In an earlier post I explained what my lighting plans were for my master bathroom, and this week I was able to finally complete the re-wiring. As expected, I did run into a few small snags but by the end it defintely fell into the category of "good enough."
The first thing I remove the two can lights that weren't centered over the sinks. There are different types of recessed lighting fixtures and this is the type I had in my soffett:
It is called a "new work" can light because it was installed during new construction of the house. It isn't the easiest type to remove, but it isn't terribly difficult either.
There are a lot of tutorials out there on how to remove old recessed lights, so I won't go into much detail. Once I removed the trim kit/baffle (I have explained recessed lighting trim kits in great detail in this post) I unscrewed the actual metal can from the support frame and pulled it down through the hole (it will either be held up by small screws or wingnuts).
Once the can itself was removed from the ceiling I could then access the the wires in the junction box to disconnect the light (MAKE SURE THE ELECTRICITY IS OFF.. DUH!) Fortunately, because my lights were inside a soffet, it was easy to access frame that held up the light and I was able to remove it by using a crowbar to pry the nails from the studs. I know frequently electricians leave the bars/empty junction box in the ceiling but I didn't want to do that since I needed to run new wires and the old fixtures would be in the way.
The next thing I did was cut a hole in the drywall where I wanted the new can light to be. This is where I hit a snag since there was a stud directly above the sink where I wanted the light to be centered:
Therefore the new fixtures is ever so slightly off center from the sink (but a lot better than where it used to be!)
I also cut small holes for junction boxes to mount the new wall sconces I was installing. If you didn't know, tearing out the old fixtures, along with cutting new holes is a messy process:
There are a lot of tutorials out there on how to remove old recessed lights, so I won't go into much detail. Once I removed the trim kit/baffle (I have explained recessed lighting trim kits in great detail in this post) I unscrewed the actual metal can from the support frame and pulled it down through the hole (it will either be held up by small screws or wingnuts).
Once the can itself was removed from the ceiling I could then access the the wires in the junction box to disconnect the light (MAKE SURE THE ELECTRICITY IS OFF.. DUH!) Fortunately, because my lights were inside a soffet, it was easy to access frame that held up the light and I was able to remove it by using a crowbar to pry the nails from the studs. I know frequently electricians leave the bars/empty junction box in the ceiling but I didn't want to do that since I needed to run new wires and the old fixtures would be in the way.
The next thing I did was cut a hole in the drywall where I wanted the new can light to be. This is where I hit a snag since there was a stud directly above the sink where I wanted the light to be centered:
Once I knew where everything was going to go, I had to feed the wires to all the new fixtures. This is where you need to use something called Fish Tape.
You can see from this photo where the new lights are located relative to the old ones:
Much better!
Budget for this part of the remodel: $30.35
Wall Sconces: Free!
Romex wire (25 feet): $11.67
6 inch HALO can light (I reused the old trim kit): $12.99
Junction boxes: $4.20
Romex wire clamp connecters: $1.49
Total Renovation to Date: $3965.67
Love the sconces! They look great! The bathroom is definitely coming along! :)
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