Light Fixtures, Fans & Faucets

Swapping what is already there

Replacing a fixture on an existing box and an existing circuit is straightforward work, and most of it can be done in a single visit. The parts that actually matter are the ones that are easy to skip: confirming the box type before hanging weight on it, supporting the fixture while it is being connected rather than letting it hang on the wires, and leaving the connections tidy inside the box instead of stuffed in.

Fans and lighting

Ceiling fan replacement, dining and foyer fixtures, vanity lights, flush mounts, pendants, and outlets, switches, dimmers or smart switches on circuits that already exist.

A wobbling fan is almost never the blades. It is the box, the brace or the downrod connection, and that is what gets checked first. A fan hung on a standard light box will wobble no matter how carefully the blades are balanced, because the box was never designed to carry a moving load.

Outlets and switches are the other half of this work and rarely the reason anyone picks up the phone. A receptacle that no longer grips a plug, a cracked faceplate, a switch that has to be pressed twice — those get replaced on the circuit that is already there, and they are worth adding to the visit you were booking anyway.

Where the lighting is part of the wall rather than a fixture on the ceiling, that is LED accent lighting and it gets planned with the framing.

Faucets, disposals and shut-offs

Kitchen and bathroom faucets, shower heads and valve trim, toilet replacement and reseating, garbage disposal swaps, supply lines and shut-off valves.

Most fixture replacements are simple until an old shut-off will not close or a supply line lets go. We test the shut-offs before anything comes apart, and we fit new supply lines rather than reusing tired ones. A twelve-dollar braided line is not where anyone should be saving money underneath a sink.

Where we stop, and why we say so first

There is a clear line between a fixture swap and licensed trade work, and it is drawn by what needs a permit rather than by what is difficult. New circuits, new boxes in new positions, panel work, moving a fixture to a different spot, new supply or drain runs, anything that opens a wall.

If your job is on the other side of that line you will hear it up front, before anything is taken apart. That is worth more to you than a handyman who finds out halfway through.

Getting a price

Photograph the existing fixture, the ceiling or the area under the sink, and tell us what is going in its place. Fixture swaps are usually quotable from a photo and are the sort of thing worth bundling with other small jobs into one visit.