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desertsteph

2 light fixtures up and new old steps

desertsteph
11 years ago

I forgot to take a pic of the hall/pantry and entry way lights so will do that another time.

Jed put up the 2 with multiple bulbs tho. the damaged one in the laundry room and the other in my bathroom. It's angled a bit in my bathroom because of something in the ceiling. Seems fine to me - if it bothers me (hasn't yet) I'll have him try to change it.

The one in the laundry only has 1 globe on it. that seems ok so far too. I did look on my last trip to HD for some that size but didn't see any. it's ok for now anyway.

and the steps - found 'em cheap (35.00) on CL. They were about 1-2 miles out of Jed's way on his way home from work, He knew exactly where the street was and picked them up for me. He did get the guy to take 30.00 for them citing that he might have to reinforce them with a 4x4. I checked a place that makes these steps new and they wanted about 300.00 for them.

laundry - I love the extra light in there now

my bathroom -

and the 'new' front steps - or would you have guessed that? lol!

so much better than NO steps. Jed built it up some with dirt and then used some concrete slabs at the bottom to make another step and I might even have him do another. it's still a bit of a slant down after the slabs at the bottom.

the bottom step carpet is a bit messed up but some extra carpet came with them so it can be replaced.

the steps survived the trip up into his truck and back off of it here without becoming unsteady - so he didn't have to reinforce it anywhere. I hope it stays that way.

And now there are steps that can be used to bring my furniture over here - but that'll be a few weeks yet.


Comments (9)

  • EATREALFOOD
    11 years ago

    You are making progress desert !!!--nice to have extra light---lighting is so important. Everyone makes fun of me b/c I now live in what DH calls "the house of lights" LOL.
    1) I kept 1 ceiling fan in each room(3 fans--3 bulbs ea/fan)
    2)"foyer" light: the foyer is 2.5x4ft(small)
    3)sconce added to "sitting room"--love sconces
    4)4 pendants, 2 walls of UCL LED bars, AND T5 (bright)florescent cove added to kitchen(12x10room)I need to get electrician back here to put up cove lighting, man it's bright( I could have extended the cabinets to the ceiling but too much $$$)
    5)added halophane light in front of bathroom(love the halophane light)
    6)added chandelier AND wall light to bathroom(chandelier is dimmable since DH gets up at 4:15am...
    7)wall sconce in 1 bedroom(I bought a brass wall light w/ shade but I don't know if it fits since the shade points up(I didn't think about that it should really extend down...)
    18 bulbs not counting UCL and cove lighting...
    of course they are not all on at the same time...I use the LED's all the time, fantastic light well worth the money. oldbat2B really helped me find a vendor.

  • TxMarti
    11 years ago

    I really like those lights. Is that a skylight beside one of them? That would be really neat. Great deal on the steps. I didn't know you didn't have your furniture over there yet.

  • desertsteph
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    "they are not all on at the same time"

    I was glad to read that with all of your lighting! It's good to have it - if it all doesn't have to be on at the same time. I can often use less light but if I'm cleaning, looking for something or reading or working on a project I want more light. My eyes are getting old and even with glasses things can seem dim without good lighting.

    I do have separate lighting in the kitchen on different switches and I like that. In my bathroom that ceiling light and the over the mirror lights are all on one switch. I hope to change that down the road. I would seldom need that much light in there - especially with the skylight.

    marti - thx. I'm glad you like them. Do you think it would look ok over the kitchen sink also? I want to replace that one also and think this one would work nicely there. It's only a 1 bulb fixture now - max at 60W. This fixture would give me 3 times that and I could angle the globes to cover more area. the sink - and either side of it. good price too - at 34.00!

    that is a skylight - I have one in the kitchen also. I love them - they let so much light in here.

    and yes - a very good deal (finally) on the steps. I really just couldn't see paying 300.00 or so for the same type of steps just because they were new. This way if later I want some nice wooden ones built there with a little landing I won't feel I've wasted a bunch of money on these. And I can finally get my stuff over here - in rooms with flooring anyway. That is still a bit of a problem. But little by little. my fridge can come over and 1 back bdrm is floored now so some cabinets can go in there (and a bunch of boxes).

    And Jed put the flooring in both of my mstr bdrm closets this past Sunday. He cut up the laminate that had been in the kitchen to use. So 2 cabinets from the old place can come over soon. 1 for linens and 1 for my sweats (mostly what I wear in the winter). That'll clear a lot of stuff off of the shelves I put in the one closet (that I prev posted a pic of). Then those shelves will be freed up for more storage (things I can bring over from the old place).

