung. 

I might have someone take a closer look at it though at some point. I don't want this to happen. 

It's hard to tell how thick this slab is, but I suspect over a foot, maybe even two, just based on the height vs the rim joists on the other side. I'd have to find some accurate measure points to determine it. 

I also need to do something cool with this space, as much as it's a dirty area, it's kinda neat to have that. Decent size for a small particle accelerator or an arc reactor.


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

Wow. I wonder why a builder would put a crawl space under the garage like that and not have an access door. The guy is lucky his gas tank didn't get punctured by the beam sticking up.

My imagination was working overtime when I was reading the story. I thought they were going to say they found human skeletons down there. lol Maybe Jimmy Hoffa?

You think you're creeped out by spider webs, imagine finding bones. ..... :laughing:

Does it bug you if you're walking around outside and you walk through a single strand of a spider web?


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## frenchelectrican (Apr 12, 2006)

It may be a good idea to add a bulb guard or bulb cage to protect from the bulbs get damaged in case you are moving around in crawl space for some reason.

Under the garage .,, I hope they have good support to keep the garage floor level.

Merci.
Marc


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

gma2rjc said:


> Does it bug you if you're walking around outside and you walk through a single strand of a spider web?


Yeah even single strands bother me. It seems to bother me more now then it used to, since I used to camp a lot more then I do now, and I'd walk in bush trails and while I often used a stick to swipe in front of me, often times I'd do it so quick I'd miss the small strands and feel them across my forehead as I walked and it was not a huge deal. Was mostly the large cob webs that freaked me.

I actually ran into a large cob web once as a kid. I still get shivers thinking about it. There's another incident where I came VERY close, it was in a trail and my cousin was in front of me but must have went under it (was shorter then me) or some other way avoided it and as I walked I saw it about an inch from my face until I stopped. Freaked me right out. I often laugh at how people totally freak out over mice, spiders or other bugs, but then, I can kinda relate because they probably feel the same way I do about spider webs. 



frenchelectrican said:


> It may be a good idea to add a bulb guard or bulb cage to protect from the bulbs get damaged in case you are moving around in crawl space for some reason.
> 
> Under the garage .,, I hope they have good support to keep the garage floor level.
> 
> ...


I was wanting to do that actually, but could not find any at any hardware store around here. With my luck I WILL smash the vacuum or broom into one of those bulbs, releasing mercury everywhere. :laughing:

There also seems to be a rather large support beam in the center. I'm suspecting there's a large I beam and it was just surrounded with cement/rebar. 

While I was drilling, I was a little nervous though. :whistling2:


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

You should be able to find the cages online. You could always go with Explosive/Water tight type fixtures like they use on board ships. The Fluorescent fixtures that we used on board ship, actually have a gasket around the metal fixture, then the cover would screw down to seal it. Would work better then a couple of CFL's, plus you could pull conduit and add a couple of outlets that are only powered when the lights are on.

This is one thing to think of, and put on your list of things to do for that space.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

Was thinking of putting outlets too actually. 

Though for heat/humidity think what I will do is actually run some hvac so the equipment (dehumidifier/heater) can be on the outside. I can better condition that space without actually going inside to adjust the equipment. 

I just added a double vapor barrier just now in the entrance as I was curious to see if I have any heat loss in form of air, and I do. The whole vb actually bulges outward due to the air pressure. The dryer is also running so the exhaust is probably creating some negative pressure to help this. I guess there must be some cracks in the garage where cold air is falling to the crawlspace. Probably where the slab meets the wall. Would be fun to get a smoke machine and pump some smoke in there at high positive pressure to see if any gets to the garage. 

I plan to get it insulated in the next couple months so that will help a lot as far as heat loss. The VB is temp, I will probably build a small access door. If I go with the hvac idea I will need to add a screen on this door as the "return".


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

I put an outlet down in MY crawl, but it was just a GFCI to plug in heat tape for the steel water inlet from the well..... just in case.... although, hopefully it'll never even have to turn on since the space is insulated now and 'conditioned'.

DM


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## RST (Jul 19, 2009)

Does a crawlspace need a separate circuit or can lights/receptacles run off other circuits?

You've given me some ideas for my space... a light and/or receptacle would be quite helpful. I've already cleared out most of the cobwebs, just from moving around down there.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

I'm not aware of any codes for crawlspaces, guess it depends if they are conditioned space or not. Mine is conditioned, well it might be debatable given there is no insulation or seal of any kind, but it is attached to the main crawlspace and the rest of the basement which is conditioned. The circuit I used is for the lighting for the main crawlspace, and part of the basement. Now one problem I do face is I am over the 12 outlets per circuit.

The fridge is also on this circuit... don't ask LOL. I need to get a new panel as there are lot of things I need to add to their own circuits but the current is full. That will be a whole other project, and not sure if I'll DIY or not, for that. I think I could do it, but it's a question of how fast.


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## RST (Jul 19, 2009)

Yeah, I had a similar dilemma and decided to hire it out. It would have taken me at least twice as long, and no heat, light, or fridge in the meantime either. And what if an unexpected problem arose? If the house was unoccupied, or I was single, maybe, but not for my residence.


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