Did some DIY

I've been pondering changing the ceiling lights in my mother's kitchen go something with a bit more oomph as her assortment of ancient BHS 60W reflector spotlights wasn't really cutting it, particularly given that over the years they've been fitted with a hideous assortment of non-reflector CFL bulbs.

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In the end I went for a track light system, partly because it would cover up the holes left by the removal of three separate light fittings and partly to enable more lights to be added if necessary in the future.

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Fitting would have been easier if the ceilings hadn't been so fecking high (100 yr old Glasgow tenement flat) and I did wonder how I was going to fix a 3 metre track to the ceiling on my own but after a bit of head scratching I devised a way to do it.

The electrical connection block on the end of the track is detachable so I removed it and wired it up on the ceiling.

Towards the site of the far end of the track on the ceiling I put a screw back in that had held one of the old fittings and tied a loose loop of string to it to temporarily support the far end of the track. Then it was just a simple job of poking one end of the track into the loop, climbing the ladder and plugging the electrical connector block in. This gave enough support to release it so that I could mark, drill and fix the four cavity fixers into the ceiling.

After a short while I had it all screwed up tight to the ceiling.

The light output is vastly better that the old arrangement (hardly surprising really) and my mum's delighted. It all looks pretty smart too.

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Tim

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Tim+
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Nice. But the ceiling does not look that high.

Let's see what the lights I fit tommorow look like. I would guess the ceiling is about 1m higher than yours and the customer has drawn out plans of what they want. My gut feeling is it will look shit....

Reply to
ARW

They're about 3.2 metres high. Wouldn't fancy wobbling around on a ladder much higher. ;-)

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

I have been asked to put the pendant drops on my job with a gap of 3.0m to

3.3m from the bottom of the lamp holder to the floor. Best guess is that the drops are no more than 1.5m from the ceiling at the maximum drop (the ceiling is arched).

I'll do a couple of photos. This is an odd one.

Reply to
ARW

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