Bedroom Refresh: Lights

I rarely use the overhead lights in my bedroom, and I’ve tried to overlook the dated aesthetic. I finally decided to rip them out and replace them with sleeker more modern fixtures. I found a four-pack on Amazon that fit the bill nicely.

I wired the first one myself, but it was a giant pain in the butt to deal with the recessed cans. The old can lights were connected to junction boxes mounted to the rafters, and there was not enough play in the wire to connect the new light. I turned it on long enough to confirm that I liked the look, and then I turned off the circuit and waited for my electrician.

Christmas Light Hooks

The biggest post-holiday pain in my ass is setting up the ladder in a snowbank to take down Christmas lights. The tiny teacup hooks were all bent and rusty, so they got pulled out in preparation for the painting of the eaves. My new system lets me install and uninstall Christmas lights from the ground. I now have 23 evenly-spaced hooks, and an extending pole that reaches up to hang the string lights.

• 1.25” Vinyl-Coated Hooks

• Handy Hook

• 6 - 20’ Telescoping Pole

Back Yard Floodlight

The back yard floodlight had been installed on the same line as the exterior outlet, so that the switched controlled them both. I wanted to be able to power exterior string lights without wrecking the ambiance with bright floodlights. I opted for a hard-wired floodlight camera from Ring, which means I can control it with my phone or set it to operate on a motion sensor. No light switch required.

The old floodlights.

The new floodlight camera.

I was on the verge of getting the pergola built, so I knew it would be my last chance to get the light replaced.

Simple bracket

Wire had been pinched and slightly cut

Plus, it has the added advantage of allowing me to keep tabs on what’s going on in the back yard.

Solar Driveway Light

Related: Entrance Lights

Well, no WONDER the circuit trips every time there’s a heavy rain. Ugh.

The guys who installed the underground tubing for the irrigation were perplexed why the buried wire for the driveway light didn’t offer more resistance… normally they’d feel it and navigate the machinery up and over. I suppose that would have been true if the underground wiring was properly installed… in a PVC conduit buried at least 18” below grade. Oh, no… not at this house.

This wire was not encased in anything, and probably only 6” below the surface. Even worse, it had already been broken and crudely patched back together in several places. It doesn’t take a whole lot of common sense to know that a giant wad of electrical tape is NOT the way to fix a broken underground wire.

Giant wads of electrical tape

Even after splicing the wire with a kit made for this job and confirming power on either side, I still wasn’t getting power at the light post. I chased the wire until it went under the maple tree, and then I gave up. I ripped it all out… and found three more breaks (also crudely taped) closer to the light.

Yeah, so solar will have to do for now. I’m not trenching through my yard today. At least I can get rid of the string of Romex that is loosely draped under the front door.

Hall Light (Part 2)

[Prior Post: Hall Light (Part 1)] After searching around for a while, I decided that I needed a light that would stretch down the length of the hallway a little better than a single pendant, but still only require one electrical mounting point. I tried a few different models, including an ill-fated attempt at track lighting. This one seems to do the trick, although I’m not so in love with it that I won’t keep my eyes out for something else.

Guest Bathroom Tweaks

Just a few updates... the bathroom previously had a bare bulb suspended in a rusting metal box. The new light and fan combo isn't sexy, but does the trick. The components are wired together, so I added a timer switch to turn the fan off after a short while.

For some reason, no one (including myself) can ever remember how to work the guest shower. (In fact, during the home buying inspection, the inspector, the agents, and everyone in the house failed at this... we had to call the seller.)

Simple solution: computer graphics and laminating plastic.