We're not going to be able to solve this for you directly. Your best bet is to try to draw a picture with as much information as you can ascertain. If there's a 3-way switch, there must be another one somewhere else, look at that. Find all the fixtures connected and look at what they are wired to. Turn off the power and see if you can identify which cables go where. Lamps and the fan will usually have fairly low resistance. You can unscrew the bulb(s) on the fixture you THINK you've identified and see if the circuit goes open. You can also find a wire tracer online or at better home centers that may help. Turn on the power and measure the voltages on the various wires. Once you have that you should be able intuit the correct wiring of the switches.

First, make sure you're using the right diameter and thread pitch of screw for the threads in the box, and the right length of screw for the thickness of the luminaire. Then, try threading the screws farther into the box before pushing the luminaire over them. If that doesn't work, it might help to tip the luminaire so you can see between it and the box, and start the first screw by sight. Once that's in but still loose, the other screw threads in somewhere on an arc pivoting on the first screw. You can usually find that one by feel.

That screw will easily bend or break. You need a punch like one of these. Place it on the end of the screw and tap down with a hammer. It will probably bend and you can bury it in the drywall. I asked the fellow who was helping me to mark the holes, screw all the way in and then screw them through the metal bracket. Next time, drill pilot holes.

Hi onecolumbus, To answer your second bullet point, we suspect that your handyman said it was 'impossible' is because the 'cover' (which is actually the canopy for the fixture) will be directly in the way of the swag kit hanging point. It might be possible to drill a hole on the side of the canopy and pull the wire through that hole but that would ruin the aesthetics of the canopy and may even compromise the stability of the canopy to hold the weight of the fixture against the ceiling. Granted, the ceiling structure will bear most of the weight of the fixture but the canopy is there to hold it steady, firm, and plum with the ceiling so there isn't any unnecessary movement. We also suspect that the cord cover could not be used because it isn't long enough or that the cord cover itself would be in the way of the swag kit hanging point as well. Again, it may be possible to make small hole on each of the hanging points to fish the wiring and chain through to accommodate the cover but from an aesthetics standpoint, it's self-defeating as the hole in the cord cover would be very obvious. Your handyman probably deduced that you're better off not using the cord cover at all. That being said, where there is a will, there is a way, so to speak. Your handyman probably didn't want the hassle of doing all that detailed work as the next time that he might be hired to replace this or replace some part on this chandelier, he'll end up having to undo all of that anyway--and re-do the work all over again except there'd be no way to replace the cord cover once the holes have been made. We hope this information will help you make a more informed decision on your home needs. Very Best, Tai Truong Elements of Design 3400 Medford Street Los Angeles, CA 90063 tai@lusivedecor.com www.elementsofdesign.com