Measuring spotlights for later drill.

[Northbeach]

Hmm, cr&p title - sorry!
A very kind poster on another thread has given me advice on fixing my ceiling which I'd not originally intended to do. Bit of a task but I'm ready for the job!
My query relates to the pinpointing of the holes which currently house my halogen spots. As I will be plasterboarding and skimming, it will be necessary to take out the lights and hide the wires in the ceiling.

I'm looking for a 'trade tip' to ensure I can correctly locate the original holes for when I come to redrill and replace the spots.
All well and good measuring out the holes but how can I guarantee the tape measure is following exactly the same line as before?
Aside from spending an ever decreasing budget on 'laser guided measuring implements' the only option I can think of is using a plank of wood - the edges marked flat against the wall ?

Cheers.

 

[happyhero]

Hi Northbeach

I am an electrician and have had to get involved in this problem several times.

All I do is measure from the two adjacent walls to the center of the hole keeping your tape (by eye) reasonably at right angles to the wall.

If you then do this again when ready to cut the new hole you will be almost spot on. Your tape measure would have to be really skew wiff to the wall for this not to work quite accuritly. With one measurement you could get it wrong but a measurement from two adjacent walls solves that problem. Drill where they cross.

Hope this helps

 

[Northbeach]

Cheers happyhero.
I understand what you say in theory but I'm a little worried that I won't quite get my 90 degree angles correct (I hate it when that happens )
Just whirring this around in my head now...I guess the cross point would ensure the centre is hit - would you have to adjust one of your measurements so this cross directly?
btw - do you normally 'whack' a piece of masking tape/sellotape on the end of the tape measure so it remains static at the first point of measure? It's a royal pain measuring ceilings (ceiling work in general eh though?).

I bet the current craze for low v halogen spots has made your lives a little more difficult (the leccy bit being the easiest on these jobs!).

I actually have a puzzle of an electrical question which if you can solve would be make me carry out carthweels on the aforementioned flippin ceiling...4 people so far have scatched their heads over it...I'll post it in the leccy threads later!

Many thanks happyhero.

 

[happyhero]

don't panic so much about your 90 deg bit, by eye is close enough you'll find.

Why don't you test yourself, do the measurements now and write them down. Now straight after pretend the light is not there and measure where you would drill, see where you end up.

When you actually do the job you could put some masking tape at roughly the right point on the ceiling to save you drawing all over the place and then drill through the cross point on that.

You'll find it pretty accurate but even if you managed to get it wrong slightly, it would not end up making any difference to your finished hole that holds your lamp, it would just take a slight bit out of the unseen ceiling behind.

Yes halogen fitting can be a pain. First you mark out the ceiling only to find one of the holes has something in the way behind, after you have just drilled several others to form your pattern/layout, then the fun starts trying to get your wires from one to the next. You think it will be easy, but usually it is as if somebody has gone there before and put some funny sized timbers in to test you.

I will keep an eye out on the leccy thread for your post, I'm curious now.

 

[Northbeach]

Cheers Happyhero.
Yes, I couldn't reach the ceiling from above as the floor is varnished and truely nailed in...I tried to uproot a small section (hidden under the bed) but I was beginning to tear the wood.

5 lights in total - centred one of them and placed the other two in front and behind (akin to the number 5 on dice).

Beam tester came in very handy ensuring I wasn't attempting to drill into a the joist above. Coat hanger for winding the wires through the ceiling (channeled sections out for the joists) and hey presto. The ceiling was a right state though (hence me adding a new one very soon). The slats and plaster was churned to a royal mess.

Yes - will post the leccy poser when I get another spare minute (it involves spots again, but these have already been inserted above a built in bookcase - keep looking!).

Thanks again, I'll attempt a dummy run as you advised.

 

[Northbeach]

btw HH - the lecy thread will be titled 'Halogen spots in bookcase fed from mains' - just so you know where to look - will try and post it later...shame my scanner isn't currently working as I'd drawn a diagram of the circuit.