Burnt Joist

[securespark]

How many do you see like this & worse??

 

[Click-Sure]

Ah, a bit of heat and the joist retreats away from the downlighter.

I see the installer doesn't bother with holesaws, instead keeps a selection of different sized round head hammers!

 

[conny]

A fire waiting to happen.
Have some people no sense at all???

 

[securespark]

Here's one I found today while changing 22 lighting transformers. There were 84 recessed lights with tx's in the whole building...

I admit it doesn't look bad in the pic, but it is quite badly charred. The fitting actually overlaps the joist, no wonder...

 

[RF Lighting]

 

[ccam108]

The problem is, what do you do once you've cut a hole in the ceiling, then realise, oh crap it's near a joist?

You're left with another hole in the ceiling and the light not aligned with the rest of them.

Colin C

 

[RF Lighting]

I'd rather move a few downlighters than burn someones house down.

Wouldn't you?

 

[securespark]

The problem is, what do you do once you've cut a hole in the ceiling, then realise, oh crap it's near a joist?

As my old boss used to say to me at least thrice a day, "measure twice, cut once."

 

[ccam108]

Well obviously, but what do you do with the holes?

OK, put it this way. I recently put 6 12V20W downlighters in my bedroom and one of them is about 10mm from a joist. Obviously I don't want to just leave it this way and was wondering what to do? I have an artex ceiling, so filling in with a circle of plasterboard isn't really going to work.

Colin C

 

[ColJack]

small hole, piece of bent 1.5 earth out of some T+E.. have a feel about up there..

filling in with plasterboard is perfect.. bit of wood to screw to and then some filler and a bit of artex to blend it in..

even better, you have the hole you just took out, put it back and fill in the saw line with caulk.. the drill hole will have the screw in it.. just sink it a bit and caulk it..

 

[ccam108]

Just realised the most obvious solution... Use the plasterboard from the new hole to fill the old one. It's already artexed! Duh! I feel a bit silly now.

Colin C

 

[securespark]

But the pattern won't match...

Keep the bits you removed until you've finished the job!!

 

[ColJack]

surely as soon as you drill the hole you will see it's too close.. so put it back right away..

 

[RMS]

Its probably easier just to mark out the joist lines before marking out the lighting positions.

 

[securespark]

That's what I do.