How do you guys attach the sconces lights to the wall?

Depends on the weight of sconce and your plans for the wall construction. My sconces are mounted to old work electrical boxes which were mounted in a wood frame (Fabric furring) and the assembly was glued and screwed to the surface of the double thick drywall on the wall. If you are using strict soundproofing techniques you want to mount the sconce on a low profile electrical box on the wall surface. Use a real small hole for the wire which should also be caulked.
Edited by BIGmouthinDC - 12/22/12 at 4:39am

If you are using fabric panels how do you attach the sconce to the surface of the panel? Guessing I need to add some framing around the electrical box in the fabric frame?

yup

Like this (the pancake/low profile box is recessed into the round cut out.



(picture was rotated when uploaded)

This is what the electrician installed for the sconce, the metal box. I guess that's a pancake box. Can I build framing around that and have him move the box out one inch? Does he even need to move it?

I am not sure I understand why you need to move the box out an inch, but in any case, they make a box extender for that purpose. You just screw it on to the already installed box. You won't need to call an electrician as there is no need to touch the wires. Any home center or electrical supply house should have the box extenders. I have seen them at both Home Depot and Menard's. Just make sure any electrical connections are inside the confines of that box/extender.
Edited by macfan - 12/24/12 at 7:34am

The electrician needs to come back to finish up. It's just pre-wired now, most of the switches, outlets and the sconce aren't installed (this is so the drywall can be finished and painted without having to work around fixtures). The spot where the metal plate is will have a 1" fabric panel so I wasn't sure if it needed to be flush with the panel or not.

Recommended way to do it is bring only the wire through the drywall. Surface mount the box on top of the drywall at the desired depth (ie you could shim it with a piece of 1/2" plywood to get the box flush or just use a 1" deep box.

The important part being that you can seal around the wire as it penetrates the drywall, instead of having a huge 4" hole in the wall.

If you don't want to patch the drywall to achieve the above, the electrician can simply swap out the pancake for a 1-1/2" deep box.

Tim

I like the wood blocking so that i have a backer at the right level to staple the fabric around the box opening.
Or if you're using fabric frames, you can add framing around the hole.

You can bring the box out or do whatever; however, you need to know what sconces you intend to use. As is the case with our picture, the sconces were heavy and designed to contact the drywall outside the confines of the electrical box for a stable mount...if your sconces need that type of support, then you need the blocking as in our picture.

Thanks Dennis. I took a look at the assembly instructions online and it appears to attach to the electrical box with a mounting strap so I'll need to install my panel with a cutout for the box and then just have the box moved out or perhaps longer screws can be used with blocking.

Link to sconce assembly instruction PDF