Advice on outdoor pavilion wiring needed

mathu126 · Nov 4, 2021

Good morning all. I have scanned posts and haven't found the exact answers I am looking for so I'd like to ask for a bit of advice related to my outdoor patio/ pavilion wiring. I have quite a bit of electrical experience as I have wired my last two houses and recently added a 100AMP sub panel to my new home's 3rd garage bay as I am converting it into a woodworking shop.

The reason for my questions is really based on my not-so-clear understanding of outdoor wiring requirements. I'll lay out my plans and then my questions.

We are putting in a 600-700 sq ft patio that will also have a covered pavilion and a free-standing fireplace. I pulled the electrical permit from the city last week and want to get started ASAP so my patio contractor can complete his work. I want to add a ceiling fan, 4 lights, two receptacles down lower and 1 receptacle up higher so I can mount a TV. Here's what I think I should do:
1. Dig a 12" deep ditch from the house, under the patio pavers and up the post for the pavilion.
2. Install a plastic conduit LB to the stucco where I'm bringing the wire out of the house
3. Install a plastic two gang box (1" inlet on bottom and 2 1/2" outlets on top) on the post and bring the conduit in the bottom
4. Come out of the top of the box with 1 1/2" conduit running to my ceiling fan and my lights
5. Come out of the top of the box with a 2nd 1/2" conduit running to my first receptacle box... and then from there to my other two.

Now, my questions:
1. From my inside panel to the 2 gang box- can I run standard 12-2 Romex through the conduit or does it need to be UF wire?
2. Is it ok for the 2 gang box to be plastic or should it be metal (goes for the receptacle boxes as well)?
3. Coming out of the box (inside the pavilion), can the wire be 12-2 Romex or does it need to be UF?
4. Do I have to use conduit all the way from the initial box to all the other boxes or once I get into the rafters, can it just be the wire alone?
5. If the answer to using conduit all over the pavilion is yes, are there any other options out there to make the install a bit cleaner looking? I'm guessing this will not be an attractive look inside the pavilion.
6. I would also like to run an ethernet cable out so I can install a wireless access point. My thought was to put about 4 inches of dirt on top of my electrical conduit and run another 1/2" conduit in the same ditch for my ethernet. Does this make sense and is this typical?

There are probably other questions I need to be answered but these are the most important for now I believe.

Thanks for any advice that can help me with this install.

Matt

Megawatt · Nov 5, 2021

mathu126 said:
Good morning all. I have scanned posts and haven't found the exact answers I am looking for so I'd like to ask for a bit of advice related to my outdoor patio/ pavilion wiring. I have quite a bit of electrical experience as I have wired my last two houses and recently added a 100AMP sub panel to my new home's 3rd garage bay as I am converting it into a woodworking shop.

The reason for my questions is really based on my not-so-clear understanding of outdoor wiring requirements. I'll lay out my plans and then my questions.

We are putting in a 600-700 sq ft patio that will also have a covered pavilion and a free-standing fireplace. I pulled the electrical permit from the city last week and want to get started ASAP so my patio contractor can complete his work. I want to add a ceiling fan, 4 lights, two receptacles down lower and 1 receptacle up higher so I can mount a TV. Here's what I think I should do:
1. Dig a 12" deep ditch from the house, under the patio pavers and up the post for the pavilion.
2. Install a plastic conduit LB to the stucco where I'm bringing the wire out of the house
3. Install a plastic two gang box (1" inlet on bottom and 2 1/2" outlets on top) on the post and bring the conduit in the bottom
4. Come out of the top of the box with 1 1/2" conduit running to my ceiling fan and my lights
5. Come out of the top of the box with a 2nd 1/2" conduit running to my first receptacle box... and then from there to my other two.

Now, my questions:
1. From my inside panel to the 2 gang box- can I run standard 12-2 Romex through the conduit or does it need to be UF wire?
2. Is it ok for the 2 gang box to be plastic or should it be metal (goes for the receptacle boxes as well)?
3. Coming out of the box (inside the pavilion), can the wire be 12-2 Romex or does it need to be UF?
4. Do I have to use conduit all the way from the initial box to all the other boxes or once I get into the rafters, can it just be the wire alone?
5. If the answer to using conduit all over the pavilion is yes, are there any other options out there to make the install a bit cleaner looking? I'm guessing this will not be an attractive look inside the pavilion.
6. I would also like to run an ethernet cable out so I can install a wireless access point. My thought was to put about 4 inches of dirt on top of my electrical conduit and run another 1/2" conduit in the same ditch for my ethernet. Does this make sense and is this typical?

There are probably other questions I need to be answered but these are the most important for now I believe.

Thanks for any advice that can help me with this install.

Matt

Matt if you have to drill through the basement yes install a 3/4 PVC LB then sleeve it all the way under the ground. You need to use UF cable for the whole job. You will need to use metal boxes which are approved for outdoor use and when you come out of the ground at the pavilion you will have to use conduit all the way to the first box which everything out there has to be GFCI protected. Come out of the first box with a piece conduit long enough to sleeve the wire to the top and no more conduit is required. Your ditch needs to be at least 18 inches deep and as far as the Ethernet cable you can lay it in the ditch also as long as it’s approved for wet locations and don’t group them together. Since you drew a permit I’m going to tell you at the pavilion the first thing that needs to be terminated is a GFCI receptacle and come off the load side for everything else with 12/2 romex UF cable. Hope this helps

mathu126 · Nov 7, 2021

Megawatt said:
Matt if you have to drill through the basement yes install a 3/4 PVC LB then sleeve it all the way under the ground. You need to use UF cable for the whole job. You will need to use metal boxes which are approved for outdoor use and when you come out of the ground at the pavilion you will have to use conduit all the way to the first box which everything out there has to be GFCI protected. Come out of the first box with a piece conduit long enough to sleeve the wire to the top and no more conduit is required. Your ditch needs to be at least 18 inches deep and as far as the Ethernet cable you can lay it in the ditch also as long as it’s approved for wet locations and don’t group them together. Since you drew a permit I’m going to tell you at the pavilion the first thing that needs to be terminated is a GFCI receptacle and come off the load side for everything else with 12/2 romex UF cable. Hope this helps

Thanks for your reply Megawatt. I think you confirmed most of what I thought was correct. My plan was to use a GFCI breaker in the panel but your idea about coming straight in to a GFCI receptacle might be a bit more economical for me. Are there outdoor rated GFCI receptacles or do you just use a normal one and make sure the cover is a weatherproof cover?