I have a new light fitting, which says it needs a ceiling hook.

The current fitting is just a normal plastic ceiling rose. It is going into a sheet of plasterboard or something that is on the ceiling, but I am presuming there is a bit of wood behind that which the screws for the current one go into? Is that a good assumption, or is there a chance it could be just put into the plasterboard and nothing? I’m hanging about 1.5kg of light off it, so I guess it needs to be into something so I can avoid pulling the ceiling down.

Also, any tips on what kind of hook to buy? I’m guessing something like this makes sense, as the hook will be hidden by the fitting, but there seem to be all manner of things out there.

Hmmm. So much for fancy lights, doesn’t even come with instructions.

Joe

Just search for “skyhook” on diy.com and that will come up with suitable suggestions.

If you’re hanging 1.5kg, I’m not sure I’d rely on plasterboard alone – if it was just a plastic rose on there before, then it might just be hanging on the board but hopefully they’ll have screwed it into a ceiling joist.

Are skyhooks near the stripy paint? Or is that a comedy brand name for something?

Any ideas how I tell if it’s in a ceiling joist – I’ve tried knocking all along the board and I can’t tell where the joists are. It is a funny old house (built in 1790), does that make any difference to how the ceiling might be constructed?

Joe

If your house is built in the 1790s you will most likey have wooden slats running across your ceiling with plaster on top of it. The easiest way would be use spring toggles which would easily hold the weight.
Even better would be to get a NICEIC registered electrician to do it for you.

Faz

Looking closer, the ceiling has some kind of boarding screwed on, in between each of the roof beams (the big wooden beams going across are visible). Surely this boarding must be screwed onto something? Or could that just be screwed on the original plaster ceiling?

Spring toggles look like they might do the job anyway.

Joe