To extend power outdoors, insert a plug into a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) protected outlet or your regular outdoor outlet. Wrap the plug around with Teflon tape to create a watertight seal. Determine the location of the electrical post and find the nearest existing outlet to supply power. Ensure that the new service won’t overload before beginning.
To extend power outdoors, install a receptacle back-to-back with one inside the house. Check to make sure the new service won’t overload before starting. Plug the hole and make another hole higher where you want the outlet, pop in a bushing, and set a box on top. Use silicone to keep moisture out of the electrical box.
Weatherproof cabling is essential for outdoor receptacles, as they must be GFCI protected. GFCI outlets trip and turn off automatically when there’s a current leakage or short circuit, which helps prevent fires and accidental shocks. Apply a waterproof sealant around the base of the post where it meets the concrete to prevent water from seeping into the concrete.
To weatherproof an outdoor outlet, install Bubble Covers to keep water and debris out while allowing you to use the outlet. Use GFCI outlets for outdoor electrical safety by knowing the circumference of the hole. Mount a box to a lamp-post with screws, drill a hole for wire access, and run conduit up to that hole inside the fence. Arlington Gard-N-Posts™ provides power and light in the outdoors, and garden posts can be used for waterproof outlet enclosures and lamps in any outside area.
📹 DIY Outdoor Lighting and Outlet
I also show how to make a small lamp post with lighting, a useful exterior outlet and finish it off with a nice post cap and finial.
📹 FULL INSTALL Outdoor Receptacles From Post Lights.
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April, nice job, but I agree with one of the other posts. Also, a few small tips for you from an electrician…. First (and especially in places that have a colder climate and ground is susceptible to frost, at the very least, a small bed of sand above and below the UF cable you are running. A small rock or boney backfill can and will penetrate UF. For the cost of small PVC, we usually run PVC especially in the northeast. Next, when you payout your wire (Whether you are running Romex or UF, do not just pull it off the reel. “Walk Out” the cable by putting the end under something heavy and roll it hand over hand out as you walk as to roll the cable off itself. It will come off the reel perfectly straight and lay in the trench much better and pull through conduit better as well. (Also really helps if you are stapling up wire). Lastly, the weakest point in the install is at the base of the post. While I cannot say 100% because the article did not show it, a better method when you either cut the post or do the install is to leave a spot where the wire comes out so that the weight of the post is not sitting on the wire. Maybe you did that. Also, lots of sand at the base helps make sure that if the post moves, the wire has some give. 99% of the time, that is where the cable failure will be. Not trying to be critical of what you do, really just trying to help. I watch and enjoy a lot of your articles. I wish I working with wood came as easy to me as working with wire. Keep up the great work.
Nice project. Did they think about the pond electrical use? Pump for water fall or to keep the water agitated to keep bugs out? That’s the idea for conduit. But I did electrical work, so I’m thinking to the future. Might not ever be used, but dig one time. My old house I ran water and power to the street post and misting for the flowers. Thanks for sharing! Be cool, be safe! Beach,NC
One thing I didn’t hear in the article is about calling local authorities concerning your digging. We have a service where I live call 811. You tell them that you want to dig up your yard. They will come out and mark all utilities, water, gas, and electricity in the area that you want to dig. If you dig without calling them and hit a utility, you are going to pay for all the repairs which can run into thousands of dollars. Please call before you dig. Don’t want any angry neighbors because you didn’t call.
Hi April great vid. One thing I’ll say and you may have already heard from others. Running bare wiring in the ground leaves a lot to go wrong down the road from corrosion. Here in So. Cal. Wiring above or below ground must be done in conduit. So additionally when I do run cabling I do so in 1 inch plumbing pvc in the event future wiring needs to be added for whatever additions, AND FUTURE CODE PROFFING. April I respect your skills but never ever run bare cabling in ground without quality conduit. 👌 Good call on the WAGO Lever Nuts. Those are way better than twist Nuts in my opinion.
