Replace ceiling lights with?

[John Jones]

Lady of the house doesn't like our ceiling lights - cheapish looking chandeliers. We don't use them anyway...prefer side lamps. Could we remove the ceiling lights and replace with decent looking blanc plates?...anyone know name of and where to purchase. Thanks, John

[Uno-Hoo!]

The simplest way is to use choc blocks to 'blank off' the live wires (if you don't intend diverting them elsewhere), tucking the block up into the ceiling cavity, and then just plastering over the hole with filler. I've removed a number of ceiling roses in my house in order to re-position them. All the ceilings in my house are Artexed with the 'spikey' finish and it's a very simple job to fix a small wooden plate over the 'other side' of the hole left by removing a rose, filling the depression with plaster filler, and then using the flat blade of a knife to 'pull' the suface of the smooth plaster into little stalactites to match the surrounding Artex. Once the repair is painted over it is virtually undetectable - and most people don't wander around staring up at the ceiling anyway! If the ceiling is smooth then the job is even easier - just smooth filler over the hole (with the wood behind the hole to stop the filler just going through) and then sand it perfectly smooth when dry. Again, when painted over it is virtually undetectable. Even if the ceiling is another type of Artex - eg a 'swirl' pattern, it is quite easy to 'mould' filler to match.

Using filler in this way is a far better bet than using some sort of blanking plate. Don't forget that when you remove the ceiling rose, the hole left is not the same size as the rose - it's normally the diameter of a human thumb or thereabouts!

Uno-Hoo!

[John Jones]

------------------ That's great - thanks for the advice. J