Front door light position

[fernicarry]

What do people think for an up/down wall light? Red cross, blue cross or somewhere else?

 

[ThornhillMike]

I'd go centrally above the door or a matching pair either side (but that's just my slight OCD). I think the red cross works as the fitting may look 'cramped' on the smaller edging stone...

 

[fernicarry]

Thanks. It'll be a one each side of the door.

I agree the wider stone probably looks better but the red cross feels too low to me.

Suddenly realised I need to at least get the cable in because I'm boarding out the porch.

 

[a twig]

Controversially I would personally avoid a modern up down wall light as I have an irrational hatred of them, and go for a more traditional looking lantern, mounting it to the wall to the left of the door rather than mutilating the beautiful dressed stone.

 

[a twig]

I’ve always wanted a frontage grand enough to get away with lanterns like this. Definitely OTT for your setting (you’d want lanterns half the size) but illustrates the idea.

 

[a twig]

Perhaps something like this is more applicable to your setting

 

[fernicarry]

I was also considering lanterns so it'd be good if the fixing height was appropriate for those as well which I think rules out red cross height.

Not keen on fixing to the rubble stone, its very uneven so I'd have to make a pattress and mortar it in place to get them level. Its also hard as a very hard thing and 2' thick... The sandstone by comparison should put up much less of a fight, but I know what you mean about mutilating it. Previous owners had a satellite dish attached to the quoins on the right corner, now banished to the chimney stack at the back.

 

[a twig]

Big SDS and take a run up, you’ll be fine

 

[a twig]

More seriously once you’ve purchased the lantern(s) and know your dimensions, you can cut a square of sandstone as your pattress, long screws through it into the rubble wall and packed with mortar as you say, it’s honestly not that much effort and will look fantastic once it’s done. Worst thing is doing something for convenience now that then nags at you once your are finished (don’t ask how I know)
Also a good excuse to purchase some stonemasons tools to put a nice chamfer on the edges

 

[fernicarry]

it’s honestly not that much effort and will look fantastic once it’s done

Hmmmm.... you might be talking me round... but its turning into a "project".

I was thinking of a wooden pattress with a nice profile around the edge, the sort of thing that would be so much easier to do with a router table (hint, hint, Santa). Even if I fix to the sandstone this would avoid drilling different fixings into it according to the light fitting. Being coastal external metalwork tends to look quite shabby quite quickly.

How about this for a plan? I'll get myself a ridiculously long SDS bit and have a go at drilling through the rubble. If its a no go, then easy enough to conceal. If it works then that gives me "options". From that position I will need to point inwards slightly towards the door opening so that the drill comes out inside the porch, rather than inside the living room, so I'll need to get my angle right from the start.

All I need at this point is the cable in place so I can close up the porch, which allows me to get Scottish Power to move the cable head out of the bedroom into the porch which is one less thing blocking me from finishing said bedroom as well as the shower room next to it...

Still fancy the wall washer lights though ... I was going to put wifi controlled colour changing bulbs in them and program them for special events, red/white for Xmas, blue/white for St Andrews day, orange for Halloween...

 

[a twig]

Reckon that’s a good plan for starters as it solves the problem for now and leaves you with options for the future

If you want to wash exterior walls (which can look great on stone walls) then the most effective is ground based uplighting, as the fixtures are effectively invisible when not in use and with a wide enough beam angle you can really wash the wall.

If you are really keen you bury them so they are flush with the ground and can be walked in, and get them as close to the base of the walls as possible.

For an easier solution, ground based spots achieve almost the same effect with much less effort. You can get low voltage RGBW systems with remote controls etc nowadays so no need to worry about protecting cables, just run/bury them externally as you need back to the controller and then plug the controller into the wall and good to go.

