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Project Difficulty:
Difficult
Estimated
Project Time: 4 hours
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Pencil
Stud finder
Drill and bit
Electric jigsaw
Switch box (rectangular electrical box for installation in interior existing wall; must use metal for armored cable)
Shims or scrap of removed siding
Outdoor (exterior) wall fixture
Fixture box (round electrical box; must use metal for armored cable)
Cable connectors for armored cable or nonmetallic cable
Keyhole saw
Utility knife
Screwdriver
Voltage tester or test light
Electrical cable that matches your home's wiring system
Measuring tape
Hammer
Electrical tape
Wire stripper
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Hacksaw (for armored cable)
Electrician's pliers
Fish tape
Caulking material
Caulking gun
Wire connectors
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Lighting up the night at an entranceway is a practical way to beautify your home. A lantern sconce or other attractive fixture by porch or door casts a welcoming beacon while illuminating the area for safety and security.
These instructions will help you install an outdoor light fixture on a wood-frame house. They'll guide you through the three steps--providing power to the switch and fixture, installing the fixture's switch inside the house, and installing the fixture in the exterior wall. However, be sure to check with your local building department to make sure your installation meets local code.
Before you start, determine: a) where you want to locate the fixture outside, and b) where you want to locate the switch inside.
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1.
Outside: Preparing the Fixture Location
1) At your chosen location on the exterior wall, pencil-trace the fixture's electrical box.
2) Returning inside, use a stud finder (about where the outside pencil tracing was) to confirm that the proposed electrical box is not over a stud. If it is, move the box location enough to clear the stud.
3) Back outside, within the outline you've drawn, drill a hole through the siding and into the sheathing to prepare for the next step.
4) Now, use a jigsaw to cut the opening for the electrical box.
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2.
Inside: Preparing the Switch Location
1) Once you've decided where you want the switch, trace the perimeter of the switch box against the inside wall, ensuring that it's at the same height as other room switches.
2) Along your tracing, repeatedly score the drywall with a utility knife until the blade cuts through it. Or, as an alternative, drill a starter hole, and then use a keyhole saw to cut the opening.
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3.
Inside: Providing Power to the Switch
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1) Locate the nearest power source to the proposed switch. The following guidelines apply to using an interior receptacle as the power source. Before adding the new cable to the circuit, make sure that circuit can handle the additional load.
2) Turn off the power to the receptacle's circuit. Verify that the power is off by using either a test light or a voltage tester on the receptacle.
3) Remove the receptacle's front plate and unscrew the receptacle.
4) Grasping the screw-hold tabs, carefully pull the receptacle out of the electrical box. As an extra precaution, do not wrap your hands around its sides where the screws are located.
5) Once the receptacle is out of the box, confirm again that the circuit is dead by putting a tester probe against the screw on one side of the receptacle, and the other probe on the screw on its other side. If the tester registers power, the circuit has not been turned off.
6) Using the same type of wire used to wire your house (such as armored or nonmetallic cable), fish cable from the receptacle's electrical box to the new switch, and then fish cable from the fixture box to the new switch. The cable should include a black wire, a white wire, and a bare copper ground wire.
7) Install an appropriate cable clamp to the receptacle's electrical box if the new cable enters the box at a new knockout hole, or if the existing cable clamp(s) cannot hold another cable.
8) Your receptacle may be at the end of a run, or at the middle of a run. This will affect how you connect the new cable wires. Cover all connections with wire connectors.
For an end-of-the-run receptacle:
If the receptacle is at the end of the run, you are now converting it to a middle-of-the-run configuration. For a regular grounded, 3-prong receptacle wired for one circuit, and not controlled by a switch, connect the new white wire to the unused silver screw on the receptacle, and the new black wire to the unused brass screw on the receptacle. Join the new ground wire to the existing ground wire splice. You should now have two white wires connected to the receptacle with silver screws, two black wires connected to the receptacle with brass screws, and two ground wires from the cables joined with a pigtail connected to the receptacle, and, if the electrical box is metal, with a pigtail to the box. Wiring will vary, however, depending on the type of receptacle and other factors; check with an electrician if you are not sure how to wire the receptacle now that you have incoming and outgoing cables. (Fig. 1)
For a middle-of-the-run receptacle:
In this case, you'll have two existing cables (power source cable and outgoing cable) and one new cable in the electrical box. (Fig. 2)
Determine which existing cable is coming from the power source. First, unhoook all the wires from the receptacle. Have a helper turn on power to the circuit, and then carefully put one probe of a voltage tester on the electrical box (if metal) and the other probe to one of the exposed black wires. Then test the other black wire. Whichever wire registers power is the one that comes from the cable that leads to the power source. Turn off the power again before continuing with the project.
Reconnect the black and white wires from the existing outgoing cable to the receptacle (white to silver screw, black to brass screw).
Join the black wire from the power source cable to the new black cable wire and a black pigtail wire. Attach the pigtail to the remaining brass screw on the receptacle. Join the two white cable wires from the power source cable and new cable with a white pigtail wire; connect the pigtail to the remaining silver screw on the receptacle. Join the bare ground wires from all three cables together with pigtails that connect to the receptacle and to the electrical box (if metal).
9) Reinsert the receptacle in the box and replace its cover.
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4.
Inside: Installing the Switch
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1) At the switch location, secure the cables coming into the box from the receptacle and the fixture using cable clamps appropriate for the type of cable. Leave about 6 inches of wire in the box for attachment.
2) Secure the switch box in the drywall. Ideally, you'll have a box designed for installation into existing work, which has tabs that anchor it to the wall surface so that you won't need to make a larger hole in the wall. If you must make a larger hole, this will have to be patched later.
3) Using wire strippers or a utility knife, remove a short length of insulation from the ends of the white wires from the two cables in the switch box. Then, twist the white wires together clockwise with electrician's pliers. Snip off the ragged end of this wire connection. Screw on a wire connector and bury the capped white wires in the box.
4) Using wire strippers or a utility knife, remove insulation from the two black wires from the two cables and attach them to either of the two switch screws by bending each wire into an approximately 270-degree loop and securing it under each screw. The loop should face the same direction as you would tighten the screw (opening to the right).
5) Join the two ground wires from the cables with a pigtail ground wire; attach the pigtail to the ground screw on the switch. If the switch box is metal, also extend a pigtail to the ground screw on the box. Twist the wires together and cap them with a wire connector. (Fig. 3)
6) Insert the switch into the switch box; be sure you position the switch right-side-up so "OFF" is when the lever is down. Screw on the cover plate.
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5.
Outside: Installing the Fixture
1) Outside, at the fixture, feed the cable from the switch into the round electrical box. Secure the cable lightly with a cable connector. Then install the round electrical box so that its face is aligned parallel to the studs.
2) Using silicone caulk, fill any gaps around the perimeter of the box to seal the interior of the stud wall from the elements.
3) If there is a weather seal gasket provided with the fixture, loop the fixture wires through it. Then connect the fixture wires to the cable wires, white to white and black to black, twisting each pair and capping each connection with a wire connector. Wrap electrical tape around the base of the each wire connector to seal out moisture.
4) If the electrical box is metal, place the bare copper wire from the cable under the ground screw. If the light fixture itself is equipped with a ground wire or screw, join it to the bare copper ground wire from the cable, following manufacturer's instructions.
5) Hang the fixture and install the bulb. If there is lap siding, you may need to shim the lighting fixture itself so that it aligns with the face of the building. To do this, you can invert the siding piece that was removed when the hole for the electrical box was made, or use shims. Close the cover to the fixture, if there is one.
6) Turn the power back on to the circuit and test the receptacle, switch, and fixture.
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