I have learned to be a pretty handy gal over the years (no pun intented!) and don't shy away from projects around the house just 'cause I don't have a man to do it for me...however, I do have a question I hope someone more experienced than I can figure out.

I have a home office and as I zipped in the room the other day I flipped on the light rather quickly and both bulbs blew. I climbed up on a chair, replaced them, and went about my business. The other night the same thing happened in my bedroom. It took me a few days but I just climbed off the top of my bed, standing on my tiptoes to change the bulbs, and when I flipped the switch they blew again...with sparks this time! Now I'm not opposed to starting fires in my bedroom, by any means, but not this kind!! Am I to fast on the switch , or should I be worried about the wiring in my new house?

I hate feeling like a helpless girl, NOT used to that, but am open to suggestions! I welcome success stories from the self-sufficient women out there too, and the men that help us even when we say we want to do it ourselves!

Ok, first of all, you can't flip a switch too fast, its impossible.
Sparks are a concern. Possibly you crossed the threads when you screwed 'em in? I'd try one at a time. If it sparks again...don't touch it. Turn off the switch and call a repair..person

Your def not flipping the awitch to fast.

But it does sound like somethings up with the wiring. What exscatly...I couldn't tell ya.

I could be that one of the wires isnt grounded or maybe there are some wires touching. I'm not an electrician so I could be way off.


If you decide to investigate it though, make sure you cut the breaker switch so you dont get fried.

Repair....person, I like it! Thank you, Ted.

This is easy though ~ last week it was dealing with a snake in the house ( and no, he wasn't my date!!)

Thanks, Mayhem. I'm gonna climb back up there in a bit to investigate so I will flip the breaker. I definately don't want to get fried!

By the way...touch it with the BACK of your hand first. That way if there is a short you won't clamp up on it with your hand. You'd get a little jolt but at least your muscles will pull away.

There is either a mechanical short in the wire--which could be caused by mice gnawing or the stripping on the wires disintegrating over time--or some water has leaked into the roof over the fixture and caused a short.

If it was me, I would get a repair person to come fix the thing instead of trying to fix it myself. There may be a short somewhere besides in the light fixture, in which case you will need special equipment to find out where it is.

I hope this helps! Be safe. yours in Chaos, Scarlett

Thanks, Scarlett. I don't mind checking out some of the basic stuff, like lightbulbs and such, but wiring I will leave to the professionals. All of this is follow up to a breaker that kept popping that I finally had replaced, but we are talking three different rooms here, all upstairs. As this house is only a year old, I worry that maybe there's an issue with the internal wiring. Perfect....