Ceiling and wall lights, pendants and chandeliers — hung from a box that can carry them, and tested before we leave, across Portland, Milwaukie, Hillsboro, and surrounding communities.
Every light hangs from a box fastened to the framing. A flush-mount light is fine on most ceiling boxes. A chandelier or a large pendant is not: it needs a box rated for its weight, fixed to a joist or to a brace between joists, never held by the drywall or plaster alone. We look at the box before your new light fixture comes out of the carton, and fit a rated box or brace where the old one will not carry it.
Nearly four in ten Portland homes date from before 1940, and in those the wire inside a ceiling box has often sat above a hot bulb for decades; its insulation can crumble when the old light comes down. Some new fixtures also call for supply wire rated for more heat than the old wire has. We check the wire and the ground before we connect anything. If the circuit is still knob-and-tube, we say so before we add to it.
Repair starts with finding the fault. A light that flickers, buzzes or works only when the switch is jiggled usually has a worn socket, a loose connection in the box, a failing switch, or a dimmer that does not match the bulbs. A light where there has never been one — a closet, a hallway, over the kitchen sink — needs a new box, cable and a switch, and we pull the permit for that. Outside by a door, the fixture must be rated for wet locations and sit on a sealed box. Lighting for a storefront or office is part of our commercial electrical work.
