Discuss paint ceiling 1st or drill holes ? in the Lighting Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

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Hello Everyone

I have a freshly skimmed ceiling with no holes. Planning to have some downlights installed.

Obviously I have to mist coat then paint ceiling but should the holes for the downlights be drilled before or after?

My thinking was if before then wet mistcoat paint might drip all over the holes and if drilling the holes after, then maybe the plaster dust will ruin the freshly painted finish.

Anyway what do you do and why?

Thanks for taking the time !
 
drill holes first, have you sorted the cables to the holes yet? if you haven't involved a spark yet, now is the time to do so.

edit,
my thoughts behind this are if you drill holes first, any errors can be fixed before final paint coat.
I.e. when you drill a downlight hole and it is half over a timber.
easy to fill and plaster when not painted, will blend and disappear.
 
As ever, many thanks for all your replies!

I should have said I do have good access from above. The wiring isn't done yet. I skimmed first because I did it myself, its a big room and was only just about within my limits. Having 12 holes would have made it that much harder.

So from now consensus seems to be to drill holes first in case I make a mistake. Cans are Enlite DLM982X . (I've made the mistake before of fitting cheap cans and didn't want to make it twice!). They have seperate bezel.

So I'm thinking:
1/ mist coat the lot
2/ measure and drill holes
3/ fit cans, wire up and test
4/ final paint
5/ fit bezels (and gu10s!)

?

Its in a bedroom......
 
Paint first and then fit afterwards, use a dade and just hoover any remaining dust off. Fit a decent downlight where it actually fits the cut out size, I always try to use Enlite E5's and never had an issue, had plenty of issues with GU10 downlight cans though!
 
As always, at the risk of being a stuck record, you should be getting an electrician to undertake and verify this work. Regulations, personal safety, home insurance, etc. Lots of reasons.
And 12 is far too many for a bedroom, unless it's big enough for 2 kingsize beds, room to manoeuvre, and an ensuite.
 
...or they're the very small downlighters ?
Yes. Just noticed OP is using cans and GU10s so may suffer from the pimple ceiling effect common when using halogen GU10 with tight beam angles.
I don't think I've ever put more than 4 integrated downlights in an average sized double bedroom.
 
Yes. Just noticed OP is using cans and GU10s so may suffer from the pimple ceiling effect common when using halogen GU10 with tight beam angles.
I don't think I've ever put more than 4 integrated downlights in an average sized double bedroom.
agree. 4 - 6 dimmables would seem more realistic. ( course, OP might be making naughty videos, in which case 12 might be required.)
 
That depends on who is in the videos, might be better with low lighting ?
That reminds me of a DVD that got passed round a site I was on featuring a local fella who produced, and starred in, his own adult entertainment when he wasn't driving a truck for Travis Perkins. Was a bit weird when he turned up one day to drop off some ton bags and asked us what we all thought of his performances. ?
 
That reminds me of a DVD that got passed round a site I was on featuring a local fella who produced, and starred in, his own adult entertainment when he wasn't driving a truck for Travis Perkins. Was a bit weird when he turned up one day to drop off some ton bags and asked us what we all thought of his performances. ?
I'm sure he had many a comment, i can think of a few but will leave it since this is a family friendly site. ;)
 
I'm sure he had many a comment, i can think of a few but will leave it since this is a family friendly site. ;)
It made me think of it when you mentioned the low lighting. Some of his lady friends would have looked better in pitch black. Still makes me shudder to think of one of them ....
 
Right, first of all I need to apologise to you all for not quite be honest. I don't know why I said it was "a bedroom".
I mean it is a bedroom but there is also a kitchen within - openplan a granny annexe or studio kind of thing. Its big at 27sqm (5.2 x 5.2). There is definitely no bathroom - that's in another room.

Having misled slightly, I really can't expect any decent replies but just in case:
I thought I'd need 12 based on about a metre from the wall and about a metre between lights. Also I thought I read 150 lux for a bedroom and 300 for a kitchen so figured I'd need somewhere inbetween and 12 seemed to be the number giving that. In an ideal world that would mean more lights in the kitchen side but that would mean leds ceiling looking uneven with them mostly bunched to the kitchen. I did get adjustable ones which might help though.

You have definitely got me thinking though if I've got too many. Of course a lot of the "guides" out there are written by sites.....that....you guess it want to sell you as many downlights as possible.
 
Right, first of all I need to apologise to you all for not quite be honest. I don't know why I said it was "a bedroom".
I mean it is a bedroom but there is also a kitchen within - openplan a granny annexe or studio kind of thing. Its big at 27sqm (5.2 x 5.2). There is definitely no bathroom - that's in another room.

Having misled slightly, I really can't expect any decent replies but just in case:
I thought I'd need 12 based on about a metre from the wall and about a metre between lights. Also I thought I read 150 lux for a bedroom and 300 for a kitchen so figured I'd need somewhere inbetween and 12 seemed to be the number giving that. In an ideal world that would mean more lights in the kitchen side but that would mean leds ceiling looking uneven with them mostly bunched to the kitchen. I did get adjustable ones which might help though.

You have definitely got me thinking though if I've got too many. Of course a lot of the "guides" out there are written by sites.....that....you guess it want to sell you as many downlights as possible.
you may have got it right then according to the room size. perhaps have on 2 separate switches though and make the bed area ones dimmable.
 

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