Moving a Light Fixture | Ask This Old House

In this video, This Old House master electrician Heath Eastman helps a homeowner with an askew light fixture, centering it over their dining room table.

Master electrician, Heath Eastman takes us on a house call to help a homeowner move a light over their dining room table. After assessing the situation and getting some careful measurements, the two move the table, shut off the breaker and get to work moving the light fixture.

Difficulty: 2/5
Time: 3 hours
Cost: Under $60

Where to find it?
Heath moves a kitchen ceiling light fixture 12-18 inches to center it over a kitchen table. He uses a small metal rod (about 16 inches long), pushes it through the ceiling, and bends it to a 90-degree angle, so there is about 2 inches of bent wire through the ceiling. Heath says by rotating the rod around 360 degrees without hitting anything, he knows he can freely work in that section of the ceiling.

Once Heath determines that the new location is free of obstacles, he drills a hole using a dust collector, and a 4-inch hole saw. After Heath detaches the fixture, he removes the old electrical box from the ceiling, freeing up the wire. After Heath installs the appropriate junction box and runs the wiring through it, he installs the new light fixture.

Materials:

Tools:

About Ask This Old House TV:
From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. ASK This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment—your home.

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Moving a Light Fixture | Ask This Old House

[davidciaffa]

Just once - I'd love to see them need to deal with an "unlucky" situation.

[allclevernamesgone]

Ha! I like the painter shows up at the end to presumably patch the old hole. Must be nice having a world class painter in your back pocket. Quality professional work.

[Mikidy]

I'm glad they helped this guy out. Being James Taylor stunt double probably doesn't pay well and he can use the help.

[WillPolley]

Loved the tip to install the chandelier “backwards” from most instructions. Starting with getting your canopy in the right position is brilliant.

[louisax]

lol at the end Mauro was like "need some help guys?"

[mscarolynnigro]

I love watching competent professionals work. How relaxing .

[mcseforsale]

I had to do this. I capped the existing box with a blank plate, then bought one of those plastic cieling medallions that was just big enough to cover the existing box. Worked a treat.

[DougCeleste]

BEST electrician the show has ever had!

[arod]

and now the hardest part. Patching the hole and perfectly matching the texture and paint (if you don’t have leftover original paint.

[slippinslidewayz]

Thank you for the use of the fan brace! My chandelier is held on by the box which is screwed into a cross member from a weird angle and distance. I didn't realize they make old work braces so I'll be upgrading it now.

[damirnurutdinov]

Me too very interesting to see "unlucky" situation.

[joelpaterson]

Buddy was friggin tickled pink having Heath by to sort his chandelier out

[timjballin]

Nice of his brother to walk in the last second.

[colinstewart]

Way easier to extend the chain of the fixture and add a hook over the table.

[WinterSina]

I love how he was like, aight good luck with the exposed hole lmao

[JP-xrqg]

What are the best practices to patch the hole from the previous fixture?

[chrisruddy]

What's the tool you used to open and close the chain? I needed to do that a few months ago to hang stained glass. I used my linemen's pliers, which worked fairly well, but I think a dedicated tool would have been better.

[justinballard]

5:45 it would of been funny if he said "I don't"

[randyd]

I bet when he hits his head on the fixture he feels light headed!

[WannaBeHocker]

3:12 - Moves the table to 70 1\4... "Yup, 69 1\2 inches!" 🤣🤣