Post #341753 by Tiki Zen on Fri, Nov 2, 2007 12:31 PM

Okay, first with the customary disclaimers: 1) always check with your local building inspector or a professional electrician, as codes vary from state to state. 2) I am not an electrician, just a do-it-yourselfer.

But . . . I had a similar situation in a room where I put a billiard table. Needed to get hanging lights over the table, and I had several faux beams running across the ceiling.

What I did: I had a switched wall outlet directly below one of the beams. The beam was simply a 2x4 screwed to the ceiling, with 1x4 boards on the sides and bottom, creating a hollow box. I drilled a hole through the bottom of the beam near the wall. Then I angled through that hole and drilled another hole in the wall concealed by the end of the beam. Using an electician's "fish tape" I pulled electric cable up from the switched outlet.

Then I drilled another hole in the side of the beam, near the middle of the room and near the ceiling. I pulled the cable through the hollow beam, using it as a conduit.

From the hole in the beam, I exited and ran the rest of the distance to the light fixture with surface-mounting decorative conduit. This is essentially a flat track you screw into the ceiling and then lay the electric cable against it. A low-profile cover then snaps over the conduit onto the track. When painted to match the ceiling, it is not too objectionable.

According to code? Doubtful, but the house hasn't burned down.

Here's what I did:

Rather than have outlets on the ceiling, if you are wiring into a switched circuit, you can just install a surface mounting junction box and hard-wire.

[ Edited by: Tiki Zen 2007-11-04 09:39 ]