    This place is still fairly empty. my mattress/bx springs are on the floor. My lamp in here is on 2 bins stacked with a board on it. I do plan to bring over a few of my night stands soon - they'll be easy enough to move when I decide on flooring for in here.

    this is my sink area - I think it could use the 24" wide fixture with the 3 bulbs - what do you think?

    and this is the same type of fixture over the sink now - this type was most everywhere!

  • Shades_of_idaho
    11 years ago

    Lights look Great Steph. The steps are good to have a railing too. I wish we had railings on our side steps. LOL I use the kitty kennel as a hand hold in the back yard.

  • straitlover
    11 years ago

    Definitley use the light over the sink. I have the same type of light over mine, except it's a circular fixture rather than a long bar like yours. I have the bulbs angled to the countertop on each side of the sink and one on the sink itself. Works great! They're tiny bulbs but put out a good amount of light.

  • desertsteph
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    shades - thx! and yes, I do need a rail on my steps. I'd feel very insecure without one.

    straitlover - thx so much for your input! I was hoping that my thinking on using it there wasn't way off. I'm really tired of looking for light fixtures, so when I got this one and really liked it I thought I might just use the same one over the sink.

    I do like that I can get more light coverage in one fixture, plus the bulb type and wattage I want at a really good price.

  • jannie
    11 years ago

    When I was a teen, we lived in a house built around 1960. Every room had a ceiling light fixture (kitchen had two). It was nice to be able to flick a switch and have an entire room illuminated. Of course, in those days people weren't worried about paying electric bills! Now that both my parents are dead and the house is for sale, real estate people have called the light fixtures "dated". How things change...

  • EATREALFOOD
    11 years ago

    jannie-those same "dated" light fixtures will be bought by others like me at a Build it Green shop or a thrift store. I didn't replace my fans to update them. The are Hunter, work great and much better than the junk available at Home Destruction-HD.

  • desertsteph
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    jannie - I agree about the ceiling lights. I WANT them. Had them while growing up in 'the olden days' too. Back in the 70's when my then dh and I built we put them in every room.

    Now I find I need them more than ever. When I get to a room I want to be able to turn the light on before entering (at night mostly). It's easy for me to trip and I often lose my balance so I need to be very careful. The other thing is that if I want to look for something or clean I want lots of light. My old eyeballs aren't as good as they used to be either. This place has a lot of windows and some skylights and being in AZ there is lots of natural light. But there is always the night time (sun goes down then in AZ too - lol!) and our occasional rainy days or dust storms when it is darker outside.
    Even if I don't have to use those lights that often, when I DO need them I want them to be there.

    As I've grown older I find most things are about ease of use and comfort.

    If fixtures in houses for sale are outdated they can always be updated. Having the wiring there for them is always a plus to me. The biggest expense would be in paying an electrician to wire them in if they aren't already there.

    A big plus on my 'new' place is those ceiling lights - and fans. When I looked thru the windows (my first 'view' of it inside) a huge plus was that almost every room not only had a ceiling light but a ceiling fan. It wasn't that I particularly liked the fixture in place but knowing the wiring was there I knew it'd be easy enough to change them.

    Being outdated isn't the top reason I'm replacing fixtures or fans either. My reasoning has more to do with my eyesight and other limitations. Most of the ceiling light fixtures in here max at a 60 W bulb usage. That isn't enough light. They are also enclosed in a globe (see pic above of hallway) that blocks even more light from them and also requires 2 or 3 little screws to hold them in - and remove them to change a bulb. My hands /fingers can't manage those little screws anymore. My requirements for a fixture (besides cheap) are they have to take at least 1 100W bulb and the globe has to be open to hands for changing the bulb.

    the fans in here are probably the cheapest you can buy anywhere (HD). 2 are way too small for the room size and my ceilings are angled and the fans are not the type for those ceilings. They wobble and clank as they turn. Not a fan I feel safe sleeping under. My son tried to balance them but said even that wouldn't help them.

    And now after watching Jed replace some of them I realize that even with bulbs that can be easily reached by a hand, I'd have to be MUCH taller, have leg extensions or use a ladder to reach them. None of those things will happen. I figure I'll be calling Jed a time or 2 thru out the yr to come over to replace them. When that happens I'll just have him go around the house and put new ones in all fixtures.

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