Chandeliers Hung Level Under Timber Beams in a Ridgefield, WA Great Room

This Ridgefield home has a vaulted great room with dark timber beams running across the ceiling, and two multi-arm chandeliers that had to look like they belonged there. Newman Electric hung both, centered and level, plus a brass pendant elsewhere in the house, in about three and a half hours.

Why beams make chandeliers harder

On a flat ceiling, a chandelier goes where the box is. Under exposed beams, the eye judges a fixture against the beams, not the room. If it sits a few inches off center between two beams, everyone notices, even if they can’t say why.

So the work on a job like this is mostly layout and height:

• Centering between beams, not just in the room
• Setting the drop so the fixture sits below the beam line without hanging into head space
• Matching heights when two fixtures share a sight line
• Leveling the arms after assembly so every shade sits square

Supporting the weight

Large multi-arm chandeliers are heavy enough that a standard ceiling box isn’t rated to hold them. Before anything goes up we confirm the box and its support are rated for the fixture’s weight. On a sloped ceiling the canopy also has to let the chain hang plumb instead of following the pitch.

We cover the box ratings, canopy options and dimming in more detail on our lighting installation page.

The rest of the list

This visit was part of a larger finish schedule in the house. The brass pendant with a white glass shade went up the same day, with sconces, a bar pendant and exterior lighting on the list for the next trip. Ridgefield is one of our busier areas for custom-home lighting, and our lighting work in Ridgefield section has more examples.

Have a fixture that needs to hang just right under beams or a vaulted ceiling? Call 360-828-7143 or tell us about the fixture and the ceiling.