Cast Post Lamp Re-Fed and Put Back Together in Orchards, Vancouver, WA

Some jobs are just a light that quit years ago. This cast post light outside a home in Orchards was down to a bare bulb sitting on a broken head, with electrical tape holding the wiring together. We ran new power to it and put it back together.

Why a bare bulb outside is worse than no light

The before photo says it. Once the globe’s gone, the bulb socket is open to the rain, and the wires above it are wrapped in tape that’s been through a few winters.

Three things are going on at once:

• Water’s getting into the socket, which is what rusted it out in the first place and will keep rusting whatever replaces it
• Tape isn’t a splice. It’s covering a connection that needs a box and a proper connector
• The circuit’s still live, in a flower bed, at ankle height, where somebody pulls weeds

Nobody set out to do that. The globe breaks, someone screws a bulb in anyway, and years go by.

New power instead of a patch

We ran new power to the light instead of patching the old wiring.

On an old outdoor run, the broken head is usually just the symptom. The wire’s been sitting in wet ground in pipe nobody’s checked, and splicing a new head onto wire you can’t inspect means coming back in two years. Good wire and a properly rebuilt head is a fix that lasts.

We put the globe back on too. It’s not just for looks. It keeps the rain off the socket so the whole thing doesn’t start over.

Post lights are worth keeping

It’s tempting to pull an old cast post light and put in something new and cheap. In an established front yard, the old light usually looks better, and getting it working costs less than a new post, a new base and a new trench.

That goes for a lot of outdoor lighting. The fixtures outlast the wiring, and the wiring’s the cheaper part to replace.

Post light, path light or porch light in Orchards or Vancouver that hasn’t worked in years? Call 360-828-7143 or get the post light going again.