Installing LV Landscape lighting vs. the sidewalk

hyunelan2

This spring, I want to put in some low voltage landscape lighting on the front of my house. Mainly just some accents in the beds up front, as well as a spot light for the flag. I have been getting-by with solar, but they suck and die often.

Here is a picture of my house last spring:


My question is this: I can install the transformer on either the left or right sides of the cement porch area - probably right side so I can tie into the garage/driveway lights. However, I need to get the LV cable over to the other side of the sidewalk to carry the lights over to both beds. What is a suggested way to do this?

I don't want to dig and undermine the sidewalk. But, I think my yard may be too rocky to drive a piece of conduit. (All pit-run with about 2-3" of topsoil. Great for drainage, not digging).

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Bondo

Ayuh,.... It appears the porch stoop overhangs the walkway slightly,...

Just stuff the cross-over wires in there...

hyunelan2

So you're suggesting to run it up one post, over the top, and down another post? Won't that look tacky/horrible?

I think I'm mainly looking for a suggestion of how to get a wire/conduit under the sidewalk. I was thinking of possibly digging a hole on either side, just below the bottom of the concrete then doing something like driving a piece of rebar with a sledge. Reverse the hammering to remove it, and hope that the "tunnel" holds up long enough to shove some conduit in it.

Bondo

Nope,....

At, or nearly Ground Level, you could run the wire against the front face of the porch, Under the overhanging stoop of the porch, then go under ground to wherever ya want it to go....

Right up under where the walkway disappears under the porch...

hyunelan2

Ah, I see what you're saying. I'll have to take a look and see what that area looks like for hiding a wire. I'd like to secure the wire in some way, not sure if I can with it being all concrete, but it's an idea.

DexterII

Tunneling it under the sidewalk, as you suggested, is common enough, but I would hold onto that thought as plan B. As far as plan A, I agree with Bondo. I would make sure that I had all of the kinks out of that section of cable, so that it lays straight, paint it light gray to match the concrete, and use some adhesive to hold it in the back corner of that overhang. If not adhesive, maybe consider a couple of small clamps and tapcons. Hard to say with only a picture to go by, but you could hold it up there and see what you think.

hyunelan2

Another question - I guess this is more electrical - is LV wire allowed to be "exposed" on the surface? I know that it's a shallow direct burial but am not aware of any rules for above-ground installation requirements.

sdsester

Running the wire under that stoop makes the most sense to me. Nobody will ever see it.

As for leaving the wire on the surface? Depends on the sheathing but there are not a lot of strict codes for lv wiring. Where I lived last, the darn squirrels would chew up anything they could get their teeth around to nest with. The community college lost at least 10 cars to wiring damage. Bury it where you can. UV rays will make it brittle over time if on the surface also.

You don't have to go crazy and bury it feet under the landscape though.

I don't like silicone for many things but ceiling outdoor lv wire nuts or connections is a great use for the stuff.