How to turn a ladder into a light fixture

Hey Guys! Project after project, they are stacking up. We are trying to get a lot of the projects that you need the door open for, out of the weight before the frigid Michigan winter creeps in. It is officially my favorite time of the  year, Fall. Yes, it’s Pre-Fall, but the humidity is nearly gone and the windows are open at night. I am sure most you have already secretly indulged in pumpkin spice something, no judgement. My favorite morning brew right now is getting me through all of these projects, is actually a mixture. My buddy, from New York, sent me Death Wish Coffee and I have been mixing it with Pumpkin Spice Ground coffee in the french press, it’ll get ya moving, that for sure.

For this week’s project I wanted to share with you how we turned a ladder into a light fixture.

Disclaimer:

Use the proper safety precautions when dealing with electrical, turn off power at the breaker, and consult a electrician if you do not have previous experience.

Hanging the Ladder

To hang the ladder I used 4 eye bolts with lag threads to screw into the wood of the ladder. I used a drywall anchor and a swag hook. To locate where to place the hook. I used Ryobi Phone Works Laser and placed it next to the eye bolts to project it onto the ceiling. Once projected on to the ceiling, I placed painters tape where the beam was hitting, and pen marked where the laser beam projected. I repeated this step for all corners of the ladder. I took a level, touched each side of the markings and marked at center. I followed the typical procedures when installing drywall anchors, and threaded the swag hook. Once the swag hook was installed, I strung black chain through the eye bolts and up to the hook.

Wiring the Lights

For the lighting process, I needed to connect the three lights together. I started with the middle light. The middle light is actually hung as a typical light would hang from a ceiling light box. The wiring on the other hand is just a tad bit different. I strung the power right to a Quick Connect Terminal Block. The power run through the chain that leads to the middle light, right into the terminal block. From there I spliced three wires out to to be later tapped for each individual light. I nailed the wires down to the top of the ladder to conceal them with cable staples. I crimped everything together with butt spliced and that was it.

Hanging the Lights

OH! I hung the lights too… haha almost forgot. The center light, like I previously said is hung just like a normal light from the ceiling. I figured this would take some weight off of the ladder and ceiling anchors. The outside two lights are hung from a 1/2 inch threaded rod. I measured out on the ladder the center of the rung on each side, and drilled a 1/2 inch whole and placed the rod cross the hole. Using tape I measured out where I needed to cut the rod and took that over to the dremel with a metal cut wheel. Chopped of and smoothed the corners, making sure not to touch the thread. If you where to damage the thread you run the risk of not allowing the nut to go onto the rod. Put the newly cut rod threw the ladder again, hooking the light fixture and then placing a washer and nut on each side to keep the rod in place. That was it!

This was one of my favorite projects inside! I love the look, and when LMB told me what she what she wanted to do I was excited But we figured it out and it looks great. I had a lot of fun wiring the lights together, and when it was all said and done I felt like Clark Griswold, it was great.

Let me know what you guys think, and I hope everyone had a great summer. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.