Jimmie's Guide to Installing Wall Lights

This one is a Globe Electric "Ramezay" Gooseneck Sconce.

This fixture mounts by two small black screws, one on each side. This is a bit difficult because the screws are right next to the wall.

This is the mounting hardware (already attached to a round electrical box)

And this one is a Kylynly Industrial Vintage Wall Mount Light

It mounts using two knurled nuts that screw on from the front (much easier)

And here is its mounting hardware (already mounted onto a smaller round box).

1 So, this is the first example shown above: there is an existing light switch and I want to add a light above this switch.
 You may ask, "But what's that wooden item on the upper right?" It's the shelf for my surround sound "Height" speaker. It doesn't show in the example above because I air-brushed it out!

2 I have cut out the sheetrock on the right of the existing switch, using a utility knife - best to have a fresh blade. Did I turn the power off yet? No. But I definitely will when I remove and replace the two switches and add a third.

3 To mount an "old work" box, you have to cut an opening smaller than the outer part of the box. So you place the front of the box against the wall and simply draw a circle around its outer perimeter. Then you cut a hole about 3/8" inside of this circle. On these round boxes, there are many parts and protuberances that are close to the outer edge! So the box might not fit inside your hole. Just notch the sheetrock to allow these areas to pass.
 Yes, your cutout will look terrible, but the light fixture's flange will cover it.

4 Now it's time to pass the romex behind the wall down to the lignt switch opening. See #5 to the right for more information.
 But what's wrong with this picture? You can see the paper covering of the insulation batts. This is an exterior wall. So it won't be entirely easy to push the romex down to the other opening.

5 You will want to remove the existing switches to give yourself a big opening. (Now the power is off.) Passing wires behind walls is not as easy as it looks, so you want a big "target".
 Since this an exterior wall, it's full of insulation, which will have either a paper or aluminum facing. You will have to push the romex from the switch to the round opening. Easy, right? Nope, it's not. Romex is stiff, but not stiff enough. In my experience, it hits something inside the wall, or just encounters too much resistance. This is why I said "If any of these scenarios is on an outside wall, add 1 or 2 difficulty points" above.

Make sure no wires are sticking out from the romex, so the end will be as smooth as possible.

Try pushing the romex from the switch opening up to the round hole.

If that doesn't work, try pushing the romex down from the round hole.

It may help to let the romex hang from the round hole and mark the distance to the switch. This way yoiu can know when you "should" have reached the switch opening. You can then reach behind the wall to see if you can grip the other end and pull it through.

You can try pushing something stiff through the switch hole until you see it in the round opening. Then tape the romex to the end and pull the wire back through.

Leave about a foot of excess sticking out of both holes, as seen here in the switch hole.

6 Important step. When you install the box, you draw up the tabs against the back side of the sheet rock by tightening the screws. But the factory has not fully threaded the plastic tabs. So the screws are very hard to turn, and you might strip the head of the screw. So I recommend using some sort of screw lubricant. Apply with a small flat head screwdriver or Q-tip (you can see some of the lubricant in the picture). Shown here is Balknap "Door Ease", available in automotive stores or online. There are also beeswax-based lubricants available as well.
 While the box is out in the open, tighten the screws partly, and then back them out. This "pre-threads" the plastic on the tab. This is much easier to do out in the open.

7 Use a flat blade screwdriver to knock out the openings for the romex. In this example, we are going to install two lights (see next pix). So the top box will need only hole, and the bottom box will need one hole on top and one on the bottom. (Step #10 explains why.) Be sure that you pry the tab completely open. Otherwise you can't easily push the romex back through the opening if you need to.
 You are now ready to mount the box behind the wall by tightening the three mounting screws and drawing the tabs up against the back side of the sheetrock. It is not necessary to tighten these screws very tight.

8 NOTE: supplied fasteners usually TOO LONG.
 Now you attach the fixture mounting hardware. For whatever reason, the supplied mounting screws are always much longer than necessary, such as the screws shown in this image. They are very hard to screw into the box. My suggestion is to use shorter screws. 3/8 or 1/2 inch screws are ideal for this. These screws are almost always #8 in size.
 This is the mounting hardware for the Globe style lights. (These lights mount with the tiny screws on each side of the light - right up against the wall.)

9 So don't do THIS
For a pair of lights, stacked vertically or horizontally, don't orient the mounting pieces directly in line with other. And why not? Because you can't get a screwdriver in the tight space between the lights in order to attach the small mounting screw on each side of the light.

10 Instead, orient the mounting pieces at an angle so you can access the side-mounted small screws.
  Note: this image also shows how you route the romex cables for vertically (or horizontally) stacked pairs of lights.
 You have one set of romex wires in the top box. The other end of this romex cable goes to the lower box, For the bottom box, you have the "supply" wire coming up from the switch box below, and romex that came from the top box.

