I'm finally changing out the UGLY light fixture in my bathroom - I've hated this thing since the day we bought this house, some 18 years ago. It is one of those hideous strip of huge round bulbs, the kind movie stars supposedly have around their dressing room mirrors - actually it is two of them side by side over the top of the large mirror in the master bath. Hate them soooo much.
Here is my puzzlement. The directions for the new one calls for mounting it to a metal outlet box - there is no outlet box. The builder just cut a hole in the dry wall and ran the electrical line (the big cable thing with all the wires inside) through the hole. So, should I try to figure out how to put in a metal outlet box now? Or just leave it the way the builder did it. One would presume the house passed electrical inspection, so one would presume the way it was is ok - but then again one sometimes hears of houses burning down due to faulty wiring... Also, one of the light fixtures has just one of those electric cable things coming up - but the other side has two of them. I don't know why it would have two, is there something going on there I don't know? I don't generally mess with anything electrical, fear ya know, but I am pretty sure I can manage replacing a light fixture - except for this little dilemma I now find myself in.
Now I will go try to find the answer to my question - would be good if I could get this little project done before it gets dark, so I can turn the power back on...
Update: Fixtures in - like them much better. And they even work! Didn't electrocute myself but I guess we'll have to see if I burn the house down.
Not my first choice of fixtures but these are a step up and were on sale half off so I saved there and these started off about half the price of my first choice so they'll do nicely at least 18 years. If I can stand the ugly ones that long, I can surely put up with these that long. Now to finish painting the bathroom, then repaint all the towel racks, switch covers, and such and get the painters tape off so I can stand back and admire my handy work.
Here is my puzzlement. The directions for the new one calls for mounting it to a metal outlet box - there is no outlet box. The builder just cut a hole in the dry wall and ran the electrical line (the big cable thing with all the wires inside) through the hole. So, should I try to figure out how to put in a metal outlet box now? Or just leave it the way the builder did it. One would presume the house passed electrical inspection, so one would presume the way it was is ok - but then again one sometimes hears of houses burning down due to faulty wiring... Also, one of the light fixtures has just one of those electric cable things coming up - but the other side has two of them. I don't know why it would have two, is there something going on there I don't know? I don't generally mess with anything electrical, fear ya know, but I am pretty sure I can manage replacing a light fixture - except for this little dilemma I now find myself in.
Now I will go try to find the answer to my question - would be good if I could get this little project done before it gets dark, so I can turn the power back on...
Update: Fixtures in - like them much better. And they even work! Didn't electrocute myself but I guess we'll have to see if I burn the house down.
Not my first choice of fixtures but these are a step up and were on sale half off so I saved there and these started off about half the price of my first choice so they'll do nicely at least 18 years. If I can stand the ugly ones that long, I can surely put up with these that long. Now to finish painting the bathroom, then repaint all the towel racks, switch covers, and such and get the painters tape off so I can stand back and admire my handy work.
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Oh, I have those big bulb strips! Hate 'em, but not sure what to replace them with...
Glad to hear you escaped unscathed and with new lighting, to boot!
Um... I never mess around with electricity. I'm glad the new one works, but is it properly grounded? There should have been a box for each fixture. How is the new light being held up there? I am worried... cause that's what I do... just ask my kids!
Do you know anyone who does electrical work? Honestly, you could have an improperly grounded set of wires that could set the house on fire. We had something like that in our last house (the prior owner "fixed up the basement" himself - UGH).
Very luckily I plugged in a space heater and blew the circuit before anything bad could happen. My husband (who knows quite a bit about electric stuff) found that the wires were not hooked up correctly - leaving some extra floaty wires not hooked up to anything and thus very very bad. He was able to fix it, but electricity still scares me. Really scares me.
As for the inspection and the builder...You really need to start watching Holmes on Homes (on HGTV) the things builders do and get away with scare the bejesus out of me.
So get it looked at! I do not want to see you as a newspaper headline!!!!
I'm with you on those bulb strips. They're ugly, put out too much light, and waste electricity. We'd normally remove all but maybe two bulbs, that's about all the light we need. And usually replace the bulbs with CFL's, they last longer and use less electricity.
And I tend to leave electrical work to the experts. Unless it's something obviously easy to fix, like a loose wire or connector, I leave it alone.
Teresa - no loose wires - black to black, white to white, ground line to ground line and all of it sealed first in those little plastic electrical nut things then well wrapped in electrical tape just to be sure. I think we are good. Also had my helper dude who does a little of everything look at it for me :)
Changing light fixtures is almost a no brainer and I do watch Holmes on Homes, love it. Watch lots of other do it yourself stuff too. Then I ask lots of questions when I buy supplies at the hardware store. All the tools in this house belong to me.
And yeah, the guy who built this house screwed up a bunch of stuff.
What...no before and after pics????
no before - but when all is said and done i might show some after. not used to thinking about blog fodder before jumping in. after i started i though perhaps i should have taken some before - during (what a mess) and after. oh well, live and learn :)
I swapped out a couple of ugly lights for ceiling fans when we bought our house. I really don't like working with electrical wiring or plumbing, but the results were quite good and I'm glad I did it.
Looks like you've been as busy as I've been lately!