I'm starting to become a pro at replacing the lights in our house. I'm still not a fan of hack sawing; don't think I ever will be. I've described before the electrical 'box' that the existing lights use. This crazy cast iron thing that's embedded in the lath and plaster that I have to hack saw to remove.

I'm also a huge fan of the number of wires I have to deal with. A simple hot and neutral would be way too easy, instead lets have three neutrals all stuck together, one hot, and three others (one black two white) that are just together for the fun of it! It's like a little party inside the new box I installed!

Luckily the placement of the box in the ceiling was right next to a rafter so I could attach the new box to that, when you're putting in a fan it's important to make sure the box is well secured and that the weight and motion of the fan isn't going to cause it to tear out of the ceiling at a later date. To ensure this I installed the first plate of the fan to the box, it has a hook on it to hang the fan motor on while you're wiring it up. I filled a backpack with 40 pounds of weights and hung that from the hook for about 30 minutes to make sure it was secure. It didn't budge, much to my pleasure. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of that.

In the end, of course, all the hassle is worth it. The new light looks and works great. More photos

You know how much I love replacing light fixtures in my house. Actually, I don't mind replacing light fixtures. I dislike replacing electrical boxes. Though it's not so much replacing as it is adding, since I'm not sure the pre-existing cast iron thing can really be considered a box...

The former light fixture

Wiring protruding from the previous 'box'

This time didn't seem quite as bad, perhaps because I knew what I was in for. A constant shower of vermiculite insulation as I saw through the piece of steel that's holding this thing in place. Further chiseling and sawing to get the new box to fit in the hole. Miscellaneous wires in the box that simply connect together for reasons unknown. Two neutral wires and one hot. etc. etc.

In the end it was worth it though. We got the new fixture up and it looks amazing. We still want to buy a couple more lights for it but already really transforms the space.

The new lighting

More photos