A lesson from similar trenching projects to outbuildings and distant outlets – for me, always pull more amperage than you think you need! In your case if powering a little light and maybe a fountain pump, you decided on 15A – but for others, for instance if you ever wanted to plug in some beefy tools for outdoor work or daisy chain other outlets later on – I’d suggest, again, pulling more than you think you need! Way easier just not to use what you what now than to replace wire or do a whole new home run in the future. Two cents!
As others are saying, locate, locate, locate. Also, I always use HDPE innerduct or PVC jacketed steel armored 12/2 cable for direct burial. Homeowners can pick up innerduct tails (tail ends of large reels that don’t get used, but are too small to take back out in the field on a job) at industrial supply houses in cities. Worth the trip.
Hi April, the code in your area is very lax compared to a lot of locations, if I was doing that I would use drain pipe (plastic) or steel pipe like the piece you put under the path, I would also lay a warning tape along the trench so that anyone digging there in the future would see the tape and be warned. I would use the tape no matter what switch or anything else was under, it is very cheap and worth every dollar.
As expected, this job got the immediate attention of every sparky! Small wonder, as we spend far too much time fixing DIY short cuts. My first comment: Forget about “meeting” code. Experience has a aught me “code” often isn’t enough. I like pipe. For burial, PVC, buried two feet deep, Makes it deeper than a casual shovel bite. Using pipe let’s you replace the wire later, if there are problems. I hate digging twice! Use primer to mAke sure the pvc glue holds strong. GFCI protect at the house end; that way you’ll know what f the wire run is damaged. All GFCI’s need to be outdoor rated / corrosion resistant. Look for “WR” on the device.
Hi, April. That was a great project. I did something similar after building a 12′ x 16′ pergola in my back yard and adding a 2-outlet weather protected GFCI outlet near the top of it so I could add some hidden remote controlled rope lighting behind crown molding. Additionally after my wife and I built a large pond next to the pergola, I wanted a 4-outlet above ground GFCI outlet box that is about 2 1/2 ft above ground and has some backlighting in it so that you could see the outlets at night if you need to unplug anything. Also in line with it, I connected it via and a weather proof quick shut-off switch next to the house to shut the power off to that outlet box with one click (just a safety feature I thought would be cool). Finally after digging somewhere between 18 – 24 inches deep to lay down the wire, I added a red-colored electrical wire warning strip (it says, “Warning: buried electrical wiring!” repeating these words along the entire length of the strip), that I laid on top of the sand that I surrounded the wire with before finally covering it all up in dirt. The reason I did this is because if someday when I either sell this house or I move onto happy hunting grounds and a new owner were to simply start digging anywhere I laid the wiring underground they will hopefully uncover the red warning strip before their digging tool touches the live wiring. Great also if you forgot where the wiring was laid …… exactly….. and you or someone else starts digging along the wiring path.
All I’m trying to convey in my comment below is that when you dig in your yard, call 811(A national program by the way). It is a free service, at least here in Tennessee. They come out and mark any utility within (if my memory serves me right) 18′ of where you placed a marker anywhere in your yard. Anywhere! Yes, April may be a professional and was very careful with her digging, but not everyone that watches her articles are a professional in this field. If I am going to dig in my yard, I’m calling 811 to have them mark my yard with colored paint and little colored flags. Having been trained in the military as a construction electrician in the Seabees, we were drilled with training on safety. As the old saying goes, “Better to be safe than sorry.” And no, I am retired and have never worked for any utility company or any service company involving local utilities. And due to my train in the Seabees, I can tell you just about exactly where all my utilities are buried. But, what if I’m wrong… It has been a few decades since I looked at the NEC about the direct burial of electrical cables, but I believe it was under the frost line, however deep that is. I have also seen articles of gas lines in a yard being struck by lightning. Unless you put it there, you DON’T know for certain how deep they are. They could be 36″ down or 1″ down. The installer may have had a hot date that evening and rushed the job. All the marker that 811 puts down indicates, is the path, not the depth of the utility.
