Recess lights installed with minimal plaster repair

Oct 15, 2011   //   by Robert Monk   //   Job Roll, Residential Renovation  //  No Comments

Recess lights installed with minimal plaster repair:

This project added five recess lights to the living and dining rooms of a 2-story West Philadelphia twin. The work involved working carefully within the cavity of a fine solid-wood pocket door (common in Philadelphia’s historic homes), and fishing new circuits through multiple joists without opening the finished ceiling for access.

Retrofit ceiling lights can be a challenge because a single circuit feeds multiple locations daisy-chained together — through two or more solid joists that must be drilled and fished ‘blind’ using a long, flexible drill bit. In older homes, the plaster of the ceiling, and the supporting wood lath above, make up a thick, uneven surface not well-suited to ‘old work’ or ‘retrofit’ housings, which are designed to clip to the uniform manufactured surfaces of wallboard (drywall).

Additionally, getting circuit conductors into the ceiling from a switch location will usually require at least one L-shaped cutout in the wall and ceiling finish. When considering a lighting retrofit project, note whether you have crown moulding, since this may be damaged when removed and replaced — and will certainly need to be re-painted.

Since recess lights typically benefit from being dimmable, consider early whether you will want to use CFL lamps (still not satisfactorally dimmable as of this writing, despite any manufacturer claims), or spend additional for dimmable LED’s (including housing- and trim-integrated types for recess lights), or take your chances on long-term availability of incandescent/halogen replacement lamps.

 

 

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