How many Dopers does it take to change a lightbulb?

Here is the delimma:

I have a lightfixture above the stairs in my house. It is about twenty feet above the ground floor and probably fifteen or so feet above the middle of the stairs. The lightbulb has burned out and I am not fifteen feet tall. The lightbulb is a traditional incandescent light. It is under a glass globe. The globe is held on by spring clips. To take the globe down, all you do is tug on it. I know this because I have this same fixture in other parts of the house.

I have a tool on a pole that will unscrew the bulb. I can get a tool that will fit over the globe. Unfortunately, I don’t think it can hang on tight enough to tug on it. It’s made to unscrew lightbulbs and bring them down. A loosened lightbulb offers no resistance. On the other hand, if this device were firm enough to pull the globe off, it would be too firm to let go when I want the globe to stay up there (after the bulb has been changed).

Does anyone know of a tool that will help take the globe down and replace it when the bulb is replaced? If I have to erect a scaffolding to get up there, I’m replacing the whole fixture with something that makes sense!

Thanks for your invaluable help.

Two: One to change the lightbulb, and the other to ask for a cite!

Have you tried using a ladder?

I don’t really have a good solution for you, but I can tell you what I did. (BTW, is your home, by chance, a recently-constructed KB Home?)

  1. Borrowed a tall extension ladder, put feeton stairs, lashed a town to the top (to cover the upper ends), and leaned it againt the wall that descends fromthe ceiling above the stairs.

| _
|\ _|
_|
_|

like that, or something…

  1. Removed outer globe, bulb, and whole stupid light fixture.

2.5. Thought, “Who puts an enclosed globe fixture up there like that anyhow?”

  1. Went to the Home Depot, bought a handy-dandy recessed light fixture and bulb.

  2. Got up in attic, installed fixture according to instructions.

  3. Used suction-pole thingy to install new bulb.

It really sucked for us since the orginal bulb was the first bulb in the house to burn out after we moved in (it lasted for all of a month…)

Good luck with yours, though!

hmmm…that diagram looked a lot better in my head…

oh, and town = towel
… ___________
…| *
…|
…|.
…|…
…|…\ … __________
…\ _|
… _|
… _|
…|

I’ve done this via the attic. In one case, I was able to loosen the fixture from above and lower it slightly (secured by a string to prevent the inevitable drop) to access the lamp. This only worked because the particular wire/conduit/jbox/fixture arrangment allowed me to loosen and lower it from above. That wouldn’t be possible with lots of fixtures.

You can also find combination ladders or stairway step ladders

http://www.beldray.com/access/3way.htm

See pic #3

or here
http://www.coscoproducts.com/house2001/laddrs.html

The answer is: 1, but only if google is used. Here you can find what you need, although you might be able to get one locally.
The other answer is: 3, one to argue for the skeptics, one for the psychics and one to just put the damn bulb in!

Have you tried getting the globe off with your tool? Give it a shot. If it doesn’t work, try tightening it (should be a screw on there - if not, use twine).

Now, if you can get the globe down with no assistance, you won’t be able to get the globe up and release the tool. So use another large pole to hold the globe in place and yank the globe-pole out.

Does that make any sense?

Or tie a string to the very outside edge of the suction cup, so as not to effect the suction intself and also to allow you to pull on the string to break the suction.

Plus one to ad lib a joke about it and a another to make a marginally related (post_count = post_count + 1) comment makes a total of four!

Come again?

Thanks so much for the ideas. I think I will try Munch’s idea first. Of course, I will be wearing a helmet and goggles for when I drop the globe on my head. Then, I will try caveman’s idea. Your drawing is exactly the setup that I have.

I looked at a Lowe’s store for a stairway ladder, but A) the ladder wouldn’t be tall enough to reach the light fixture, and B) $200 is a bit much just to change a lightbulb.

If I go with caveman’s approach, it will be to change the whole stupid lightfixture. No, the house isn’t a recent KBHomes creation. It was built in about 1984. We’ve been in the house for more than a year and the light just burned out. When we bought it, I forgot to ask the previous owner how he managed to change the lightbulbs. :rolleyes:

Might be a good place for one of those little curli-q flourescent bulbs that last for 7 years or so. I have several in my house going on 4 years right now…still work.

I thought about that. May be the cheapest alternative than changing the fixture, assuming i don’t drop the globe anyway.

Caveman, we’re practically neighbors. I’m only about an hour southeast of Austin. I’m partial to Lowe’s myself. The employees at Home Depot never seem to know what they have or shere it is. It took me about thirty minutes and five employees at the HD on Brodie Lane just to find shop-vacs.

I thought about that. May be the cheapest alternative than changing the fixture, assuming i don’t drop the globe anyway.

Caveman, we’re practically neighbors. I’m only about an hour southeast of Austin. I’m partial to Lowe’s myself. The employees at Home Depot never seem to know what they have or where it is. It took me about thirty minutes and five employees at the HD on Brodie Lane just to find shop-vacs.

Step ladder made especially for use on stairs: $200

New light fixture: $50

7-year incandescent bulb: $10

Watching Drum God don a helmet and goggles for what ought to be a simple household chore: priceless.

:eek:

$257 to change a light bulb. My head hurts…

It doesn’t matter how many dopers argue with the lightbulb, the lightbuld must want to change first.

Glad to see I wasn’t the only one who did a double-take there.