Widening downlight holes

[Dazza1976]

Hi all,

Did a job the other week, where customer wanted downlights replacing with new ones, The hole cut outs needed widening about 20mm to accomodate the new lights.
However it was virtually impossible to widen them with a holesaw because it just kept sliding off in all directions because obviously with a hole already there the central drill in the holesaw wouldnt keep it centralised in place.
I ended up having to do each one manually with a pad saw, which was very time consuming as it was a lathe and plaster ceiling.
Do any of you know any tricks to get around this problem so the job can be done quickly with a holesaw ??

Thanks in advance

 

[sparks1234]

there is an attachment on the market which is designed to keep the place clean, it has a bowl over it which pushes on the ceiling, should be good enough

 

[manda]

You can always make a thingamabob out of a couple of bits of scrap wood. Might not be worth it for one or two holes though.
View attachment 3374

I like Marvo's Thingamabob including technical drawing!

 

[jeremy]

Starret holesaw held at an angle so half of the saw is in the hole, 2 steady hands and slow speed on the drill. Cut all holes at same angle and in same direction. Try pulling the saw back against the existing cut out to keep it steady. Best of luck!!

 

[Dazza1976]

Thanks guys some excellent advice there, wish i knew those tricks before i did the job. Oh well im sure there will be another job in the future where i need to do the same.

 

[Joseph Allan]

You can always make a thingamabob out of a couple of bits of scrap wood. Might not be worth it for one or two holes though.
View attachment 3374

Thanks.

 

[itselectric]

You could do what my son did ( he's not a sparky) he recently moved into a new house which had badly fitted downlights in his main bedroom. He decided he wanted to remove them and just have a centre light, went in the attic to move the cable and fell through. He's got a lovely new ceiling now ,so if he wanted downlights back he can start anew..

 

[Englishman]

It's making them smaller that's the issue, other than re boarding or moving the lights, there ain't much else you can do.

 

[Des 56]

It's making them smaller that's the issue, other than re boarding or moving the lights, there ain't much else you can do.

He could fit a downlight hole converter plate

 

[Andy78]

I widened around 20 holes for downlights last night. They were in suspended ceiling tiles not plaster board but the theory is the same. I put the correct size holecutter against the ceiling, gave it a little push to mark the ceiling, then cut out with knife. Easy and fast,and they all fit perfectly.

 

[Geordie Spark]

Just use the all new JLM hole shrinking tool,avaiable at all good stores
Perfect for reducing holes where other tools cant cope

I wish that had been on the market when I was married to me ex-wife.

 

[telectrix]

get a geordie to open his gob. then you have a perfect template. :mickey:

 

[Hawk]

Butcher it with a jigsaw!

 

[Geordie Spark]

get a geordie to open his gob. then you have a perfect template. :mickey:

..... and this coming from a Scouser???!!! mg_smile: