Patching for smaller recessed lights

[htroberts]

I have a kitchen where the homeowner wants to replace ~8 6" recessed light fixtures with 4" fixtures.

The 4" cans won't all be in exactly the same spots as the 6" we're taking out, but some of them will be.

I can't think of a good way to patch a 6" hole and then put a 4" hole in the same spot, with no additional thickness, short of taking down basically whole drywall sheets and replacing them (I could cut out 2x2' pieces and patch those, but at that point it's easier to do the whole sheet...).

Any other ideas?

[Happy Home]

Do you have access to the joists above ? You can place a piece of plywood over the area so it can be redone.

Either way - cut out the existing hole to something near a 10" - 12" square. Take a piece of 3/8 plywood about 10" x 20" - adhesive on the ends - prop it up in the hole - pull it down against the back of the existing DW while while you put screws up through it from the room side. Put your new hole in - tape and finish.

Addl - or you could use one of these - use the ply backer in the existing hole - cut your dw 6" dia and you new hole dia. ---- this solves the round taping problem. There may be bigger patches too.

http://www.amazon.com/Walboard-Tool-...=Drywall+Patch

[m beezo]

Check out www.straitflex.com. They have some pretty good patches in all kinds of sizes. It is a heavy fiberglass or plastic sheet that you can use.
Of course I am thinking the cans probably need a full piece of drywall for the clips to hold onto unless they are staying up in the ceiling some other way.

[tjbnwi]

The Home Depot near me, in the paint department, has the patches that Steve posted in a different brand. Larger sizes 10 per pack I think.

How I repair them (I have repaired many);

I cut the mixing sticks for 5 gallon paint buckets in half. Place in hole, spaced, well you'll know, secure. I have the hole saw for 6" recessed lights, so I cut new slugs out of scrap drywall. Place slug into hole and secure to mixing sticks. Tape with FibaFuse (not FibaTape) it is very thin and lays down really nice, use Easy Sand then Plus3. That solves the abandoned light location.

For the locations where you will be putting in the 4";

Use a drywall circle cutter, set it to 4"(8" circle)- score both sides of the drywall on the same center point-reset cutter to 3" (6" circle)-score only the back-carfully break off the 1" area leaving the face paper in tact-using Esay Sand, secure the slug to the ceiling by the flange-tape as normal. Bore hole for new light.

You do know that if there is insulation in the equation, you need IC contact lights, or have to keep the insulation 3" from the luminary. I know of no 4" IC recessed luminaries that are a remodel configuration.

Tom

[tjbnwi]

One more thing, if you remove the can, you should be able to remove the frame in the ones that get the new luminaries by disassembling the frame through the hole.

Tom

[newman]

The Home Depot near me, in the paint department, has the patches that Steve posted in a different brand. Larger sizes 10 per pack I think.

How I repair them (I have repaired many);

I cut the mixing sticks for 5 gallon paint buckets in half. Place in hole, spaced, well you'll know, secure. I have the hole saw for 6" recessed lights, so I cut new slugs out of scrap drywall. Place slug into hole and secure to mixing sticks. Tape with FibaFuse (not FibaTape) it is very thin and lays down really nice, use Easy Sand then Plus3. That solves the abandoned light location.

For the locations where you will be putting in the 4";

Use a drywall circle cutter, set it to 4"(8" circle)- score both sides of the drywall on the same center point-reset cutter to 3" (6" circle)-score only the back-carfully break off the 1" area leaving the face paper in tact-using Esay Sand, secure the slug to the ceiling by the flange-tape as normal. Bore hole for new light.

You do know that if there is insulation in the equation, you need IC contact lights, or have to keep the insulation 3" from the luminary. I know of no 4" IC recessed luminaries that are a remodel configuration.

Tom

I usually do something similar, I use a 6" can light hole saw (I have 4,5,6") and use 1/4" plywood or masonite for backing cleats.
I've replaced a lot of the older square cans (cant use my hole saw for cutting those drywall patch pieces!) with updated round cans.

Nora make remodel 4" IC cans, but they are LED or fluorescent.

[BobboMax]

One of the main problems with repairs like this is unobtrusive taping. This product ( http://www.sg-adfors.com/Brands/Fiba...lReinforcement ) is overkill for quantity, but gives a large, thin, bubble-resistant patch. Tape from the same manufacturer (http://www.sg-adfors.com/Brands/Fiba...useDrywallTape ) works almost as well. To my surprise, I found it at HD ( Store SKU # 151839 ).