Monday, July 26, 2010

Garden History Chapter 16

Mounting Solar Lights on a Fence

In my last garden post I took pictures of the solar yard lights that my husband modified so they could be on the fence. VR, a blog reader, left a comment and suggested that I make a snapshot and explain what my hubby did to adapt the lights.

I told my hubby and he was happy to provide a few instructions. Since these lights are designed to be on the ground and we wanted them on the fence there had to be an off set because of the size of the solar top. Now, I suppose wood blocks come in all shapes and sizes and my husband could have purchased a prefab but he likes to recycle things so he used some of his scrap wood instead.

He cut a 2 x 4 board into 4 inch sections then cut the same amount of pieces into 4 inch sections using a 1 x 4 board. He used deck or drywall screws to fasten the two pieces together. This made a nice little block. Then he sprayed the blocks with black enamel paint. He then mounted 1/2 inch Plastic Conduit Clamps on the block to hold the light fixture. The little pipe that comes with the light, now, just slips right into the clamps and the lamp’s lower ring rests on the block once the block has been mounted to the fence. Neat idea, huh?

I think it makes a lot more light in a small space. To get a better idea, here are the close up pictures that I took.