mystery ceiling joists are driving me mad

letitbe1208

i am in the process of hanging three large lighting fixtures from my ceiling. the electrical is all in place. The measurements are all in place. But no matter what method (electronic stud finder, drill bits, and wood nails +hammer) i am still unable to find the pattern. 16" 24" no consistency . i am about to poke and hope that the screws in the drywall might hold. If i could just find a pattern. Any suggestions.........?? It is an old house. I see the nails from the wall studs that extended into the ceiling.so it looks like they were following code there.......any thought on how to hand these 25lb fixtures??

jlmran

How is the electrical in place if you don't know where the joists are located? Maybe I'm not following your question.

Leah Frances

Old House = no pattern or no code or they made it up as they went along.

I'm assuming that you are using the existing electrical? Since you said the electrical is 'in'. So take the old fixture down and see what you find in the hole. Hopefully you've got an electrical box - take it out and see what's around.

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bjbatlanta

"Screws in the drywall" WILL NOT hold a 25lb. fixture!! Are you sure which direction the ceiling joists are running?? Normally they run the shortest distance of the room, sometimes they change directions in a portion of the room and are supported with a "bond" timber (beam). Plaster ceilings perhaps with a layer of drywall over them (you said an old house)?? Stud finder may not work, nail may not be long enough to hit the joist.....
An existing ceiling box may have been "spanned" between two joists with metal brackets to center it in the room, so if you're trying to "guesstimate" your 16" or 24" centers from that it may throw you off. Hard to say.
I'm having a bit of a problem following too. How are you "seeing nails from the wall studs that extended into the ceiling"?
A picture might help......

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