Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Round light in a square hole??

Hey all,

I just bought a house and I am new to this DIY stuff, our house was build in 1971 and has the wonderful but outdated recess lighting in the form of a square... we wanted to replace those with round lighting, what can be done??

I will admit I have yet to take a real hard look at how it is mounted becuase I wanted an idea of what to do before removing items.

I figured it would just mean removing the old box and lighting and putting in a new mounting box and new fixture?

any insight would be appreciated!!

Thanks

They are probably mounted to the joists on each side of the fixture. they should be compleately removed before installing another fixture.A carpenter who works at my facility uses short 1X4 's across the holes{above the ceiling} of fixtures I've removed & cuts a peice of 1/2" sheetrock the approximate size of the hole & screws it to the 1X4s & uses joint compound & tape to finish it.Obviously this is to close up holes in the ceiling.As for replacing a fixture you can use new work hi-hats {they will be fastened the same way as the old fixtures} & use the same method to close up around the new fixture

Be Careful, most new recessed fixtures will have a requirementthat they are only to be used with 90 degree C wiring. Your house built in 71 will not have this.

You might be able to find a trim kit that will cover the square corners and no drywall repair will be required.

Be Careful, most new recessed fixtures will have a requirementthat they are only to be used with 90 degree C wiring. Your house built in 71 will not have this.


90 degree C wiring? would I ask the guy at lowes it if has that or would it be marked on the product??

Everything Lowes sells today is 90-degree wire.

pcboss is referring to the wire that was installed when the house was built.

You need to check the fixture you are going to install. If it says that it requies 90ºc wire you can't use it without doing some changes to your house wiring. Wire used in 1971 was only 60ºc rated. 90ºc wire wasn't made unitl about 1980.
Don't believe most of what the clerks tell you at Lowes or HD. Unless you get a special case most of don't know squat about the code.