Problem: A dark entrance to your front door is uninviting and can even be dangerous, but you don't have any place to install light fixtures.
Solution: Decorative landscape lighting is an easy-to-install solution to this problem. It will welcome visitors, make your entry safer and enhance your landscaping all at the same time.
Materials:
outdoor landscape lighting kit (includes fixtures, cable and a transformer)
power drill with drill bits, a masonry bit and a Phillips driver bit
masonry screw or anchor
multi-purpose wire stripping tool
safety glasses
- Start by making a sketch of the area you want to light. Take the sketch with you to the home center to help you know what size lighting kit you should buy.
- Find and mark a place to mount the transformer, which converts household current into safe, low-voltage (12 volts) current. The transformer should be located near a ground-fault circuit interrupting (GFCI) outlet, which shuts off the power in the event of a short circuit.
- Pre-drill a hole to mount your transformer. If you're installing the transformer on a brick wall, use a masonry bit and drill into the mortar, not the brick. Be sure to wear your safety glasses while drilling.
- Split the two wires apart on one end of the low-voltage cable, and strip about 1/2 inch of insulation from each wire. Attach an electrical connector to each bare wire, and crimp it in place with the stripping tool. If your kit doesn't include electrical connectors, you can simply bend the end of the wire into a hook shape.
- Place the electrical connectors under the terminal screws on the transformer and tighten the screws (figure A).
- Drive a screw partly into the hole you drilled so that the head is about 1/4 inch above the surface; then hang the transformer on the screw head.
- Lay the cable along the path where you'll install the light fixtures.
- Assemble your light fixtures according to your manufacturer's instructions. A typical light assembly involves securing wire leads, a bulb and a stake to each fixture.
- Lay your fixtures along the path where you want them. Then attach them to the low-voltage cable using the clamps at the ends of each fixture wire (figure B). The clamps contain metal teeth that penetrate the insulation on the cable and tap into the wires underneath.
- After you wire each light, push it into the ground until the stake is hidden.
- Use an edging tool to dig a small trench along the path next to the lights (figure C). Bury the cable, and your lighting worries along with it.
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