Love your stuff April, but any article at all about digging in a yard to run wire or hosing should include the advice “Make sure you’ve contacted your local power company to make sure no wire already runs through that area.” It’s not always applicable, but is always a safe option and a good idea. Love the cute post though!
Just ran a cable to my shed. The rules here in Australia apparently include 500mm trench, conduit with a orange plastic tape on top warning of power line. Would also recommend some indicator above ground to warn late comers of power along path because I would be tempted to install a garden bed along said path.Great build by the way, like the post and will be looking for the foam for small retaining wall project coming up.
I wonder if there are easy plug in converters for tools, etc. that require electricity bc this lamp post is beautiful but if not for needing an electrical outlet then why not solar instead?! I think it’s far more practical then tunneling out your yard and it’s utilizing free energy and will always be outdoor friendly!!! Amazon has really upped their game with solar panels and solar lights that aren’t expensive yet are higher quality than all the dumb little solar lights at the store.
If you’re real lazy like me you wait till it rains and then you jump on a shovel and wiggle it and do that it just open it up just enough to get about four or six inches deep. It’s a lot quicker. Maybe not to go but I’ve never had any problems and I always run it off a GFCI anyway. And then for the Post in the yard I just usually put a 4×4 run up the side of it with conduit and put a weatherproof box. Course this looks better but I bet the conduit on a regular 4×4 will last longer.
That’s definitely a cute post! Is there any concern about the romex working it’s way up over time? We buried some drip line (admittedly nowhere near as deep) and it worked its way to the surface within a few months. A bit of constructive (hopefully) criticism – for my old ears, the nature noises (birds, wind, whatevs) plus the low-volume music just mixed together into background cacophony. I would have much preferred the article either without music or with slightly louder music so it wasn’t at the same level as the background noise.
The post over post design makes a lot of sense. Especially while adding electrical features. This project gives me an idea for my back fence flower planting area. Maybe some low voltage lights but in the post over post style. Most of the store bought lights for this application do not look as nice or homey. Besides you can custom make to any height desired. Take Care and God Bless
Glad I found your website. I’ve got to get power from the house to a lake fed irrigation pump for a sprinkler system. Straight shot, nothing but 100 feet of grass and pine tree roots. My OCD will make me run the romex thru schedule 80. Instead of bothering you, I’ll find someone I can buy off with pizza and beer to get the pump and timer wired correctly.
A lot of the time you can hook a water hose up to a pvc pipe and the flowing water will push the dirt away and make it move and you’ll be able to basically jab the pipe under ground. I’ve used this to run sprinklers under side walks and down short runs. Also that skinny shovel is for laying pipe in the ground for electric or irrigation so perfect use. Tends to be my favorite shovel for alot of jobs. Precision.
I know this is rather old but I came here for the post design. Love your articles. A tip on the shovel: Instead of using it like a normal shovel with the handle angled 45 degrees toward your back, shove the handle forward so its about 45 degrees in front of you and the blade is standing straight up. Now you have a smooth surface to stand on top of the blade and can shove the blade into the ground with a simple jump on it. Now pull the handle back toward you and remove the whole plug of dirt at once.
April I have adored you for years and always love your articles and somehow lost track of you but doing a recent online search I again found you on this article and subscribed again for future articles . Great job on this smaller project as I said I have watched before so I know you have done many Big jobs. I like this project so much I may look for this light to add to my outdoor outlet for a nice decorative touch . Laterz Cyber friend – Leland
Know this is an older article but didn’t catch anyone mention this. To get under the side walk, if you want to avoid the mess water creates and the beating a pipe. Goto the electrical aisle and buy a flex bit. They are long enough to get across sidewalks and drilling it will have you done in seconds. You can then pull a piece of conduit back (best) or just the cable (likely get tore out if replace sidewalk). A lot of times you can find this for cheap 2nd hand and they come in useful if ever running wires inside as well.
