Mounting Electrical Boxes On Studs - Flush Or At Surface Depth?

I'm in the process of planning to wire up two spot lights on the face of my deck as well as running an outlet (which will also be under the deck) for a LV transformer to plug in to. I will need a few junction boxes to achieve this, as well as electrical boxes for the two spot lights. I'm planning on running 12AWG THWN through some sort of conduit run along the joists to the various lighting locations and junction boxes. This will be between 3' to 8' above the surface of the ground and under roof for the most part (we built a roof over the majority of the deck as well).



So, do you recommend PVC and plastic boxes or EMC and the appropriate boxes?
      

Is it a violation of code to run exposed NM in a residential detached garage?  The wire is spanning through studs at about 8.5' and then ran closely down the stud to each receptacle and/or switch at 48" from the floor, back up the stud to the 8.5' and on to the next recep. or switch.  Is the wire ran through the studs at 8.5' considered unprotected???
      

I'm planning to use some round, 20 cu. in. ceiling mount boxes for lighting in my garage.  I want to run 12-2 into the box and then branch out out to two other seperate light boxes. 

Can I have 6 12 awg conductors and 3 12 awg grounds in a 20 cu. in. one box?
      

I'm currently working on a house built in the 1930's. The electrical is a mess with a combination of a switch panel  and a fuse box with most of it still being knob and tube. I'm running a new electrical line to the air handler in the basement. This is due to it currently being tapped off a light circuit which also feeds an outlet in the kitchen, a bedroom, and half the outlets upstairs. (There's no rhyme or reason to the current electrical setup). 



  My main question is I'm running  12NM through bored holes in the studs to the air handler. Once I get to the handler and run it down to where it enters the appliance and switch box will I run in to codes problems. Should this run in the basement be inside a conduit or is NM cable okay? 

  Any guidance would be appreciated. 
      

I just ordered some Arlington Siding Mount Kits with built in electrical boxes to install some lights on the outside of my garage. 



So, the issue is, the mount kits' built in electrical boxes are only 6.8 cu each and I'm wiring the lights up with two 3-way switches.  The source is at the first switch, then on to the two lights and then to the second switch.  There is not enough room to do the splices and connection in the built in boxes (I'm using 12awg, but even if used 14 still not enough room), so my plan was to wire everything to a central junction box inside the garage between the two lights and make the appropriate connections there. 



I'm attaching my rough sketch of the planned connections (omitting ground wires).  Can you guys please confirm this is correct?    Thanks for the help!



To clarify the drawing, blue is white (neutral) and the blue with black tape coming off second switch is marked as hot.  (I'll also mark it as hot in the J-box).  Yellow Triangles are wire-nuts.
      

Q1-

isn't rigid conduit supposed to bottom out in hub on new service panel? I thought so, installed mine and the threads look fine but only threaded in about 8 turns then stopped. Same on the other end.

Q2-

i'm trying to figure out how to brace my service entrance rigid conduit in my garage wall to my service panel. the conduit is 1 1/2 inch and the studs are 3 1/2 (2x4) so there's no room for cross bracing behind the rmc.i was gonna brace then strap but no room(stucco exterior) any ideas??

Pics are attached any help is greatly appreciated-

Steve
      

My new 200a semiflush panel came with an L shaped nailing flange that comes forward out to the face of the panel. (pretty ugly on nice new panel)

Q-Is this "extra" flange designed to be bent back over the nailing flange after mounting and before stucco? maybe to put the flasing in between?

maybe dumb question but i just want it to look right and to do it only once.

Picture of my panel attached
      

What is the typical sized hole for running NM cable through a stud or top plate?  And how many NM cables can go through that single hole?  Also, how many cables are allowed per panel connector?  I will be running all 12/2 NM.
      

Have a 2 gang box with two outlets in it.  The side opposite the stud protrudes from the wall 1/4 or so.  It pushes in too so when you plug something in it is spongy.  Any fix other than replacing it?
      

We recently purchased an apartment complex built in 1950. Inspector's report advised us to upgrade the main electrical panel (fuse box) on the  outside of the building. He also advised us to relocate fuse boxes in closets stating it is unsafe and a fire hazard.

We met with several electricians to get a quote. It's so confusing because everybody says different things... 



FUSE BOXES IN THE CLOSET: One electrician advised us to flip the panel into the bathroom(closet is adjacent to bathroom) and install a breaker instead of a fuse box, another electrician claimed it's not up to code to have breakers in the bathroom.



MAIN PANEL OUTSIDE THE BUILDING: One electrician advised us to upgrade the amperage (currently 30 amps), the other claimed it's an unnecessary change that drives the cost up since we do not have any appliances that require high amperage: no washers or dryers.

So confusing. I want the property to be SAFE for our tenants, but cost-efficient for us. Any thoughts?

thank you.