Kadie and I are engaged in some low level home repair. We moved into our current home in 2001 and have, regrettably, done very little to keep it in proper shape. We suffer from the same excuses which no doubt afflict many of my readers, lack of time, lack of resources, other priorities.
But the real reason is more simple: we lack any sense of mechanical skill at all. I can do home repair work about as well as a fish can ride a bicycle. Whenever I estimate the cost and length of time for a home repair, Kadie alertly doubles both the cost and the time estimates and convinces me to call in a professional.
But our recent flirtation with moving has motivated us to spruce up our digs, or trick up the crib (“Daddy, whatever you do, never say that again” Scooter would say). So we’re starting with something easy. Since some of our light fixtures predate the Hoover administration, we’ve decided to replace some of them.
I know nothing about home repair in general, and less than nothing about electrical repair in particular. But I do know that electricity can kill you. Truth be told, I also recognize that there is a positive and negative charge (polarity?) and that you turn off the circuit breaker before you do anything. So those are the few things I do know about electricity.
But I have been told that replacing light fixtures is one of the easiest and fairly cheapest home repairs you can do. We tried, and it was pretty easy. Yes, you too can change out a light fixture. So I thought I’dbrag inform my readers and post a few before and after pictures. So far, none of the pictures were taken in an emergency room .
But the real reason is more simple: we lack any sense of mechanical skill at all. I can do home repair work about as well as a fish can ride a bicycle. Whenever I estimate the cost and length of time for a home repair, Kadie alertly doubles both the cost and the time estimates and convinces me to call in a professional.
But our recent flirtation with moving has motivated us to spruce up our digs, or trick up the crib (“Daddy, whatever you do, never say that again” Scooter would say). So we’re starting with something easy. Since some of our light fixtures predate the Hoover administration, we’ve decided to replace some of them.
I know nothing about home repair in general, and less than nothing about electrical repair in particular. But I do know that electricity can kill you. Truth be told, I also recognize that there is a positive and negative charge (polarity?) and that you turn off the circuit breaker before you do anything. So those are the few things I do know about electricity.
But I have been told that replacing light fixtures is one of the easiest and fairly cheapest home repairs you can do. We tried, and it was pretty easy. Yes, you too can change out a light fixture. So I thought I’d
Kitchen Before
Kitchen After
4 comments:
Congrats! I've been thinking about doing some of this kind of work at our place. We have virtually no overhead light fixtures, although (it appears) that all of the wiring and boxes are there (the electrical conduit/boxes are exposed against our concrete ceilings). I'm sure there's a law or a rule that forbids me from doing such work myself, though.
I live in a rented apartment. The screws in the light fixture in my bathroom were apparantly painted over by previous tenents, now the whole thing is forever stuck. I didn't know this till the bulb blew out. Now I can only go to the bathroom in the day time.
Taran, You and Kaddie did well(of course it would be difficult to miss when you replaced the saucer light for a more contemporary one). Maybe your success will "rub
off" on some of us faithful readers. At our place demolition seems to be more interesting than reconstruction. Have fun with your tasks....and I'm glad you turned off the breaker!
anon
MrG,
I encourage you to give it a shot. I say go ahead and do it and worry about prohibitory "rules" after the fact.
Bobby,
Rub some nail polish remover on the screws, that will remove the paint instantly.
(I have no idea if that's true).
Anon,
Your home is a laboratory for home improvement experimentation.
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