Services · Pittsburgh

Lighting & Fixtures in Pittsburgh, PA

Recessed lighting, ceiling fans and proper power in the garage, basement and workshop.

Lighting is where an older Pittsburgh house most obviously shows its age. Rooms built around a single ceiling pendant and two receptacles do not light or live the way people expect now, and the gap gets wider every year as kitchens open up, attics become offices and basements become somewhere you would actually sit.

The Electric Guys do lighting and fixture work across the city and the surrounding communities — recessed and LED lighting, ceiling fans, under-cabinet and closet lighting, exterior and landscape lighting, and proper power out to detached garages, basements and workshops.

The local complication is almost always the ceiling. Plaster and lath does not behave like drywall. It cracks along the key rather than cutting cleanly, and a can light dropped into it carelessly leaves a repair bigger than the fixture. Above it, a lot of the older city housing is balloon framed, which means the stud bays run further than people expect and the joist layout upstairs frequently bears no relationship to the room below. Both of those change how a job is planned, and both are the reason a lighting quote from someone who works mainly in new construction can come apart once the first hole is opened.

Ceiling fans have their own version of this. A box rated to carry a light fitting is not rated to carry a fan, and a surprising number of fans in this region are hanging off boxes that were never meant to take the load. Bracing it properly is the job; hanging the fan is the easy part.

Garage and workshop circuits are the other recurring one, particularly on the hillside lots where the garage is detached and halfway down the slope.

Free estimates, Monday through Saturday. Call or text (412) 501-7391.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can you put recessed lighting in a plaster ceiling?

Yes, and it is most of what we do here — very little of the older housing in this region has drywall ceilings. Plaster and lath needs cutting rather than punching and the fixture layout has to work with the existing joists, which upstairs often do not run the way the room below suggests. It is slower than new construction, but it is routine.

Why can't I hang a ceiling fan on my existing light box?

Because a standard box is rated for the static weight of a light fitting, not for something that spins and vibrates for years. A fan needs a fan-rated box tied into the framing. Where there is no attic access above, that means opening the ceiling to brace it properly — which is why a fan install is quoted after we see the room, not over the phone.

Can you run power to a detached garage?

Yes. It is a common job on the hillside lots around here where the garage sits well below the house. It needs a properly sized feeder, buried at the right depth, with its own disconnect and grounding at the garage end — not an extension of a house circuit, which is what we usually find when we get there.

Is it worth switching everything to LED?

For fixtures you use daily, yes — the running cost and the replacement interval both drop sharply. The thing to watch is dimming: a lot of older dimmers were designed for incandescent loads and will buzz, flicker or drop out with LEDs. If you are converting a room that dims, the dimmer usually needs changing at the same time.

Need lighting & fixtures? We're ready to help.

Free estimate, written quote, no obligation — and a straight answer about what your Pittsburgh home actually needs.

  • Serving Pittsburgh, Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, Monroeville
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