Physically fitting brick lights

[RickH]

<did post in building sect., but no responses - try here>

I have a number of these lights to fit ... 9
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/GLBRICK.html

The bricks have been left out at appropriate places in the garden retaining wall runs, the front of wall is face brick, a 30mm or so gap then a 100mm concrete block

The question I have is how to physically fit these lights into the ‘omitted’ bricks space.

Brick Light Opening

• RickH
• 28 Jan 2009
• 2

There are rear holes in fitting to take screws … but these I assume rely on the rear of the light being in contact with a surface … in this instance there is a gap of around 40mm from the back of the light to the rear skin of block work.

I can’t simply ‘do up, until front of light is set flush with face brickwork, as unless the screws pull the back of the light fitting against something to hold it rigid the whole thing is free to ‘wobble’

I have thought of cutting some stone ‘pads’ to go in, fixing through these .. so in effect using them as spacers … but not easy, and messy.

Each pad would be slightly different thickness … ‘infill space’ varies between 20 & 50 mm.

I did think of taking a common pad thickness and setting these in place with a ‘gripfill’ type of adhesive, at least I could set each pad to correct spacer thickness.

An alternative that a neighbour suggested was fixing the whole thing in with expading polyurethane foam, just seems a nit of a bodge - and risk of getting foam on facebrick

Welcome suggestions.

 

[xerxes]

My suggestion is to make wooden spacers of the different thicknesses you need. If you use tanalised timber (offcuts would do) you can be reasonably sure they will remain sound. You could fix them with screws and plugs, then screw the lights to the wood, or glue them in place, or drill oversize clearance holes so that your light fixing screws go through them into the masonry.

Using foam may not necessarily be a bodge, but I agree that it can be messy stuff to use.

 

[RickH]

My suggestion is to make wooden spacers of the different thicknesses you need. If you use tanalised timber (offcuts would do) you can be reasonably sure they will remain sound. You could fix them with screws and plugs, then screw the lights to the wood, or glue them in place, or drill oversize clearance holes so that your light fixing screws go through them into the masonry.

Using foam may not necessarily be a bodge, but I agree that it can be messy stuff to use.

I have plenty of treated wood on site ... and if I put a piece of DPC between it and block, it should keep it dry .... Thnx

 

[foxhole]

You could use long screws thru short sections of copper pipe to form spacers [cut to match gap sizes]. No risk of swelling/wrotting timber.

 

[atacama40]

<did post in building sect., but no responses - try here>

I have a number of these lights to fit ... 9
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/GLBRICK.html

The bricks have been left out at appropriate places in the garden retaining wall runs, the front of wall is face brick, a 30mm or so gap then a 100mm concrete block

The question I have is how to physically fit these lights into the ‘omitted’ bricks space.

Brick Light Opening

• RickH
• 28 Jan 2009
• 2

There are rear holes in fitting to take screws … but these I assume rely on the rear of the light being in contact with a surface … in this instance there is a gap of around 40mm from the back of the light to the rear skin of block work.

I can’t simply ‘do up, until front of light is set flush with face brickwork, as unless the screws pull the back of the light fitting against something to hold it rigid the whole thing is free to ‘wobble’

I have thought of cutting some stone ‘pads’ to go in, fixing through these .. so in effect using them as spacers … but not easy, and messy.

Each pad would be slightly different thickness … ‘infill space’ varies between 20 & 50 mm.

I did think of taking a common pad thickness and setting these in place with a ‘gripfill’ type of adhesive, at least I could set each pad to correct spacer thickness.

An alternative that a neighbour suggested was fixing the whole thing in with expading polyurethane foam, just seems a nit of a bodge - and risk of getting foam on facebrick

Welcome suggestions.

Really useful Q and answers.....I'm just doing the very same thing and found answers to your Q really helpful.

I'm also looking to install some camera within an enclosure, within the wall brickwork just the same idea as your brick lights....but cannot find anything suitable enclosure wise. Hoping someone has some links or ideas....similar to the brick light cut outs but larger that a small I/R camera could be fitted in like the Logitech Alert cams.

I'm going to run power down both sides of the drive (need to lift row of paviors but looks reasonable straight forward. Then install power and bunch of RJ45 data lines.....mainly for the cameras but who knows what else later (home automation?). But finding an IP enclosure to fit in the wall that doesn't look like it belongs in a factory is proving a little harder to do than I imagined. Or indeed any pointers on use of cameras or ideas on who to install embed them also would be great. We currently have a Logitech Alert system which works a treat over PoE connections.

Pointers would be very much welcomed as hit a bit of wall just now. Many thanks in advance

 

[Growler247]

I'm going to run power down both sides of the drive (need to lift row of paviors but looks reasonable straight forward.




that's a man who has never tried to lift paviors! the good news is once you have one out the rest will come out fairly easily. Bad news is if they have been laid well getting that first one out is near impossible
If you can work from an edge you may find it easier

 

[atacama40]

... you got a point and yes they are very well fitted. Fortunately the ones that frame it are all on edge and its exactly the route we need to follow with the cables.

But for sure there will be work involved in doing it. Not so much easy but at least the solution is known I probably should have said. Definitely it will be difficult to take them out.