# Price of fixture hanging



## mahlere (Aug 6, 2006)

steal your thunder?


----------



## L. B. Condulet (Aug 23, 2007)

I never pound nails in existing ceiling joists.


----------



## mahlere (Aug 6, 2006)

L. B. Condulet said:


> I never pound nails in existing ceiling joists.


ok...why? afraid to knock something down?

if I didn't install a lift, I would use something like this...


----------



## L. B. Condulet (Aug 23, 2007)

That's awesome!


----------



## JohnJ0906 (Jan 7, 2007)

Bob Kovacs said:


> Here's another question- seeing how this marvelous piece of lighting artwork was fabricated in India, is it UL listed? If not, on top of the HO being stupid enough to hire someone who's not licensed as an electrician to assemble and install a light that requires internal wiring, they've also got a potential homeowner's insurance claim issue if the fixture burns the house down due to either it's manufacturer's flaw or your wiring job.
> 
> I'd step away from the fixture and run quickly if I couldn't find a UL label anywhere. Actually, as soon as you found that it was going to require internal wiring, you should have bailed anyway- your insurance (you do have insurance, right???) won't cover you for electrical work if you're not a licensed electrician.


 My Boss has a policy for fixtures (or anything else a HO might try to foist on us) - No UL, we don't touch.


----------



## macmikeman (Sep 12, 2005)

Since when does a handy man care about UL stickers or for that matter insurance anyway? If the light falls down and injures someone, you just load up your life's stuff into your station wagon, and move to a new town across the state line, and viola! back in business. The main thing is to be sure to get your full $35 an hour for this job. Don't let them knock you down to $30, that would be cutting into your "profit".


----------



## robertc65 (Apr 16, 2005)

GSE said:


> Good points Thom, electricians know polarity, might be why his information block says, former electrican, he never made the grade. Also no trade carries manufacture liabilityinsurance, which covers lighting fixtures.


My point is basically that the most challenging part of this job is not really electrical in nature. It's making sure that this huge heavy hanging object does not fall down. 

Yes I am a former electrician. I did residential and light comercial for 5 years back in the early 80s working for a cousin who still operates a small company in Baltimore. My interest in electronics got me in the consumer electronics repair business for the next 13 years and since the mid 90s I have been in Enterprise IT.


----------



## robertc65 (Apr 16, 2005)

mahlere said:


> you may go home now...screws don't have near the shear strength as nails...if i'm using wood as a brace between the ceiling joists, i'm using nails...and don't touch the electric on your way out...


Yes, I agree. If one were to use say drywall screws they could shear off, but I have done a good bit of work in attics and when you start pounding nails up there, you never know what cracks could appear in the drywall below.


----------



## L. B. Condulet (Aug 23, 2007)

robertc65 said:


> Yes, I agree. If one were to use say drywall screws they could shear off, but I have done a good bit of work in attics and when you start pounding nails up there, you never know what cracks could appear in the drywall below.


See that Mahlere? Robert agrees with me!

Whoop! Whoop!


----------



## JohnJ0906 (Jan 7, 2007)

Drill pilot holes for the nails (or screws). It will minimize any damage to the finished surface. However, with the banging from nailing, it won't eliminate it.


----------

