Repositioning a ceiling light supply

[teddyman5]

I need to move the lounge ceiling light about 18" to one side as the current one is not in the centre of the room.I can't get any access from upstairs as it's just been decorated.
Any advice / tips etc gratefully received. Such as how do I get through a joist?

Thanks

 

[breezer]

well if you cant get from upstairs you are going to have to take the ceiling down

are you now certain you cant get at it from upstairs?

(you could always put a pendant up with long flex )

 

[teddyman5]

Definitely no access from upstairs.Pendant with a long flex?

 

[Steve]

 

[Space cat]

I think Breezer is suggesting - as a joke - that you leave the fitting alone but wire a pendant light into it then take its long lead over a hook in the middle of the room. There's many a true word spoken in jest and I've seen this done more than once but ---

There is another way. Is your ceiling plasterboard? If it is then my trick for getting through joists from below is to carefully remove a strip of plasterboard just wide enough to get my drill in. The slot starts and ends at joists so you might need some small test holes to find these. Cut the edges of the slot carefully by hand. A jig saw is quicker but the risk of slicing through wires is too great, especially in the vicinity of a light fitting! In any case you have the power turned off. The trick is to get the plasterboard strip out in one piece so that you can fix it back up afterwards and fill the saw cuts. If your new fitting is not directly under a joist - and it won't be - this is also your chance to fit a batten between two joists to take the weight.

You still have one problem left. Will the existing cables reach the new fitting? If they don't then your simplest solution is to replace the old fitting with a junction box and run some flat twin and earth to the new one.

NB: Before you disconnect any wires - as Breezer states in lurid green - note what goes where. This forum is full of cries for help from people who didn't bother.

PS: I see that Steve just beat me to it!

 

[breezer]

I think Breezer is suggesting - as a joke -

yep, it was.

i see no reason why the floor above cant come up, laminate floor is no reason, other than its a waste of time putting it in in the first place