I am going to pick on you for a minute, not trying to critique you just give a few pointers. Digging the ditch, go full depth at the start, then go back and inch or so in the ditch and shove the shovel down as deep as it will go and pry into the starting hole; you want to relieve the pressure. Grubbing hoes are horrible to operate, if the ground is extremely hard, use a short San Angelo bar or buy a clay spade for your Bulldog type hammer drill (I have seen you use that before) I have one, just wish it was about 10 inches longer for 24″ deep ditches. When you put a receptacle in an old work box, you break the 4 ears off so the receptacle sits flush on the box between the box ears. this helps to keep the water out too, getting rid of that small gap. The box on the house, either caulk the top and sides or use duct seal around the box to keep water from going down behind the box and rotting your siding or allowing a bunch of bugs in. thanks for the articles.
Excellent idea 👌🏼 This helped me make my own using 1x8x8 red cedar to make an almost perfect 8 inch square post sleeve. Turned out to be 8 & a 1/8 inch, I’m hoping the 8 inch topper from Amazon will fit. The larger post sleeve allowed me to mount & hide my Philips Hue transformer for my landscape lights. The sika post fix was super easy to use as well, I only used a little so I didn’t have to cut off the excess. Thank you!
Hello, I did a similar trench, but ran #2 Aluminum wire to a shed. Trench was about 55′ and again, 12″ deep, but used a post hole digger all the way due to lots of gravel and clay in the earth. Had an electrician install and connect a box in the shed to allow me to run a generator when needed. I am adding the lights and receptacles to shed myself (it is a new shed). Thanks for your article. I will tackle running power from house to fountain and/or pond.
April, I’ve been following your D I Y article’s for a while now. It is so cool to watch some of your old articles back in the beginning to remind us how far you have come. It is true that if you want it bad enough and work hard that anything is possible. Congratulations on your newest shop, and it is a shop to die for. Again thanks for sharing and keep on building your dreams. God Bless, from Chris from Brenham Texas. Rock on girl.
I realllly don’t get why anyone wouldn’t run conduit for this. You’re already digging the trench and running the wire, so why not spend $20 and put it in conduit? Especially with a shallow trench. Just because code says you can doesn’t mean you should. Now, if this was a long run across an area where nobody would ever dig, yeah, you’d save some bucks by direct burying the wire, but I really don’t think that makes any sense here. Good trick with the pipe though!
It’s good that you mention several times to make sure to check codes, but I think you missed one. The blue boxes you used for the light box and receptacle are not actually up to code for outdoor use, as they are not weather tight. Installing them in the post doesn’t count either. So many codes, but they are there to protect everyone. A small rain event can create a short, or worse, a fire.
Great article, thanks. In addition to some of the good points, already made, here is a little one. When passing the cable from in the house to the outside, I believe best practice is to mount a box inside, and outside, connected by a bushing… Think short pipe threaded on both ends, nuts to hold it snug and bushings to prevent fraying on sharp edges. I’m sure it can be code for a lot less than that, but the bushing provides a little more protection from random harm. Thanks again for the great content. It’s got a refreshing honesty to it.
Well your (the US) safety regulations are terrible and dangerous too. Here, your (garden) ground cable must be 2 feet deep, or twice the length of a spade. But what is more important IT NEEDS TO HAVE AN EARTH SCREEN, that is twisted iron mesh around the two wires, connected to the ground of your electrical system. So if somebody accidentally put a spade or axe or other metal tool through the mesh and wires it will short circuit the system and the fuse will break or the ground residual current device will hit in.
Nice tutorial. It should be noted that in some areas you must have the electrical work done by an electrician. Also another good tip is to place a pressure treated board with some caution tape stapled to it (or painted a bright color) directly on top of the cable. This will protect the wire if someone was to come back later to dig for something else, and make it obvious that it’s not random scrap in the ground when they do hit it.
Great article as usual coach. Quick question, I’m assuming, since you didn’t address it, that you do not need a box at the top of the pillar. Is that correct? My thought process is that water can find its way under the fixture and run down the holes. Also, it would make a better anchor point for the light.