Ikea light fixtures - how to mount?

[Nate Nagel]

Hi all,

got some Ikea "Ilmenit" wall sconce style light fixtures off Craigslist, NIB for cheap. I thought they would look nice in the living room but the design department disagreed. So I then was going to put them in the upstairs of the garage as they'd look good there too. Went to install them and I am completely puzzled as to how they mount, and I can't find these fixtures on Ikea's web site, so I guess they've been discontinued. Is it possible that Ikea just expects me to screw them into the drywall with anchors? That is the only thing I can see that makes any sense at all. Did I just waste $20?

nate

[RBM]

Some fixtures are made for non USA mounts, and you have to be cleaver in figuring a way to attach them. Post a picture and also what type of box you're mounting to

[Nate Nagel]

Ask and ye shall receive.

The more I look at them the more I think I'm missing a little "hardware pack" consisting of simply some wood screws and plastic anchors and that these really do screw into the drywall.

I just can't think of anything else that makes sense, and I don't know why I find myself recoiling in horror at the thought of using anything other than the electrical box to mount a light fixture... just habit I guess, it seems *wrong* somehow.

nate

[G. Morgan]

It looks like it might be missing a metal strip that mounts on the junction box, then the fixture gets screwed to the metal strip.

Sorta like this:

[RBM]

There is a cross bar missing. It consists of two flat metal bars, joined by a rivet in the center. The smaller bar goes to the box, and a longer bar has threaded holes and studs with threaded caps, that fit through the holes on the fixture. Pull the boxes apart, sometimes the tape the fitting packages in hard to find locations

[RBM]

The bar it requires is like your diagram, except it has a second bar, with a joint flexibly connecting them together at the center. This way it can be attached to a variety of boxes, mounted in a variety of positions

[Nate Nagel]

you may be right, that makes sense.

1) is there any hope in heck of finding something like what I need at a fairly shitty Home Depot? (can't look today, being a holiday and all.)

2) if not, are there any code violations in just mounting it to the sheetrock, assuming that I properly ground it?

nate

[RBM]

There is a company called American Derosa, that makes all types of fixture parts, but their website is useless. HD will only have a standard double cross bar. These are typically used when the box screws are vertical or diagonal, and the fixture studs are horizontal. The problem is that your fixture is too wide for a standard bar. You could get a single bar with 1/8" nipple threads in the center and a piece of lightweight flatstock,and fabricate what you need. I think it's really important to have a metal backing between the fixture and the drywall, especially with a quartz-halogen fixture, and the only way that flat round plate is going to attach, is if you have some kind of bar with a nipple through the center

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Mon 26 May 2008 08:55:12a, Nate Nagel told us...

The crossbar that others have mentioned is most likely the proper way to mount these fixtures. However, short of finding or making such a bar, direct mounting isn't out of the question.

Some years ago I ordered two solic alabaster shell-shaped sconces. When they arrived there was no visible means of affixing them to the junction box. There was a central hole in the back about 1" in diameter for the wiring to go through into the junction box. There were two 3/16" holes about 8" apart on the back for mounting into the wall. These were clearly meant to be mounted directly to the wall, as any sort of mounting bar or plate would have caused the fixtures to stand away from the wall. I used spring-wing toggle bolts with 1/8" screws to securely mount the fixtures to the wall after the electric connection was made.