 

[a twig]

Replying to myself again, looks like you don’t even need a separate controller these days - fittings like this have all the smarts built in, you can buy a separate remote for standalone control, or control them through zigbee. No idea if these are any good, just an example I found on google

Paulmann Plug & Shine spotlight Pike, ZigBee, RGBW

Paulmann Plug & Shine spotlight Pike, ZigBee, RGBW ✓ 50 days free returns ✓ The UK's largest selection of brands ✓ Flexible payment options. Visit now.

www.lights.co.uk

Or these are a cheap way of dipping your toe in the water and seeing how much you like the effects before buying “proper” fittings

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/LTGLK4.html

 

[overlander matt]

This is a helpful post as I have to find lights for either side of our front door (and the side door) which will most likely be the lantern types (once a choice is finally made) and then other ground level lighting to illuminate the front of the house. Presumably I would just situate the lamp in the center of each brick section. In our case 6 lights?

I couldn't find an up to date photo but this one effectively shows what needs illuminating... Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[a twig]

Yep you could do one for every section although you probably wouldn’t bother either side of the door if you have lanterns so unless your house carries on past the RH side of your photo you’d only need 4 - you’d want quite a narrow beam angle (guessing from your photo maximum of around 30 degrees beam angle) to avoid the light washing the ground floor windows too much (gets annoying when you are inside unless you have super thick curtains).

If you struggle to find a beam narrow enough you could fabricate hoods to give the same effect but you will lose some light output as a result as the hoods will absorb it.

 

[overlander matt]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've got quite a bit planned for round the front this spring so hopefully I can get some additional lighting for the facade of the house.

Thanks!

 

[fernicarry]

Finally got back to this since the weather is now a bit less dreary. Porch still not finished, cable head still not moved.... And I have just discovered the big drill bit I bought is SDS Max and my drill isn't. I didn't even know they came in two sizes.

That minor obstacle aside I am, again, vacillating on the position for the lights. I'm fairly sure I want to go at the height of the blue cross, and on the stone rather than the quoins. But how far out from the quoins? Should I go level with the outer edge of the wider quoins? Or part way so the light sits boxed in by the quoins above and below? Or completely outside the line of the quoins?

The further out I go the more I'll need to crank the drill over to hit the porch as otherwise I'll be drilling through the walls of the front rooms...

 

[Juliawill]

Only just found this great forum. I've gone for this.



'

 

[ThornhillMike]

Finally got back to this since the weather is now a bit less dreary. Porch still not finished, cable head still not moved.... And I have just discovered the big drill bit I bought is SDS Max and my drill isn't. I didn't even know they came in two sizes.

That minor obstacle aside I am, again, vacillating on the position for the lights. I'm fairly sure I want to go at the height of the blue cross, and on the stone rather than the quoins. But how far out from the quoins? Should I go level with the outer edge of the wider quoins? Or part way so the light sits boxed in by the quoins above and below? Or completely outside the line of the quoins?

The further out I go the more I'll need to crank the drill over to hit the porch as otherwise I'll be drilling through the walls of the front rooms...

Ah... SDS Plus and SDS Max... never been caught out by that (*coughs nervously*)...

 

[CliffordPope]

Only just found this great forum. I've gone for this.



'View attachment 12757

I like that. It just needs an old (working) bell-pull hanging underneath the lamp, ringing a distant bell. Slow trudging footsteps, and then an ancient bent retainer or housekeeper opens the door (creaking) and peers through the gap.!

In general I think it looks fussy if you put a lamp on the surrounding stone or brickwork, unless you have very wide uprights and the lamps look more as if they grow out of that design rather than just being bolted on extras squeezed into a narrow upright.

To answer the original question: neither. Red or blue both look wrong - it needs a single lamp on a bracket overhead in the centre.

 

[fernicarry]

To answer the original question: neither. Red or blue both look wrong - it needs a single lamp on a bracket overhead in the centre.

Certainly something to consider. Half as many holes, no awkward angles, but change in material from stone to wood part way. A lantern would hang in front of the top light, will that look ok?

I think I'm going to mock up options before drilling anything.

Off to borrow an SDS MAX now.