11 A helpful tip;
Some lights like these Globe brand have an attached cord, so you simply hang them on the wall and just plug them in. If you want to "hardwire" them in, so that you can use a wall switch and eliminate the hanging cord, you cut the cord and use just the remaining black and white wires.
 But in some cases, if you do cut the cord at the connector, the remaining black and white wires are very short. So leave about 3 inches of the cord. It's much easier to work with when attaching the wire nuts. The only problem is that both wires are clear (or at least the same color). It is customary to tape black electrical tape over the black wire, which I did in this image. This is perfectly acceptable to electrical codes, and is used in certain other (rare) situations where the white (neutral) romex wire is used as the black ("hot") wire.

12 Where there is only one set of romex black/white/ground wires, you can use the orange supplied wire nuts to wire up the light fixture.
 A helpful note: It's often hard to securely bind the little wires from the light fixture to the solid romex wires. You'll tighten the wire nut, but with just a slight tug, the little wire will pull out. Strip the little wires longer than you strip the romex wires. Wrap the little wire around the romex wire and leave a tiny amount of the little wire sticking out. Now, when you screw the wire nut on, the little wire has much more chance of being properly bound. I will show this in more detail in an upcoming article - "Wireing Electrical Boxes".

13 Where there are two sets of romex black/white/ground wires, use some yellow wire nuts. (If you are going to be doing these sort of electrical projects regularly, buy a package of yellow and red wire nuts.)

14 And here is the typical mounting hardware for the Kylynly and similar front-mounted lights. It has plenty of rings to allow for mounting in both standard round box sizes and for different lamp styles.
 A tip: the screws on the left and right will go through the holes in the light cover, and you then put the black cap nuts on them. When you mount them on the mounting hardware, add a lock washer if you have any lying around. Why? So the screw won't turn while you are trying to tighten the cap nut from the front. Make sure these Additionally, you might put a dab of WD-40 inside the mounting nut or on the tips of the screws. This helps guarantee that the nut tightens rather than just turning the screw.

15 So here's the standard issue shallow box. No tabs, no flange, no nuttin'. That's why I call it "primitive". I have seen a couple variations with tabs, but these were online only.

16 So you can attach tabs on the back side. I just happened to have some angle pieces that I bent and attached on the back. A piece of perforated strap would also work.

17 Here I have turned it over and show a light mount hardware piece on the front. The tabs on the back will rest on the backside of the sheetrock when mounted.

18 So this is what you use when you have cut a hole in the sheetrock that is bigger than the circular shallow box.
 When mounted, the tabs on the back keep the assembly from pulling through the hole, and the light mounting hardware secures it on the front side.
 Note that although this box is not supplied with any kind of clamp to secure and protect the romex from the rough metal of the knockout hole, some sort of retaining clamp is apparently required by the electrical code. Plus, it's just not "professional" looking to poke some romex through a bare knockout hole. . . You can get push-in plastic clamps/grommets, or there is a metal romex clamp available.

19 Here are three kinds of romex cable clamps/grommets. The two outer ones are plastic. The middle one is metal. They may be marked "3/8", even through the knockout hole is actually 1/2 inch.

20 This image shows the same box with tabs mounted on the back, and another type of light mounting hardware. This hardware does not overlap the hole in the sheetrock, so we add large washers (called "Fender Washers") to the two screws that attach the hardware to the box.

21 And this is what you use when you have cut a hole in the sheetrock that is smaller than the circular shallow box. The box is larger than the hole in the sheetrock, and so it rests against the backside of the sheetrock. The light mounting hardware overlaps the hole in the sheetrock.
 You do in fact use longer mounting screws to attach the hardware to the box (despite what I said in section #8).

22 So we see both scenarios in this picture. I cut out a larger hole on the top than I did on the bottom. Why? Because I cut the top hole to accomodate the standard plastic round box. Only after I cut the hole did I discover that there was a PIPE behind the wall!
 After I found out about the pipe, I cut the lower hole smaller. This way I could simply place the primitive shallow box behind the wall without having to add tabs.

L1 I have cut a hole adjacent to the existing single switch. I have pushed the romex up from below. It's sticking out of the hole. I am holding a "two-gang" "old work" box right next to the existing box. "Old work" means you don't have access behind the sheerock; the box has tabs that extend out behind the sheetrock to secure the box.

L2I have turned off the power and removed the existing light switch. It's a "builder grade" cheapie which has the romex wires pushed into holes in the back of the switch.

L3 Here I show that the existing light box has been pried away from the stud with a big flat head screwdriver. Fortunately, existing boxes are relatively easy to pry away from the stud.
 Take a picture of the wires in the existing box!! This way, you can be more likely to be able to put it back together like it was, especially after you remove the old wire nuts.

L4 Parts tip: Purchase the replacement switch that looks like the one on the right. Note that it has tabs on the screws. For the standard light switch on the left, you have to bend the wire into a loop to put under the screw. Most have the quick connect holes on the back as well, but this makes an inferior connection, particularly when there is high current involved. (Although the current for lights is very low.) With the switch on the right, you can leave the tip of the romex wire straight, and just slip it under the tab. Here you have the superior tightness of the screw, but the convenience of not having to bend the wire into a loop.

