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About Greg Hughes
Expertise
Residential Electrical including Appliances and HVAC with 28 years experience.

Experience
Started training as an electrician in 1979, worked for major companies and the government.

Education/Credentials
Graduated from Electrician's School, Carrier Training, and various specialty schools.

You are here: Experts > Home/Garden > Home Improvement/Repair > Electrical Wiring in the Home > Centering a chandelier

Electrical Wiring in the Home - Centering a chandelier

Expert: Greg Hughes - 11/10/2009

Question
The chandelier is slightly off center due to the ceiling joist. The electrical box is attached to the side of the ceiling joist. What can I do to center the fixture. I have heard of the pancake box as a solution. Help! I need a safe solution.

Answer
The ceiling joists are rarely found in the center of a room so you will need to have attic access.

What you should do is find the center or wherever you want the light to be mounted and drill a small hole in the ceiling. Poke a piece of wire through long enough to go above the insulation in the attic. With the wire hanging there you will need to crawl up into the attic and install a cross piece that goes from one joist to another above this hole you drilled.

There are several ways of doing this. If your joists are 2x6 then you take a piece of 2x6 and cut it the width of distance between the joists. Then you take a 2x4 and screw it flat to the top of the 2x6. The 2x4 has to be long enough to reach over the distance of the joists so you can screw it to the top of the joists.

Center this "T" over the hole you drilled and screw the 2x4 to the joists. Now go into the room and finish cutting your hole in the ceiling to accommodate the pancake box. Screw the pancake box to the bottom of this "T" and then wire it.

There are premade bars that you can do this from the room by cutting the hole large enough for the premade bars to fit through (it has a box attached) and you simply turn the bar and it expands to push into the joists.

The manufacture states the weight it can hold, but I do not trust those bars. People have told me they love them and use them but I am not sold on them. However, that is one option and probably the simplest.

Hope this helps.

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