Andrew Melchior

I’d like to think I’m pretty handy with things around the home.  On several Saturday’s a month you’ll find me wrenching in the garage, or working on little projects around the house.  In the past year I have remodeled one bathroom, our laundry room, and done a number of other small jobs.  Over the past 5 years there have been several occasions where I have needed some help with the electrical elements of my home.  Over that time I have used Butler Electric to do that work for me.  Butler Electric is owned by a licensed Utah electrician, Dave Butler.  I decided to write about this because of my recent experience trying to install a large light fixture in the entry way of my home.  To say the least, it was very difficult for me to do and I failed at the task, but Dave didn’t and made it look like it was easy as apple pie.  Here is why I found it difficult and he made it look easy.  Note to self: count this as a lesson learned.

I’m not sure if you can tell from the picture, but this fixture is huge and it weighs, in my estimate, about 50-60 lbs.  It came in pieces and had to have a number of things screwed to, and attached to the top as you were mounting it.  In addition to that, the location it hangs from is two stories high, meaning this all had to be done on a ladder while you were holding the fixture in the air and wiring it up and mounting it, etc.  I gave it my all, but after about 30 min. of holding that fixture up in the air on the ladder and trying to piece it together while wiring it, I just gave up.  My arms were totally worn out and I could barely lift the fixture anymore.  Needless to say, I was also rather sick of standing on my ladder two stories in the air.

I decided to get over my pride and called Dave up.  He was able to stop by that night and because of his experience that fixture was hung in about 20 min.  I guess his experience as a Master Utah Electrician really makes these things easier for him.  He understood how all the pieces would need to work and therefore he could build 90% of it before even going up the ladder.  He was also able to rig the fixture once he got up the ladder with it to the reinforced electrical box (that he reinforced) before connecting all the wiring.  This left him only having to support he fixture on the ladder for a minute or two.  Once he had everything in place he simply wired the unit up and installed the cover, etc.  The fixture looks great and thanks to Dave, I didn’t have to tell my wife about my failure…I’m sure she knows though, they always do!

The lesson learned here is that something are better left to the pros and that every dime spent with them is typically worth it.  Thanks Butler Electric!