Double Boxed For Your Protection

I have green-lighted the salvaged medallion. In fact, it may even go up tomorrow. Today I got the new box mounted for it.



This is now the 3rd time I’ve done this and it works very well. The standard 4-inch square electrical boxes have a center knock-out on the base. I mount one to the framing in the ceiling and then take a piece of ½-inch steel galvanized pipe and mount it in the hole with lock nut on both sides. I then mount a round fixture box on the other end of the pipe in the same manor. The length of pipe is determined by the depth of the medallion.

Tomorrow, fingers crossed, I will remove the lower box and then fit the medallion over the pipe. Once the medallion is in place I will put the lower box back on and shim in between the base of the box and the medallion. The ceiling fixture will be mounted to the lower box and the medallion will be sandwiched between the two boxes. The medallion will be essentially mounted to the framing, meaning, it ain’t goin’ no where.



I also got both fixtures reconfigured and rewired. The one that goes in the stairwell comes in at an impressive 58-inches tall. If it were hung in a modern home it would hang more than half way to the floor. I will still need a ladder to change light bulbs in the stairwell, but at least I won’t need scaffolding or some fancy light bulb changing gizmo.



Finally, I gussied up the medallion a bit. I was going to go with the basic white like I did in the dining room, but I felt the contrast with the cherubs and foliage would be too much. I went with a creamy off-white instead. I also want to touch up the cherubs, but I will wait until after it is hung. I noticed today that it is actually a 3 piece medallion. In the picture above, if you look at about 3:15 and 9:45 you can see the seams where the 2 part outer ring is attached to the center piece.