The old flush mount light in the front foyer looked incredibly dated, so we ordered a massive, multi tier grand chandelier to fill out the high ceiling space. The website photos made it look like a simple case of hooking the chain to the ceiling brace, splicing three wires, and screwing in the bulbs. What a complete joke. Trying to balance a sixty-pound metal fixture twenty feet up in the air while standing on a wobbly ladder is easily the most stressful thing I’ve done all year.
The main trouble started with the ceiling junction box itself. The original plastic builder grade box was only rated to hold about fifteen pounds max, meaning the weight of this new grand fixture would have literally ripped the plaster apart and crashed straight down onto the floor. I had to spend two hours wedged into the tight attic crawlspace over the entryway, ripping out the old hardware and bolting a heavy duty steel bracing bar directly between the ceiling joists just to support the load.
Then came the absolute nightmare of the actual hanging process. Because the ceiling is so high, I had to rent a massive A frame ladder that barely fit through the front doorway. Trying to hoist that heavy metal cage up the rungs by myself while trying to line up the tiny threaded hook with the ceiling loop took way too much muscle. My arms were shaking so bad from holding the fixture overhead that I nearly dropped the main mounting nut down into the lower stairs twice, which completely panicked me.
The heavy chain is securely locked into the steel ceiling brace now and the internal wiring harness is fully spliced into the main switch line. Every single glass crystal arm sits perfectly level in the frame tracks, and the light switches on instantly from the wall panel without any humming or flickering from the bulbs. The grand entry light is fully operational now.