[cowtown]

Hi guys,
We've moved into a new house, and I'm lucky enough to have a finished two car garage to use just as a shop area. I have put in RaceDeck tile and painted the walls and ceilings with high gloss scrubbable paint. The only problem with the garage is that it's just got a single 15A GFCI wall outlet. No 220V, and not enough amperage for compressors, welders, a lift in the future, etc.

The main house panel is mounted on the exterior wall of this garage. I'm considering mounting a sub-panel on the interior wall nearest the main panel and running a 6GA 4-conductor line to the main panel. This should give me the ability to get 220V, and also to run 20A 110V circuits to outlets. It seems that a subpanel and exposed conduit would also give me more flexibility later on to add/subtract circuits.

I'd like to do all the garage wiring with PVC conduit and junction boxes mounted to the walls. I would be doing the work myself with help and advice from an electrician friend, and getting code inspections from the city (Davis CA).

Is this a good idea, or is there a better way to wire a garage? I'm in the "thinking about it" stage, so pictures and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Colin