Okay, let me start off by saying, I have absolutely NO skills in fixing just about anything. If a piece of paper tears, what do I do? Staple, tape, caulk, putty, burn? I dunno. Anyway, so I am trying to update my 80's looking house by changing out the light fixtures. In my bathroom, there was one of those old "light-box" deals. You know, the light-coffin looking thing. Anyway, after ripping it out of the wall (which was quite enjoyable) I noticed there was no light box to mount the new light fixture to. Just a hole in the wall with some wires sticking out. (BTW, don't lick the ends of those wires, trust me.) So, after spending hours upon hours in home depot, I found this little doohicky (yes, that is the actually on the box) that you stick into the hole and it expands into the studs. Oh, I forgot to mention, that the only studs I could see was the one in the mirror...bazzing!
Anyway, so after getting this electrical-box-stud-mounter-hanger in place, I patched the hole I had made with a patching kit and spackle. Sanded, painted and was ready to hand the light fixture. Then I noticed, the screws that came with the light fixture don't fit into the hole of the electric box. I also happen to notice that the light fixture came with dry-wall mounts, which look like really hard earplugs. Needless to say, I had to cut open the wall again, remove the stud-mounter thing, and then re-patch the wall. Only this time, I couldn't actually use a patch kit because the hole I had just created was big enough for interstellar transportation. So, off to Home Depot again to buy drywall.
After buying a piece of drywall, cutting it to size, spackling it place and sacrificing a small child in the name of Plast (the ancient Indian god of drywall) I was able to finally mount the light fixture.
The moral of the story is, if you have to do work on your home, don't. It's not worth it.
Cost of light fixture = $50
Cost of 1st set of materials = $100
Cost of 2nd set of materials = $30
Cost of labor = 5-7 years off my life plus $20 for counseling
Total cost = $200+
Value added to house = $5
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