Installed recessed lighting in my kitchen last weekend
The kitchen has one 34" wide window over the sink which faces east. For lighting, there was just a ceiling fan that had 5 lights on it. Lighting wasn't the best so the wife wanted me to put in recessed lighting. One light by the pantry, two over the east counters, tow over the west counter and a box for a pendent light over the sink.
So my task was to figure out how to do this without having to cut into too much drywall as this was a remodel job. As we had separate switches operating the ceiling fan lights and the fan itself, I figured I'd tie into the circuit feeding power to the ceiling fan lights and use that to supply power to the recessed lights and the pendant light box. I turned the appropriate c/b off and took down the ceiling fan and I sure was happy to see what I saw. The ceiling had been lowered so that there was about a 4 inch gap between the old ceiling joists and the new joists. This was going to make running the 14/2 wire very easy as i thought I'd have to cut a strip of drywall out of the ceiling and drill holes though the joists.
I then marked out on the ceiling where I was to cut the holes for the recessed light cans and the box for the pendant light. Right away I realized I ought to have the shop vac sucking up the dust as I cut out the holes with a drywall saw. So with one hand holding the shop vac hose, I cut out the openings with the other while standing on the step ladder. This didn't prevent all of the mess but it reduced it by a lot. After the holes where cut, I ran the wires from the ceiling fan box to the the 1st hole, cut the wire and ran another to the 2nd hole and so on and this wasn't a problem at all.
When I tried installing the first can, I couldn't get the tabs to lock into place so I called it a day on that job and was going to google search for people who had the same problem and what their solution was. Here is what I found and it did the trick:
And this article was also very helpful:
http://www.seattlehome.com/blog/how-get-those-clips-recessed-lights-secure-remodel-halo-cans/
On Sunday, I went back to the job and by the 3rd can, wiring and installing, I was a pro at this.
For the pendant light box, I used a ceiling box and brace kit such as the one found in the link below.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Raco-RETRO-BRACE-with-4-in-Round-Ceiling-Rated-Pan-1-1-2-in-Deep-with-1-2-in-KO-s-936/203743171?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-VF-PLA-D27E-Electrical%7c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjZKpobaW1QIV1LfACh2S8gWJEAQYAyABEgIIafD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Once that was all done, I installed LED Retrofit Baffle Trim lights in the cans. I spliced together the wires in the pendant light box as a temporary measure because the wife hasn't got the light she wants for that yet. I then turned on the c/b and went back upstairs and flipped on the light switch. What a difference in lighting!!
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