It's not nonsense if the surface is of zero thickness.
It only becomes nonsense in the real world.
It only becomes nonsense in the real world.
fitting spotlights into 120 year old lath and plaster ceilin
- Thread starter sarahw
- Start date
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Exactly. Even if no rubbish was put in there, it will still have 120 years of dust from the floor above.
F marked or not, downlighters should not be fitted in old ceilings unless the space above has been thoroughly cleaned.
Of course, the real answer is that halogen downlighters should not be fitted in any ceiling, since they are useless.
H
holmslaw
..
So is wood abnormally combustible?
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H
holmslaw
..
Its not my problem that you're too thick to understand the difference between a wooden surface and plaster surface. Or perhaps you're a bit jittery about some of you're previous installs.
I see it hasn't taken you long to descend into personal insults, strengthening the reputation you already have on this forum
Still can't make head nor tail of your argument that downlights can only be safely installed in lathe and plaster ceilings if you take out a 20cm x 20cm area and replace with plasterboard. Agreed, if the void if full of combustible material (or insulation fr that matter) then that would have to be cleared first, same as with any construction of ceiling. The OP wants to install the lights in a top floor ceiling where there is easy access from above so clearing out the crap on top shouldn't be a problem. Although I suppose if you explained to the customer the extra work and cost involved with your method it might put them off having the lights in the first place.
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Talking about the fitting of recessed lighting into an L&P ceiling, I used to get access from above, then clean the area (the plaster will not stick well if it's really dusty).
I would mix up bonding with a strong solution of PVA and reinforce the area round the site of the fitting. This would be left to go off for a good few days.
Then the hole would be carefully cut with a very sharp holesaw. That's difficult, because they don't stay very sharp for very long after cutting a couple of holes through that stuff...
Finally the hole's edge would be sealed with some more bonding/ PVA mix.
Having said that, I have only ever installed recessed fittings into L&P ceilings on two jobs. It worked out far too expensive for most. They still had recessed lighting fitted, just done VERY cheaply.
After quoting one customer, I went back to do a socket. In the meantime, they had had someone else to do their recessed lighting.
It was awful. Oversized holes, with light spilling out, broken plaster and laths on virtually every hole (the bloke had told the customer he could not guarantee the integrity of the ceiling and that there would be "some" decoration to do afterwards...), holes cut way too close to joists, undersized secondary cables (huge volt drop....), no cpc continuity throughout, all connections choc-blocked with no further protection, must I go on?
The sad thing was, the lady was happy with the job. The really sad thing ws, the job was only 10% cheaper than my original quote.
I would mix up bonding with a strong solution of PVA and reinforce the area round the site of the fitting. This would be left to go off for a good few days.
Then the hole would be carefully cut with a very sharp holesaw. That's difficult, because they don't stay very sharp for very long after cutting a couple of holes through that stuff...
Finally the hole's edge would be sealed with some more bonding/ PVA mix.
Having said that, I have only ever installed recessed fittings into L&P ceilings on two jobs. It worked out far too expensive for most. They still had recessed lighting fitted, just done VERY cheaply.
After quoting one customer, I went back to do a socket. In the meantime, they had had someone else to do their recessed lighting.
It was awful. Oversized holes, with light spilling out, broken plaster and laths on virtually every hole (the bloke had told the customer he could not guarantee the integrity of the ceiling and that there would be "some" decoration to do afterwards...), holes cut way too close to joists, undersized secondary cables (huge volt drop....), no cpc continuity throughout, all connections choc-blocked with no further protection, must I go on?
The sad thing was, the lady was happy with the job. The really sad thing ws, the job was only 10% cheaper than my original quote.
I keep two holesaws in my box for when I am forced to do D/Ls in L&P.
I have an old bluntish one to cut thru the plaster layer and a sharp one to deal with the laths.
But, per the above, its a right PITA and the results are never very good. A 120-year old L&P ceiling needs all the structural support it can get - turning it into swiss cheese will only accelerate cracking and you'll end up having to re-surface it in any case.
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