How to Change a Light Fixture While on the Phone

And I'm not talking about with a bluetooth headset.  I mean, an actual phone cradled on your shoulder.  I should probably start at the beginning, which is a photo of our old light fixture.

It doesn't look too bad from the photo, but it was very dirty and old, and it didn't work.  Since we have moved in we have not had a porch light.  Boo.  So anyway, first I bought a new fixture.

I chose a brushed aluminum finish to match the mailbox and front door hardware.  I made sure to turn off the circuit breaker for the front light before I removed the old fixture.

Then I realized that the previous fixture was so old that it didn't have a grounding wire.  I did see a copper wire in the electrical box, but I wanted to call my dad to make sure I was doing everything right.  That quick phone call turned into a long conversation, but since it was already 5:15pm, I didn't want to lose daylight.  So I attached the wires while cradling the phone between my shoulder and my head (hence the reason for almost no progress photos).  I did get this one when all the wires were hooked up but before I attached the fixture to the electrical box.


Is this right, dad?

After that photo was taken, I shoved all of the wires back into the box, and attached the fixture (I also didn't look at the directions, which is kind of scary).  But it looked ok.

And when I put in a lamp and turned it on, it worked!

I'm so glad that we finally have a porch light that works!  And now that it matches the door hardware and mailbox, I think our front porch seems a lot more cohesive.  I still want to replace the house numbers which are old and ugly and painted over, but I think we've made our house much more inviting.