[standouglas]

Hi,

I recently rented a large industrial space with 25 ft ceilings and poor lighting. I am trying to set up some lighting to make large artworks along one wall. I thought I would hang 8 foot long fluorescent strip light fixtures along that wall. The question is how to attach them. The ceiling is concrete and way up there. I don't have a lot of money to spend to rent scaffolding, etc. I thought I would build arms to attach to the wall and extend out about 41 inches. For each fluorescent fixture there would be an arm at either end to support it. The arms would attach to the wall about 11 feet up.

The question is how do I make this structurally sound? My wall is 5/8 inch drywall with metal studs behind. I built the arms already out of clear 2/4 s. There is a 2/4, 24 inches long that is the vertical member that will attach to the wall. There is a 2/4, 41 inch long piece that is screwed into the vertical member and then extends straight out horizontally. Then there is a 2/4 piece that supports the horizontal member at a 45 degree angle down to the bottom of the vertical member, also at 45 degrees. This support piece connects with the horizontal piece about 23 inches from the wall. Then I attached four heavy duty metal L brackets to the vertical member, with the intention of using toggle bolts to attach it to the wall. The fluorescent fixture with bulbs will weigh about 15 pounds.

Is this crazy? Will this come crashing down on my head or work? Do I need to screw this into the studs or just the drywall? I read on a site about installing wall mounts for tvs that I should put a skin of plywood over my drywall, fastening it to the studs on either side of where I want to mount the arm. Should I do this? My studs are 24" apart. I want to install 5 light fixtures. Another problem is I thought I might have each arm hold the end of two lights, to save space. This will increase the load on each arm from roughly 8 pounds to 15 pounds. I don't know how much it is in reality though, since it extends 41 inches from the wall...

Thanks

[skiberger]

Attach whatever you can to the studs. Use 3" self tapping screws made for metal studs.

What you can do is against the wall install 2- 2x4's perpendicular to the wall studs 24" apart, then mount your "arms" to those using 3" drywall screws. By mounting the 2x's against the wall gives you more flexibilty to space the " drywall screws. By mounting the 2x's against the wall gives you more flexibilty to space the " were need them along the walls.

The length of the hoizontal 2x's mounted to the studs is up to you.

[donnapsrq]

I have similar problem for lighting but need to install flood lighting in warehouse with concrete ceiling. This is lighting in art studio for workshops so need light to flood the floor area 26' x 36' from 25' . Suspending fluorescent strips the best? How to suspend from concrete for safety and security and best work light quality