Some advice on selecting your surface mounted chandelier:

 

Like suspended chandeliers, surface mounted chandeliers can be very heavy. Especially the large ones.

 

If you are looking for a surface mounted crystal chandelier, then you should always consider the weight of the crystal when thinking about the mounting of your chandelier to the ceiling.

 

As a rule ot thumb, crystal is glass which contains lead. Glass is quite heavy in its own right, but lead is five times the weight of silica (which is used to make the glass) so if you have 30% lead crystal, the total weight of the crystal will be more than double the weight of an equivilent chandelier in glass the same size. This extra weight requires a very sturdy frame to support it, so the frame of a surface mounted crystal chandelier will always be more robust, and therefore heavier, than an equivilent chandelier frame designed for glass drops rather than crystal drops.

 

Generally, the weight of your chandelier isn't a problem, as long as you are aware of it and fit your chandelier properly.

 

Different types of surfaces and how to put safe fixings into them:

 

With a traditional plaster ceiling suspended from wooden joists, it is always advisable to fix your chandelier using steel bolts which pass right through the joist to be fixed using a nut and washer. Most surface mounted chandeliers will be fine with a minimum of three such bolts arranged equidistant around the periphery of the chandelier.

 

For large surface mounted chandeliers it may be necessary to use more than three bolts.

 

Never use wood screws to fit a surface mounted chandelier to ceiling joists from below. Screws rust and wood splits or shrinks with time. Do not be fooled by somebody showing you how strong a fixing it is when they screw a wood screw into a joist from below. It may be strong now, but after a few years it will start to weaken and eventually it will fall. If its a heavy chandelier, when it falls, you'd better hope somebody isn't underneath it.

 

To fit the bolts, you will need to drill right through the joist, so you will probably need to get into the space above the room where the chandelier is to be fitted. Either into the attic or by lifting the floor boards in the room above.

 

If you can not access the space above, possibly due to it being a flat roof, or a space too small to access, then you should remove some of the plaster from below to access the joist, and pass a bolt right through the joist from side to side, which you can then suspend your chandelier from. In some cases, you may need to make a bracket specifically designed to suspend your chandelier in your room.

 

Do not worry about damaging your ceiling. Any damage will usually be covered by the chandelier when it's fitted, or you can easily repair the damage once you have your bolts protruding through the ceiling.

 

For ceilings with steel joists rather than wooden, use the same method as for wood.

 

For concrete ceilings, you can use purpose made masonary bolts. These are the type which incorporate a steel expanding plug on the shaft, which expands into the hole you've drilled to grip the sides of the hole tighter and tighter as the bolt is screwed in. Do not use plastic or wooden plugs into which you screw a standard wood screw. If you do this, you are certain to see your chandelier eventually fall.

 

Do's and Don'ts when fitting a heavy chandelier.

 

Never use wood screws.

Never use pre-threaded hooks such as cup hooks or hooks designed to hang clothes on.

Never use the supposed light fixing hooks you can buy at the DIY centre. They are not designed for heavy crystal and brass chandeliers, but the lightweight tin and plastic ones you can buy at the DIY store.

Never use wooden or plastic rawl type plugs.

Never screw into the plaster, or the lathes to which the plaster may be attached.

Never believe somebody who tells you a wood screw is good enough, even if he swings from it.

Always think of the length of time your chandelier may hang from your ceiling. It could outlast you.

Always be sure the fixing is solid and strong enough for the job.

Always put one more fixing in than the minimum required.

 

Bonds - The Chandelier Company fitting service.

 

We provide a chandelier fitting service for all our customers. We obviously have to charge commercial rates for the service, to cover the cost of travel, parts, and labour, but we endeavour to keep these costs as low as we can, and we will travel to any part of the UK.

 

If you have doubts about fitting your own chandelier, or you're not quite sure of the local artisan whom you would otherwise employ to fit it, perhaps you should ask us for a fitting quote when ordering your chandelier. The peace of mind of knowing your chandelier has been fitted properly may be worth the small extra expense of having us fit it rather than somebody local, who may be a good electrician or builder, but lacks the experience of fitting heavy chandeliers properly.