Replacing downlighters - hole now too big!

[Lobster]

I'm in the process of replacing the old bathroom downlighters as part if a refurb; the old ones are 1st-gen el-cheapo Screwfix ones and are clapped out.

Problem is that the existing holes in the ceiling are 87mm, which seems pretty big by modern standards (by about 20mm); many modern lamps would fall straight through. Trouble is it's a small ensuite bathroom and there's no option but to fit the new downlighters in the same positions.

Seems my options are to try and repair and remake the holes somehow - doesn't seem a plausible solution really; or to fit some form of plastic disc over the existing hole which would be visible in the finished job, which IMHO would look crap.

SWMBO wants downlighters again (I don't!), so let's not go there... any ideas for a tidy effective solution, or sources for 'big' downlighters? Specs are for 240V GU10, white ones; bathroom zone 2 (ie IPX4)

Thanks David

[ARWadsworth]

Well the easiest way is to just buy downlighters to fit the 87 hole-)

trust me the 84mm cut out they suggest can cover a 87mm hole with the

95mm overall diameter of the light.

[The Medway Handyman]

These would work, but say no good for bathrooms;

[dennis]

[The Natural Philosopher]

very plausible and very easy - use a holecutter or a jigsaw to cut disks or rings and fix them in with bonding plaster, then skim sand and paint. its a couple of hours work at most.

[John Rumm]

Yup I was going to suggest similar - cut discs of the appropriate hole size and support in place with a small batten and some double sided sticky tape. plaster in the accessible gaps, and then when dry, remove the batten and the tape and make good the rest. Finally hole saw the new holes as required and then paint.

[Lobster]

Really though? that would mean a plasterboard "polo mint" of only about

10mm width, and the loading of the new downlighter would be be borne by the this add-on - I had considered it but my gut feeling says it won't work...

[Owain]

I would use larger 'polo mints' of ply or MDF, surface mount them on the ceiling, and make them a 'feature'. Maybe even squares would be easier to cut than rounds.

(Well, I wouldn't, but I'm not married to Mrs Lobster)

Owain

[Lobster]

> and trust me the 84mm cut out they suggest can cover a 87mm hole with the

But unfortunately these aren't bathroom-rated - there are some in the same catalogue which are; but they are for a 72mm cut-out :( - this is my problem....

David

[Lobster]

[John Miller]

I know you aren't keen on filler discs, but if all else fails you could consider the custom-made stuff from TLC - always assuming that you can get bathroom rated stuff to fit!

M

[meow2222]

Its not hard to apply filler and get a nice smooth face to it. That's what = I did last time. Not a nice quick filling job, but not hard and doesnt take= too long. I just stuck however much on that would fit and not be proud, th= en added more the next day, and finally made the face smooth. The hole itse= lf doesn't need to be precisely round, the fitting will cover a lot.

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

My experience says it will

if it really bothers you add a sheet of parcel paper over it as reinforcement.

All plasterboard is , is cardboard and soft plaster. Bonding plaster itself is MUCH tougher. More like plaster of paris.

Doing work in plaster and plasterboard is essentially like bodging a car with glass fibre and car body filler, with bits of paper or cardboard providing the glass bit and bonding plaster being the filler. Then use finishing plaster as the body putty.

It's all sandable as well. If you want a perfect finish skim with a DIY skim like Polyskim.

I had to bodge a lot of socket holes when the BI decided that people of

120 years old wouldn't be able to reach them. I asked him how they would change the bulbs, but he said he didn't make the rules.

[The Natural Philosopher]

did last time. Not a nice quick filling job, but not hard and doesnt take too long. I just stuck however much on that would fit and not be proud, then added more the next day, and finally made the face smooth. The hole itself doesn't need to be precisely round, the fitting will cover a lot.

Exactly so: if the 'donut' is a decent fit you can push it about 1mm recessed behind the ceiling and then fill from there to a flush finish.

PVA will also hold it on place..use that and pins if its a bit sloppy fit-wise.

[John Rumm]

As long as you fill the gape full depth* you have the same material as the ceiling was originally made from.

• A trick here is to make blank bit of PB just a bit bigger than your disk - an inch or so bigger. Score a circle about an inch wider than your final disc on the reverse side with a sharp knife. Now shove a holesaw through from the front (start it with a ply template so you don't need the centre drill), but stop just short of braking through. Now pop the waste edges off the disc by pulling them forward. The result will be a neat disc with a wider disk of the backing paper fixed to the back. Coat that loose paper edge with PVA, and tuck it into the ceiling so the disk is in the whole and supported by the backing paper. Let gravity do its thing, and stick the backing paper to the top of the ceiling. Once set, fit the batten across as described before to set the position of the plug, fill and skim etc.

[dennis]

Bit OTT IMO. Just cut some strips of ply about 60 mm x 100 mm and push two of them through the hole. Position them to cover the hole and glue them. (A long screw in the middle makes a good handle for moving them about). Fill hole with plaster/filler and drill new hole.

You may even get away with one strip if the filler is thick enough to cover the gaps either side.

[Lobster]

Thanks for all the tips everyone, that's really helpful. I'll give it a go... (FYI, likely to be a while before I actually do it and report back with success/failure!)

David

[Lobster]

for that; didn't know about those - they don't look *too* bad and will be a good back-up method if anything goes wrong!

David

[John Rumm]

That's fine for patching holes etc, but the strips of wood can be a right pain with some of the downlights because they get in the way of the clamping wings.

A couple of strips right at opposing edges might do...

[Tim Watts]

And if you PVA the hole and disc edges and add a drop of PVA to the filler it will likely be stronger than the rest of the plasterboard.