[update] recessed lighting wiring without access

[mound]

I'm considering adding recessed lighting to my living room ceiling which has a bedroom directly above it. 

My hope is to do it without damaging the ceiling other than the holes for the cans.
I'd have to run romex across 10 or so joists which means drilling holes in them.

I briefly entertained the idea of doing it with a long flexible drill-bit between the can holes, running "blind" but that seems risky.

It occurred to me that maybe I could roll back the carpet in the bedroom above, use my track-saw with dust collection to cut out a long narrow section of sub-floor, do all my drilling from above, glue/screw the sub-floor back down and roll the carpet back down. 


Is that a crazy idea or actually a reasonable way to approach it?

[srv52761]

I have done that a couple of times, once with carpet and once with hardwood flooring.

Edit: That said, it doesn’t answer your question as my kids tell my I often do things the crazy way...

[EdL]

Very doable, but, depending on the age of your house, the subfloor might be glued down. Only makes the job harder if thats the case.

Ed

[Robert Adams]

I have done the running blind method with a flex bit. It takes practice to get good at it. If you are only going say 2-3 joists I say give it a try. Further than that it gets sketchy real fast. 

          What are you planning to use for recessed lights? I have been using allot of the what I call european style LED cans. They have a seperate power supply box and the light itself is only about 5/8" thick at the springs. I have installed them in ceilings where there is a furring strip right where the light is. Just a small notch on each side for the springs and the wire. Course you need a way to get the box there in that case. I never thought these would be sold in the US as they have been sold in europe for years. They are far superior to cans for air tightness. I do not use the foam gasket as they seal tight as a drum to the ceiling without it. If you have texture you will need to use them.

              I have installed a ton of these. The 4K color temp is prefect no dingy yellow light that makes you feel like you are in a smoky bar. Course if you have cataracts you won't notice how much better white light is... I have had no issues with them and I am using them in my own house. 


 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0756V...UTF8&psc=1


                   

[mound]

Thanks for the tips! I hadn't made a choice yet on which lights to use.

House was built in 1980, my guess is glue and screws

[joe1086]

I've done a couple bathrooms and taken out strips of ply to reroute plumbing. I'll confirm the glue put down on the joists in my 1985 built house was pretty tenacious. After cutting the ply across the joists I found that cutting the smaller sections midway between the joists made it easier to wiggle/lever the sections out.

[mound]

I've done a couple bathrooms and taken out strips of ply to reroute plumbing. I'll confirm the glue put down on the joists in my 1985 built house was pretty tenacious. After cutting the ply across the joists I found that cutting the smaller sections midway between the joists made it easier to wiggle/lever the sections out.

I assume then the plan should also be to have new plywood ready to replace the removed piece(s)

[joe1086]

I assume then the plan should also be to have new plywood ready to replace the removed piece(s)

That's what I did since I couldn't reuse my ply. I used a jig saw and an oscillating saw (for the  top of the joists). My circular saw, even with the vac attached, created way too much dust for the adjacent rooms.

[mound]

          What are you planning to use for recessed lights? I have been using allot of the what I call european style LED cans. They have a seperate power supply box and the light itself is only about 5/8" thick at the springs. I have installed them in ceilings where there is a furring strip right where the light is. Just a small notch on each side for the springs and the wire. Course you need a way to get the box there in that case. I never thought these would be sold in the US as they have been sold in europe for years. They are far superior to cans for air tightness. I do not use the foam gasket as they seal tight as a drum to the ceiling without it. If you have texture you will need to use them.

              I have installed a ton of these. The 4K color temp is prefect no dingy yellow light that makes you feel like you are in a smoky bar. Course if you have cataracts you won't notice how much better white light is... I have had no issues with them and I am using them in my own house. 


 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0756V...UTF8&psc=1

wow, a 110* beam angle - that seems very large.. what height ceilings have you used them in? I'm looking at a 16x13 living room with 8' ceilings.

[brofessor]

I like using what Robert said, but I prefer to go with the lithonia 6" wafers, they're like $14 on amazon. You don't have to worry as much about layout with joists because they can sit under the joist. I like the 3k version but everyone has different taste. They are warm but not too yellow. Paired with a leviton dimmer they dim super low. Use a 6" holesaw, Not 6 3/8 like a normal can light holesaw is. I'd go the flexbit route personally. Worst case you drill through a wire, cut the subfloor then and put one or two junction boxes above one of these cans. They pop out so easily it's still considered readily accessible.