It used to be that when you bought a house, there was a plastic cover over the pre-wired location for the light fixture. Boy, have times changed. As a Las Vegas handyman, now we find dangling wires coming out of the ceiling where the light fixture was, since the previous owner removed the fixture when the bank forced him out during the foreclosure process. Regardless of a ceiling cover or not, the new light fixture installs like it always has. By the way, it's a good idea to test the wires to make sure they aren't live while you are working on them.
You will find three wires coming out of the ceiling, a black hot wire, a white neutral wire, and a green wire (or bare copper wire) for ground. You might also see a red wire. If you do, you can install a ceiling fan and have separate switches to run both the fan and light independently. If you won't be using the red wire, screw a wire nut on it and neatly tuck it into the junction box.
Typically the light fixture will have mounting holes in it where it gets secured to the junction box in the ceiling. Loosen the screws in the junction box until they stand proud by ½ inch. Then you can place the fixture over the screws, turn it slightly and tighten the screws down to hold it in place. On some fixtures, you will wire it first and then secure it to the ceiling, but this is challenging trying to hold the fixture will connecting the wires.
To connect the wires, simply hold the black hot wire to the black fixture wire and screw on a wire nut. Do the same for the white neutral wires, and finally the ground wires. Then just install the bulbs and glass globe.
As I pulled into my neighborhood, I noticed a neighbor furiously cutting off a lock with a hacksaw (or at least attempting to). It was on a side gate and he was breaking a sweat trying to remove it. So out of the goodness of my heart I stopped to offer some advice.
Trying to cut through a pad lock with a hacksaw is good aerobic exercise, but it won't do much for removing the lock. You have a couple of options here. You could go to a rental yard (or many home centers rent equipment) and rent bolt cutters. For a case hardened pad lock you will want to rent bolt cutters with 3 foot handles...this will cost under $10.00. Grab the shank of the pad lock with the cutting head wherever it is convenient, and squeeze the handles together (this isn't as easy as it sounds). The long handles provide plenty of leverage but it will leave you out of breath.
The other option is to grind it off. This Las Vegas handyman carries lots of tools and one of them is a grinder. What we ended up doing is using a grinder with a metal cutting blade in it. It makes quick work of a pad lock, and the shower of sparks really impresses the neighborhood kids.
Have you ever gone to open a kitchen cabinet drawer and the front about falls off in your hand? Well, builder-grade cabinets are built builder-grade. If you have a drawer that has a lot of weight in it, like a silverware drawer, a couple of quick pulls will do just the trick to damage it.
Children are the great destroyers of drawers. If they go to open a heavy drawer quickly, the weight of the contents slams into the drawer front. Repetition of this will cause the particle board box to start coming apart. Small children also like to open a drawer and pull themselves up on it to peek inside. It doesn't take much for the drawer guides to come loose from the sides.
Fixing these drawers is not terribly difficult. I would get some "L" brackets and, after tapping everything back in place, secure them to the corners of the box. I would secure the corners of the box with the brackets, but leave the bottom of the drawer alone as this is held in place by a groove on the inside perimeter of the drawer.
If the drawer front (the attractive wood piece) pulls off of the front of the drawer, you can screw that back together from the inside of the box. You must pre-drill the holes (not too deep as you don't want to go through the drawer front), and screw the drawer box to the drawer front.
To stop this from happening again, you might consider some child-proof locks.
Its time to hang your holiday lights, which isn't really a home repair, but is is a job for a handyman in Las Vegas, but you get to stand on a ladder anyway. Hanging holiday lights isn't really difficult, but doing it the first time takes a little more legwork than it will in subsequent years.
For a home with eaves, that is, an overhang, I suggest using plastic hangars, which can be purchased at a home center for less than $5. These are small clips that have a nail driven at an angle through them. Nail these to the inside bottom of the fascia board so they can't be seen. If you space them about 18 inches apart, you can get the cord to pull taut and all of the lights will face one direction. This is a very professional look. The other nice thing is that the lights are easy to take down, and next year you can hang them in half the time.
For a home without eaves, you can get the same look by using electrical cable ties, which cost about $3 per bag. These are the same type of ties that police officers use to handcuff criminals. Although the ties are plastic, they are very strong and can be used to cinch the cord.
Without an overhang, however, you won't have the luxury of choosing where to put the cord. If you hang it in the holes in the drip edge of the roof, just pull the cord tight, making sure the lights are facing the direction you want, then tighten it down. The only bummer is that when you remove the lights, you'll have to cut off the ties. If you can't find any holes, use clothespins to hold the cord at the edge of the roof tiles. Of course, the line will not be as tight, though.
Before you break out the extension ladder, the general rule is that the feet of the ladder should be placed a distance away from the wall of 25 percent of the height of the ladder as it rests on the wall. So, if your ladder is 10 feet tall, set the base 2 1/2 feet away from the wall.
A word of caution: When you're up on the ladder, keep your weight centered over it and don't stretch to reach the last hook. Instead, climb down and move the ladder over. I have a neighbor who broke his hip in a fall off a ladder; it could have been prevented if he had just climbed down and moved it.
Some people like to decorate even more and illuminate their garage door with halogen lights. This practice often results in several calls for help with electrical problems.
Typically, the only problems are due to circuits that are overloaded. If you're going to use a large display, spread the load over several circuits instead of just one. You'll know a problem exists when a circuit breaker in the main panel trips and shuts off power to the entire circuit.
The electrical outlets you'll use to power the display should be GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) protected. This prevents some dangerous situations by shutting off power when a ground fault is detected. If you'll be using extension cords, inspect them first to make sure they are in good condition and well-insulated.
Being a Las Vegas handyman isn't easy. Handymen are asked to do a wide variety of jobs, some of which they can do, and some they can't. What homeowners need to consider is if a handyman in Las Vegas should be doing some of the jobs they ask.
Many handyman services are simply people that are currently out of work from their normal professions. They are waiting out the storm until the economy improves to the point they can go back to their normal jobs. Consumers should be very careful. Many of these "companies" are 1 man shops that are not properly licensed or insured. They work (and sometimes live) out of the back of their pick-up trucks. If they fall off of a ladder at your home, your homeowner's insurance gets to pay the bill when they file a lawsuit against you. Many of them will say they are licensed, but in reality it is only a business license. Anyone with $25.00 and an ink pen can get a business license.
It is safest to use a professional company with a State contractors license. They are held to a higher standard than an unlicensed company.
Just because someone places an advertisement in the yellow pages doesn't make them legal or qualified to do the job. Additionally, approximately half of those yellow page ads have phone numbers that have been disconnected.
I am very aware of the current economic climate and the fact that consumers really don't want to spend money if they don't have to. But really, a roofing repair should be completed by a licensed roofing company. The economy has found some contractors doing work that is out of their normal scope, because their trade has slowed way down.
Some good advice is to use professional companies that have been referred to you. Friends and neighbors are usually a great source of quality, price, and service.
Pro Handyman is a licensed State contractor, insured and bonded. We have been in business for over 10 years and perform a variety of repairs and improvements for both residential and commercial. Popular jobs we help customers with are plumbing, including water heaters, toilets, faucets, disposals, and sinks, as well as doors, drywall, and much more.