Great looking, somewhat tough installation
Written: May 26 '09 (Updated May 26 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Looks great, especially with pendulum lights.
Cons: Wrong screws included, somewhat costly.
The Bottom Line: Looks fantastic, Mr. Fit-It-Up should have no problem with installation.
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| orioles35's Full Review: Tiella Easy Rail Lighting Kit |
Last July we bought a house and after very little deliberation, decided to ditch the idea of a formal dining room and instead use that room for a Sports Bar, including TV in the corner, autographed baseballs, pictures, the whole nine yards. The existing lighting consisted of a construction grade dining room fixture, so that obviously didn't fit the theme. After checking out the different types of lighting at various establishments around town, we settled on the Tiella Easy Rail Lighting Kit.
The Tiella Easy Rail Lighting Kit contains the connector unit, three tracks (96 inches total), five lights and bulbs and the hardware and connectors to put it all together. We also purchased three Tiella ceiling "drop" pendants, which we thought would work much better than the five mini "spot lights" included in the kit. This brought our total to $330 for the entire system.
Upon getting everything home and unpacked, it seemed like a pretty simple installation: remove existing light, connect the round connector unit, hang the rails, put the lights on the rails and flip the switch. Well, as these things typically go, it is NEVER as easy as you think...especially considering I'm no good with tools. But this was something the both of us thought would add a whole lot to our bar, so after getting the kids to bed, we jumped right in.
Never having worked with lighting before, either installing or replacing, I was somewhat anxious about the entire project...after all, this was electricity I was fooling with. Even after making sure the breaker was switched off, I was still nervous about touching the wires. In any event, the existing fixture was removed quite easily after unscrewing the cover, unscrewing the mount and undoing the wires (black, white and ground). Easy enough. The Tiella central connector was to go up next, attached in the same manner. The wires weren't a problem, but getting the connector screwed into the existing mount posed a bit of a challenge. Both the holes in the connector didn't line up with the mount, so one of the screws had to go through a slot in the connector instead. This caused it to not mount completely flush with the ceiling. I was afraid this would pose a problem later on, but ended up being a non-issue. Once everything was connected and mounted, the cover was screwed on and that step in this process was completed.
Moving on to installing the rails, we encountered the second difficulty in installation and the biggest hiccup. Measuring out from the connector, the instructions state to partially hammer a metal anchor into the ceiling, then use a screwdriver to twist it the rest of the way into the roof. Once that's completed, a screw will go into the anchor through a "cap", then the rail hangers will hang off of that. The anchors went in correctly, although great care needs to be taken to insure they end up flush with the roof. I then attempted to screw the "cap" into the anchor with the screw provided. Doing this by hand, about a half an inch from being fully screwed into the anchor, the SCREW BROKE AS I WAS TWISTING IT. By hand! Carefully, I backed out the anchor, got another one (three are included with the system), gently put that in the existing hole in our room and tried using a drill to screw into the anchor. About the same distance from completion, the head of the screw stripped! About this time I think my words were something to the effect of, "This is why I don't like these types of projects. Something ALWAYS goes wrong." After calming down a bit, backing out the anchor and looking at it, I realized what was wrong...the screws provided by Tiella were TOO LONG and probably a bit too wide as well. There was no WAY those screws could go all the way into that anchor. Using pliers to remove the stripped screw, finding shorter and skinnier screws and attempting reinstallation, finally found success. Extremely frustrating to not have the correct parts to complete the job.
Next, the rails are installed. You have the option to bend the rails into a curve, which they recommend doing around a circular table or something along those lines. While I thought that would be neat, I wasn't comfortable bending the rails, perhaps bending them too far, having to unbend them, maybe even breaking them, I didn't know. Plus the bar is only eight feet long and I didn't see where we really had a whole lot of room for curved rails, so we stuck with them as is, and left them straight. The rails attach to the connector through the holder that drops down from it, then to the other holders held up with the anchor installation. The rails are held together by a connector tightened by allen head screws and special instructions are made, stating to make sure that connector is TIGHT. The thing is, it's somewhat difficult to tighten it to the point where you're sure it's snug with the type screws and wrench provided. One screw I felt sure was not tight enough, but I pressed forward anyway. We were in the home stretch now.
With the rail being installed, the only thing left to do was install the lighting itself. The kit comes with five 'spotlights', which look more like something you'd find in one of those old track lighting kits. We felt the drop pendulum lights would look much better, but cost a good little bit and required additional installation. These lights would also have to be measured to the correct height above the bar where it would light everything appropriately, but not blind the people sitting at the bar (or your bartender). So we had some work ahead of us, but first a quick check to see if the lights would work. Quickly unpacking the light, it was found to use a halogen bulb, which is not supposed to be touched by your fingers (the oils can cause the bulb to blow). That was installed, then a cover goes over the bulb itself. The cord hanging the light from the rail was long enough where the light was all the way down to the top of the bar, but flipping the switch proved that everything WAS working correctly! Success, on the first try!
Hanging the lights at the correct height was another challenge. One of the ends of the cord was inserted into the connector and held in place by (once again), two allen head screws. Those screws must be loosened, but not removed from the holder, allowing the cord to be pulled free. Then, after determining the correct height desired, you must CUT THE CORD. Yes, this is what they tell you to do...you don't get a second chance here. Afterwards, the cover surrounding the wire must be pulled back and the wire inserted back into the holder, tighten the screws and reconnect the light. This actually went smoothly, but pulling back the cover to expose the wire meant this extra wrinkled part would be showing near the rail connector. It isn't that noticable, but if you look closely you can clearly see it.
After hanging two of the pendulum lights and positioning them correctly, we flipped the switch to admire our work. Turns out the halogen bulbs produce so much light, we only needed two pendulums off the track, otherwise there would have been too much light. So we were able to return one of those and bring our total to under $300 overall. It was also now 11:30 and after a quick drink in our newly lit bar to relax after our lighting adventure, it was time for bed.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
orioles35
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Location: Nolensville, TN
Reviews written: 58
Trusted by: 29 members
About Me:
I review stuff I like, music, movies or whatever.
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