Installing a new light fixture...do I need a box?


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Old 04-27-12, 12:03 PM
J
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Installing a new light fixture...do I need a box?

Hello,

I removed the existing light fixture in my bathroom only to find there is no wire box in the wall. There is just a wire with a black, a white and a ground coming out. The fixture I am putting up is a lot heavier so the first thing I am concerned about is how to attach it to the wall. This is difficult to describe in writing but there is a plate that I can attach to the wall using anchors (hollow wall board behind the fixture), but the 2 screws that mount the fixture to the plate will have no where to screw into because there the plate is right up against the wall board. So i thought that an outlet box would make sense. I could attach the plate to the outlet box and then when I attach the fixture, the 2 screws that mount it will recess into the outlet box. The trouble I have now is...how do I mount the outlet box if there is not stud there?? its just a hollow wall behind.

Am I making sense?

Would love some input.
 
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Old 04-27-12, 01:15 PM
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How big is the plate? Some fixtures "are" junction boxes by their design and require no boxes in the wall. Otherwise you could install an old work box and secure the spanner to the box. I'd need to see a picture of yours to determine if it is the same or not. http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...your-post.html
 
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Old 04-27-12, 02:15 PM
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That depends, as Chandler said. If your new fixture "is" a junction box (most multi-light bars are, for example) you can often secure the cable to it before mounting and mount it with toggle bolts.
 
 

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