Part number for a light switch: Leviton 5601-2WM

Part number for a duplex outlet: Leviton CBR-15-WMP

L5 Sometimes there are quite a few wires inside a box. Electricians may bring several romex cables into the box and make junctions inside the box. If this is the case, you can buy "extra deep" boxes, to give you more room to make connections. The grey box here is about 3/4 inch deeper than the standard blue box.

Step number 6 above is a tip on prepping the electrical box by pre-tightening and loosening the screws. Step number 7 above shows how to open the "knockouts" in the box.
 Remove the existing wire nuts, remove the original box, and install the new box. Then make the connections. Use the yellow wire nuts for 2 or 3 of the 14 guage romex wires. Use red wire nuts for more than 3 wires.
 Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of this. But the instructions that come with the lights have detail on the electrical connections. I am planning a separate article on "Wireing Electrical Boxes", which should be out soon.

S1You will need a long bit to be able to drill a hole in the middle of a stud from an angle. Also, one of the two pry bars will be very handy to pull the moulding away from the wall.

S2 Most builders/contractors caulk the moulding to cover irregularities in the wall. This is NOT a good practice, since it makes the moulding very hard to remove. Also caulking makes it almost impossible to paint a good seam between the wall and the moulding if the moulding is a diferent color, since the caulk joint is somewhat uneven.
 Score the caulk to help separate the moulding from the wall.

S3 Now insert a putty knife to begin to remve the moulding. The second tool with the black/yellow handle is thicker than the putty knife and can halp pull the moulding a little further from the wall.

S4 Now you an insert the pry bar and pull the moulding away from the wall. Note that pictures S2, S3, and S4 (showing how to remove moulding) are from a separate project, where the floor was carpeted.

S5 Find the studs using a studfinder, or simply drive a nail through the wall (below the moulding line) until you hit the stud. You can see my three attempts right above the blue line that I used to mark the location of the stud. Studs are typically 16 inches apart, but can be more on interior walls. To help locate the first stud more easily, note that a stud is always to the left or the right of a light switch or an electrical outlet.
 Cut a rectangular hole in the sheetrock to allow access to the stud. You can see the stud partially on on the left of the hole. This hole is towards the top of the moulding line. In other words, the bottom of the hole is about 2 inches from the floor. Save the sheetrock pieces.
 Using the long bit, drill a hole in the center of the stud. Make sure you are at a couple inches from the bottom of the stud. If you look into the hole you cut in the sheetrock, you can see the "sill plate" - the board on the bottom right next to the floor. You want to drill the hole at least 2 - 3 inches from this board. Otherwise you will run into nails! These nails stick up from the bottom - where the sill plate was nailed to each stud when the wall was built.

S6 As already mentioned, I am working on example 3 in the introduction above. I am inside the closet and will use the closet light switch for "supply", by adding an additional switch. I will be passing romex through two studs to reach the lights that will be mounted right above the leftmost hole, on the other side. I will use the center and right hole to drill through the two studs. So why do I need the left hole? I have to pass the romex down from the circular light box hole on the other side. I need to grasp the romex and pass it through the stud near the left of the center hole.

S7 I have passed thr romex down from the light box hole and through the two studs. I have also pushed the romex up to the light switch box. Now I can place the cutout sheetrock pieces back into the holes. I did use a bit of adhesive caulk to help keep them in place, but this is not entirely necessary,

S8 As you can see here, all this really rough looking work will be covered by the moulding when you put it back. Note the nice clean paint edge between the moulding and the wall, even though the moulding is a different color. To get this nice edge, sand the excess caulk off the moulding and paint it before you put it back on the wall.
 And don't caulk it! Caulking is bad.

You may be saying, "But wait! You're telling me that it's OK to drill holes in studs and just pass romex through the holes?"
 Yep.
 Your whole house is built that way!! Here is a pix I took of some new home construction (for another blog article). This is likely going to be the kitchen area. The yellow romex is usually 12 guage. It's the heavier guage to handle the high current kitchen appliances. The white romex is usually 14 guage, and is used for all the "lighting" circuits in the house. Yes: higher numbers mean lighter guage wire. Remember, "professional" stuff is purposefully named to maximally confuse D.I.Y.ers like you and me. Another example is the three romex "clamps" shown in image 19. They are called "3/8" clamps even though they go in a 1/2 inch hole.

1 Here are the Globe lights in the master bathroom. They look great, but nonetheless I replaced them with the Kylynly lights (next image). Why? Because the toilet "closet" door would hit them when the door was opened! I didn't notice that until they were already installed!
 Plan Ahead! That's my motto!

2 Here's the same area with the Kylynly lights.

3 And here is an old bottle and rock crystal display accented with the Globe lights.

4 And here is the display light with the Kylynly lights.
 When I replaced the master bath lights with the Kylynly, we liked them so much that I replaced the other two sets of accent lights - the crystal display and the Living Room Fireplace.

5 Here is the Living Room Fireplace with the Globes. Note that I felt that the shellac-framed painting looked better with "Warm White" lights. For the other two installations, I used Cool Whites, which are what we used throughout the house.

6 And here are the Kylynly lights.