Vintage Chandelier rewire

[58limited]

This is a chandelier from my neighbor's house. He is about 88 years old and just went into a retirement home in Kerrville, about 300 miles away where his son lives. Unfortunately, even though this has been a good street to live on, the hoods do come through the empty houses from time to time. They got into my neighbor's house this past weekend. Fortunately, they just wanted a weekend love shack and didn't really steal much, but they spray painted the walls. I called his son and he came this week and removed all of the valuables. We decided to bring the chandeliers and and a few other light fixtures over to my house in case the hoods return and decide to take a bat to them for fun. We will give them to the new home owner when the house sells.

The house is a fixer-upper and needs a complete rewiring. Some rooms do not even have working electricity any more. The house was the first one built in this area and is fabulous. It needs a complete cosmetic makeover and rewiring. Otherwise it is solid. I'm probably going to make an offer on it.

Here is the living room chandelier "as found" meaning years of dust accumulation. Notice the wires coming out the top - some electrical tape and missing insulation. The internal wiring is in great shape since it was protected inside the fixture, so I'm not replacing them.

 

[58limited]

Here are the disassembled parts half way through the dish.washer cycle. Much better, aren't they?

 

[58limited]

Here is the bare frame with the new wire in place. I didn't see a manufacturer name, it just says "Made in Czechoslovakia" and has a number - model or serial I don't know. This is original to the house, which was built in the early 1930s, possibly late 1920s.

 

[58limited]

Here is the dining room chandelier, probably not going to tackle it tonight.

 

[58limited]

Here is a fabulous art deco light shade, one of three. We left the rest of the fixtures in the house so that we can see, just brought the glass over for protection. The glass is 16" in diameter, a little over 1/2" thick, and pretty heavy.

 

[gyrafoam]

Fabulous! Beautiful!

 

[58limited]

All cleaned and reassembled. The hanging crystals are being washed right now. The little copper wires that they hang from are very brittle, so I'm going to replace them before I put the crystals back onto the chandelier.

 

[alr2903]

Wow

58Limited that is a beautiful chandelier. To take them to safety was a very smart, thoughtful move. I hope you get the house, too. Have you found a shuffling of various folks since the hurricane? Our townhouse in nola is on the market last time i was there to check on things there was a shoot out at the Burger king. Beautiful lights, is #337539 flat like a medallion or is it a Concave light fixture? Take care down there. alr2903

 

[appnut]

Now David, why didn't you dip that chandelier in pancake batter and then use PalmOlive dishwasher soap as part of the restoration process!!!

 

[polkanut]

I also run my glass ceiling fixture parts throughthe dw. I wouldn't even attempt to wash them by hand for fear of breakage. I try to do it at least twice a year.

 

[volvoguy87]

Wiring.

For vintage rewiring I like to use reproduction cloth covered wire. I have bought from Sundialwire before and really like dealing with them and I also like their products. Their link is at the bottom.

Nice work,
Dave

Cloth-Covered Wire from Sundial Wire

Highest quality US-made cloth-covered wire in many styles, colors, patterns, and gauges. Fully customizable pendants and cord sets, new and vintage lighting. A rich array of lamp parts. Knob and tube wire and procelain. Lots of how-to and information pages.

www.sundialwire.com

 

[58limited]

Thanks for the link, Volvoguy. I bookmarked it in my restoration folder.

I bought the cloth wire locally at an electric supply store that also specializes in vintage lighting. They also have a great selection of Aladdin lamp parts. The wire was $0.55 per foot.

alr2903, the light fixture glass is concave. In fact, I thought it would make a great salad bowl if the hole in the center was plugged.