Good evening! I am preping my home to put it on the market. A couple of years ago I installed lighting and power outlets in my backyard. I used PVC conduits running underground. I was very proud of the work… :O) Now one of the PVC boxes became dark because of the sun. Do you think it would be worth painting it? If yes - any suggestions on type of paint? Or should I change it for a metal box?
Thank you and have a nice evening!
You certainly could paint it. I would just use exterior latex from Walmart.
Mike
Thank you Propertymanager - One more project to my list… :O) Have a nice weekend!
While painting is a reasonable option why not buy a $5 metal outdoor box from your local supplier and just replace the suspect box? The look will be crisper with no paint runs on a cheap plastic box to annoy would be buyers.
Are you for real? Just put some plywood over it or something.
Hey John - I am for real… :O) At least I hope I am… :O) Are you serious about putting plywood over it??? Do you mean, make a box of plywood around the current PVC outlet box??? Sounds like a lot of work to me… and I would still need to paint it to make it look nice… Am I missing something here? I am asking because I am really curious about this solution…
71tr - I was trying to avoid having to replace it because it is currently glued to the PVC pipe. I would need to use the saw to cut it off and then glue another ending to the pipe before putting the metal box… I believe I will try painting first (or the plywood suggestion above if I can figure how this would work)… The next time I will use metal all around… It was a big mistake to do this project using PVC… The other learning from this project - don’t buy 1/2’’ pipes… Go for the 3/4’’ pipes… They are slightly more expensive but much easier to work with… The 1/2’’ became very difficult when I started running cables back and forth for the switches that I wanted in the other side of the backyard… :O)
And my last learning - use single cables - don’t use the ones that come together (3 individual cables inside an outside enclosing) - they are much more difficult to pass. I thought I was being smart buying the cable I bought because I would have to pass only one cable… Big mistake… The one cable is much more difficult to pass than 3 individual cables… I would have to pay a little bit more for the 3 individual cables… But I believe it would be worth the extra investment…
As you can see - a lot of learning from this outside project. I am ready for the next one… :O)
Have a good evening!
j1dias,
These projects are live and learn as you suggest. You may want to check and ensure that your work is up to code. Plastic conduit/outlet box with non-sheathed electrical wire may not pass muster. The last thing you want is to do this work then get the house under contract and have an inspection report come back requiring the work be upgraded. Just my 2cents, good luck.
71tr - thank you for the post. I did check and actually I built it over the code specifications. I could either use the PVC pipes with non-sheathed wires inside or no conduit and use the sheathed electrical wire. I ended up using the sheathed wire inside the PVC conduit… :O) I even installed GFI outlets in all three boxes I installed outside. After I did it I realized that I needed only one - the one closer to the breaker… The others could have been regular outlets… :O)
Thank you again for the post… Have a nice day!
Ya know what I think here. You went to the local Lowes etc. you picked up your boxes one of which was in the exterior grade that was really an interier model and when you put it in the sun it discolored. Now if you paint it and you live in a colder climate the paint will peal off come next spring. herbster
He’s selling the house…by spring, paint peeling off of a PVC box will be someone else’s problem…
Keith
In the time it took everyone to type all these posts, J1dias could have painted 100 boxes, sold his house, and already bought a new one!
Mike
Yeah, but that’s not the way we do it here…we need to get permission and pontificate first!
Keith
Propertymanager - point taken… talk less, work more… I will paint those boxes tomorrow after work…
By the way, what type of brush should I use? :O) ← Sorry I couldn’t resist…
Talk soon!