Times and fashions change, and nothing says "dated" more than antiquated, out-of-fashion lighting. Many homes have bathrooms that are monuments to antiquated lighting styles of the 1970s and 80s. In those days, chrome multiple-bulb light bars were in fashion, but now they look old and dated. Today's homeowner has many options for lighting, and changing a dated lighting fixture isn't a difficult task.
Instructions
1. Turn off the power to the light at the breaker box for your home. If the circuit breakers aren't clearly marked, find the correct circuit by turning the light on, and ask an assistant to flip the circuit breakers off one at a time until the light goes off.
2. Remove the old light bar. First examine the front of the light bar for two decorative nuts. Loosen and remove these by turning them to the left. If they're tighter than finger tight, use a pair of pliers. When the nuts are removed, pull the light bar towards you and it will slip off of the two bolts that the nuts were attached to.
3. Disconnect the wires from the light bar. There will be three wires--black, white, and a bare or green wire. You can untwist the wire nuts or cut the wires. If you choose to cut the wires, leave several inches of wire to work with when you attach the new light. The light bar will be completely loose now--set it off to the side.
4. Remove the mounting bracket attached to the wall. This bracket held the light bar in place. It will be secured to the wall with several screws attached to wall anchors or screwed into the wall studs. Unscrew these, and take the bracket down. If necessary, patch any holes in the wall left by the screws with spackling compound or drywall compound.
5. Attach the new lights mounting plate to the wall. If your wires are routed through a junction box, use the screw points on the junction box. If not, secure the mounting plate to the wall with hollow wall anchors rated to hold the weight of your lamp. Route the wires you'll attach to the new light through the opening of the when performing this step.
6. Connect the wires from the wall to the wires of the new lamp. These are color-coded, so attach black to black, white to white, and green/bare to green/bare. Twist each pair of wires together with wire nuts, and wrap the wires with a piece of electrical tape for extra security.
7. Place the new lamp onto the mounting base. Exact methods vary from model to model, but generally the new lamp fixture slides over a set of mounting screws similar to the method used on the old light bar. Slide the light fixture onto the mounting plate, and put the nuts in place to hold it.
8. Turn the circuit breaker on, and test the operation of the lamp. If it doesn't work, turn the breaker off and check the wiring connections to the lamp.
Tags: mounting plate, attach light, attached wall, , circuit breakers,