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Sorry, I couldn't find a better place to put this. I didn't think it would get much activity in Off Topic.
I will be sprucing up the 25'x25' attached garage that houses my C7. It is currently "finished" with 50 year old drywall and a ceiling that has popcorn texture on it. There are some cracks in the walls that are repairable, so my friend is going to take care of those repairs and spray some light orange peel texture on them before it is painted. The real problem is the ceiling since the popcorn is falling in flakes, especially when it gets humid out. The plan is to scrape the ceiling clean and then install some 8'x4' sections of thin paneling on the ceiling and not worry about fixing small cracks or imperfections. Just clean it up and cover it. I welcome opinions on color. The walls will be light gray and I was considering dark gray panels for the ceiling for an industrial look.
My real question is about lighting. I currently have (4) 48" 5000 lumen shop lights in the garage that provide adequate lighting, but I wouldn't mind brighter lights over a larger area. We were thinking about installing a series of 12 6" canless down-lights for a modern look, but I am having a hard time determining if that will be bright enough. Any opinions on this in terms of effectiveness versus traditional shop lights? If 6" canless lights are considered the solution, how many lumens each should I be looking for?
I'm just curious on your thoughts on lighting options.
We just had our garage walls painted last week, and I'm planning on adding some lighting. I'm strongly considering the hexagon style lights. They're LED and can be configured several different ways, including on a wall!
I too do a lot of my own tinkering and maintenance and find what I have now, isn't enough lighting. Sample of the lights I'm thinking about are posted in the last picture
26'x32' shop here. I started just with can lights because I wanted a little nicer look in the shop. I have probably 20 can lights put up. White textured ceilings, walls, red band around the middle with grey underneath that. Shop looked great.
Thank, I started using it. Wasn't long until I put 6' strips of LED's running near the length of the shop. 3 different strips of 24'. Then I had enough light. The can lights are just that, decoration. If you really want light, skip them. I use my shop. Not just washing and detailing but do 95% of my own vehicle repairs. If you want pretty, gets cans. if you want function, get lots of LED's.
i realize you’re asking about lighting but rather than scrape the popcorn, why not install a thin veneer over it? Maybe something like an MDF or similar? Less mess and chronic dust you’ll be cleaning up for weeks! Good luck creating your showroom. Post pics!
If you want work lights, the first step is to have a white ceiling that will reflect light down. Then it would be best if you had lots of bright (daylight color temp, not 6K) LED or fluorescent light fixtures. I would use fixtures that have a grid that spreads the light and diffuses it over the area of the shop. Diffusing the light so it reflects around the space helps light the dark areas that aren't directly in the line of sight of a bare light. You need horizontal light as well as vertical light when working on a car. When working on brakes it is nice to have diffuse light coming around your body and the wheel well edges to reduce shadows. I don't know about you but I can never get a trouble light to stay in position when doing brake work while head mounted lights help they do become cumbersome at times.
We just had our garage walls painted last week, and I'm planning on adding some lighting. I'm strongly considering the hexagon style lights. They're LED and can be configured several different ways, including on a wall!
I too do a lot of my own tinkering and maintenance and find what I have now, isn't enough lighting. Sample of the lights I'm thinking about are posted in the last picture
Like these. I must have installed 20 of them since they are all like 10w each. You can select the "color" of the light. I set them to 5K (Daylight).
Yes for these. I redid my entire garage ceiling two years ago with these pocket lights. The great thing about them is they come with their own electric "box" so you can install these anywhere and the box can just sit up on the drywall and still meet the building code without a framed box. Scraped the popcorn, fixed the cracked seams, painted flat, installed these in a 5x5 grid. I am very happy with how it came out. I thought I had better pics so I will update this post tonight after I get an actual roof view.
Last edited by jaxcam02; Mar 11, 2024 at 07:24 PM.
My garage has rafters overhead and I did the same. Added 4 of the 4’ dual bulb LED shop lights with the bright white 5k bulbs. Also, I already had 4 existing (and similar) fluorescent shop lights that I swapped out the bulbs for LED replacements. And I have several of those reflector style lights with spring clamps that I can position about anywhere overhead on my rafters. Offers a lot of light that’s easy to reposition if desired and maintain.
I am digging that hexagon lighting package, but I will keep looking around. My big worry was cutting holes in a ceiling covered with new board and then being underwhelmed by the light output.
They're like an LED fan and the blades can be turned up or down and inclined downward. I have a 3 bay garage and standard lighting receptacles at both ends of each bay (6 recepts total). These light the place up like daylight. I used to use 300w incandescents. They lit the place up but produced a LOT of heat and sucked a lot of juice. The LED versions produce far less heat, mo-betta light and are a lot easier on my electric bill.
I've no idea what "canless" lights are, but in my 1200 sq.ft. shop/garage originally I hung MANY dual 4-ft fluorescent "shop lights" (aging can require ever more lighting ). As they've commenced dying over the last 10-years I've been replacing them with the brightest, comparable LED shop lights I've found.
Living in SoCal, garage space is limited. I have a two car garage with white walls and ceiling. I have four 48" long double LED's at about 5,000 Lumens, which really lit the place up.
I had a bulb go out recently. Lowe's had some LED tubes made specifically for lighting the garage. They made a noticeable difference.
I have 2x4 LED panels in mine. Lithonia has a variety of choices. Contractor grade is available via Home Depot and Lowes. I went with their commercial line that also gives you a selection of light temperatures. They're very thin, very light weight, and with 6 of them the lighting is smooth/consistent/plenty bright over my entire garage (~650sq ft). https://lithonia.acuitybrands.com/pr...erOfResults=20
I've no idea what "canless" lights are, but in my 1200 sq.ft. shop/garage originally I hung MANY dual 4-ft fluorescent "shop lights" (aging can require ever more lighting ). As they've commenced dying over the last 10-years I've been replacing them with the brightest, comparable LED shop lights I've found.
Canless is just that. Rather than having a can in the ceiling that you screw the bulb into, canless are flush to the ceiling and round just like a can light. The ones we have in our house mount to a regular electrical box in the ceiling vs needing the room for the can, bracing, etc. There are other mounting methods as well. Basically gives you more flexibility regarding where you put them and they're very bright/energy efficient. The other nice thing is that in general the LEDs will last 15+ years.
First, popcorn comes off relatively easily if you spray it with water, let it soak a few minutes and then scrape. We did the entire house this way. You have to be a little cautious to prevent your scraper from causing gouges that need filled.
I have a 60x40 that’s insulated with white faced roll insulation. Other than the red iron, it’s bright white. The ceiling is a minimum of 16 feet tall. I currently have 24 double bulb 4’ fluorescent fixtures on the rafters. Hi output 32W T8 bulbs.
It’s enough for basic work. For detail work I use a handheld work light.
Age requires more light. Detail requires more light. You’ll never get enough light into the edges/corners to be adequate. Even if you double what you’re planning.
there is a limit on how many LED's you can put on a string of lights
Canned lights might look cool in a garage, but will probably cost more for the fixtures and utility costs
than LED shop lights
Garage Lighting
). As they've commenced dying over the last 10-years I've been replacing them with the brightest, comparable LED shop lights I've found. 
