Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a very ugly (to me) 1990's gold chandelier in the entryway that I'd like to replace, but I am having trouble seeing how I can reasonably get to it to support the old one as it comes down and the new one as it goes up. The entry is 2 stories tall and the bottom of the chandelier is ~9ft off the ground. Of course the electrical connections are on the ceiling.
I do not have a ladder tall enough to reach that far and even if I did, I can't see how it would work. Also, I am sure this brute is heavy! BTW I can access the attach bolts in the attic.... Is this a specialist job or am I missing something?
You can probably set a 12 foot ladder against the top steps and lean into the wall over the stairs. My thoughts on DIY, though, is if there is a small to decent chance of injury or death, I hire out. Any electrician (and most handy-men) would do this job for a small fee.
I would have a professional do it. I have a niece who is a young Mom who fell off of a tall ladder while hanging a light fixture...severe brain damage, coma....just not worth it to get up on a ladder and scaffolding. I contracted with a local lamp store to have someone come out and hang our chandeliers.
I would have a professional do it. I have a niece who is a young Mom who fell off of a tall ladder while hanging a light fixture...severe brain damage, coma....just not worth it to get up on a ladder and scaffolding. I contracted with a local lamp store to have someone come out and hang our chandeliers.
words to live by.
Many years ago, I was washing our hallway window, as a chore....there was a hanging chandelier, and it was on, anyway, on the ladder I went to wipe the window, twisted and somehow my arm got stuck to the light bulb and nearly fell off the ladder...and got burn bad.
Get a professional to go up there and take the old light down and put the new on up.
Yikes. Even if you got a tall enough ladder I don't see how it would fit well on that landing. A pro would bring in the right equipment. We looked at a house that had a similar set up. Also built in the 90's and I told my husband the brass light fixture had to go. His response was, "ya, well I am not getting up there to change it." lol. We have a tall staircase in our current home (also built in the 90's) but no light fixture. I often wonder what the heck Im gonna do when it comes time to painting.
Hire a pro to install the light fixture. Pretty house by the way.
I have a very similar set-up in my foyer. I rented a portable scaffold from the local equipment / trailer rental guys, spent 20 minutes making sure all the safety bars and planks were properly locked-in. The rental guys have the verious levelers and platforms so that you can build the scaffold partly over the stairs.
Once you are up on the scaffold this is actually easier than changing out a light fixture over the dining table, as the scaffold gives you a big work platform to rest the light fixture(s) (old & new) on without worry of swinging something into good furniture.
I think the scaffold rental was like $40, a lot cheaper than either an emergency room visit or a call to sparky the electrician.
Light fixtures are made to look "solid" but rarely weigh more than about 40 lbs. -- of course trying to swing even that around from the top of rickety ladder is nuts when you can set-up a scaffold!
Light fixture has literally the easiest connection of any permanent electrical device -- the bag of hardware that comes with new fixtures includes all the screws and mounting bars to attach to the electrical box then you attach a ground wire to the green wire in the box or the box itself, and then black (hot) to hot and neutral to neutral. Takes longer to reload all the scaffold pieces back in the SUV...
Whatever you do-DONT do this! This is how I changed our two story foyer lights. My wife was kneeling down praying with the phone on 911 speed dial.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
