Recessed lighting installation
Recessed lighting installation is the one lighting job that leaves holes in your ceiling, which is why it gets planned on paper before a drill comes out of the van. Done well, a room reads brighter and taller and you stop noticing the fixtures at all. Done from spacing marks guessed at off the floor, you get a runway. This work sits inside our small lighting work and it is the most planning heavy service on that list.
Service family Light fixture installation
Scheduling Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Service area Six counties across Southeast Michigan
Phone (734) 540-0347
What recessed lighting actually is
A recessed light is a housing above the ceiling plane, a trim at the surface and a lamp between them. Older installations use a metal can with a separate bulb. Current work mostly uses an integrated LED unit a couple of inches deep. Both end up flush with the drywall, and the visible difference from below comes down to the trim you pick rather than the housing hidden behind it.
New holes in a finished ceiling
Cutting into a ceiling that is already painted is the part homeowners underestimate. Each opening is a clean circle, cut with a hole saw against a template, with the dust captured at the blade. Where a light lands badly against a joist the hole has to move or the ceiling has to be opened, and that is when drywall repair joins the job rather than finishing it.
Where our work stops and a licensed electrician starts
We install recessed lights where a circuit and a switch already serve the ceiling and have capacity for the run. Anything on this list belongs to a licensed electrical contractor, and it gets handed over before a hole is cut rather than after the ceiling is open.
- A new circuit or a new cable run from the panel
- Adding, moving or splitting a switch to control a new zone
- Panel work, breaker sizing and service upgrades
- Any installation needing a municipal permit and an inspection
- Load calculations where an existing circuit is near capacity
Insulation contact and the rating on the can
A housing buried in attic insulation has to be rated for it. An IC rated unit can sit in contact with blown or batt insulation. A non IC unit needs three inches of clearance all round, which nobody maintains in practice once the insulation settles. In an older attic we check what is up there before choosing housings, because getting this wrong is a fire question rather than a finish question.
Old cans, new trims and the retrofit route
If your ceiling already has six inch cans from the nineties, you may not need new holes at all. A retrofit LED module drops into the existing housing, connects to the lamp socket and finishes with a modern trim. The light gets better, the ceiling stays whole and the visit takes an afternoon instead of two days. We look for this first in any house built before about two thousand five.
Spacing, and the runway effect to avoid
Even spacing across a ceiling is what makes recessed lighting look accidental in the best way. The rough rule is half the ceiling height between the wall and the first light, then full ceiling height between lights, adjusted for what sits underneath them. Lights get placed over the work rather than over the middle of the room. We chalk the layout and walk it with you before anything is cut.
What gets checked before a hole is cut
- Joist direction, spacing and depth above the finished ceiling
- Ducts, plumbing stacks and cable already running through the bay
- Insulation type and depth, against the housing rating
- Existing circuit load and the switch that will control the run
- Ceiling material, since plaster and drywall cut differently
Joists, ducts and the things above your ceiling
Above a ceiling sits framing, and often ductwork, a waste stack or a cable somebody stapled across a bay. None of it is visible from below, and all of it moves a light. Where we cannot see into the space from an attic, we cut a small inspection opening in a spot that will sit behind a trim. That is cheaper for you than discovering a duct with a hole saw.
Wafer lights and shallow ceilings
Under a second floor there is often no room for a housing at all. Wafer style LED units are roughly three quarters of an inch deep and sit in the ceiling with a remote driver box beside them, which makes them the practical answer for first floor ceilings, soffits and basement finishing work where the joist bay is already full of ductwork and plumbing.
Color temperature and the switch on the back
Most current LED units have a small selector for color temperature and sometimes for brightness. Setting it before the unit goes in the ceiling saves getting back on a ladder afterwards. Three thousand kelvin suits living space. Kitchens can take thirty five hundred. We set every unit on a run to the same figure, because two different temperatures in one ceiling is the most visible mistake in this trade.
Dimming a run of recessed lights
A run of LED units needs a dimmer rated for LED loads and matched to the total wattage, which is often far lower than the old dimmer expects. We replace the dimmer at the existing switch location as part of the work. Splitting one run into two switched zones means new switch wiring, and that goes to the electrician along with the rest of the list above.
Lighting work we plan and lighting work we refer out
Motion sensor and occupancy controlled lighting is work we refer to an electrical partner rather than sell ourselves. A full layered plan across several rooms, with cove lighting, accent work and controls, belongs with our lighting design service on the design and build side of the business. What sits on this page is a straightforward run in one or two rooms, priced as a visit.
Kitchens, basements and where recessed pays off
Recessed lighting earns its cost in rooms where people work standing up. A kitchen remodeling project almost always includes it, a home office setup benefits from it over a desk, and a low basement ceiling gains headroom by losing a hanging fixture. Bedrooms and dining rooms usually read better with ceiling fan installation or a pendant instead.
Trims, baffles and the glare you can prevent
The trim is the only part you see and it decides how the light behaves. A black or bronze baffle absorbs stray light and kills glare, which is why it belongs in a room with a television or a low ceiling. A white reflector throws more light down and suits a work surface. Gimbal trims tilt, so they aim at art or a backsplash rather than the floor. We pick trims room by room instead of buying one box for the house.
How long a recessed run takes
Six retrofit modules into existing cans is a morning. Six new housings in a first floor ceiling with attic access above runs a full day. The same six under a second floor, with no access and a wafer unit at each location, runs a day plus a return for patching and paint. You get the layout, the count and the access route before any of it starts.
Book recessed lighting with our crew
This is the lighting job worth planning and the one worth doing once. We will walk the ceiling, chalk a layout, check what sits above it and tell you plainly if a retrofit does the same job for less money. Paint touch up after the trims go on is handled by our interior painting crew, and an annual home check keeps the rest on track. View our Portfolio, then contact us now for a free quote anywhere from Saline outward.
