How to plaster around downlights?

[rorycarr]

I had a sparky mate install some down lights in my house and unfortunately he made a few minor errors with their placement which ultimately meant that there’s a few with gaps in the plaster around them. (No complaints re his work as it was all free!) 

what’s my best option to fill these sort of holes in? The image provided Is the smallest gap, there’s two lights that have gaps approximately twice as large 

[JacobZ]

Hi @rorycarr,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

Unfortunately, because it is an open edge next to a hole, there's no way to just fill the gap. Downlights are fixed in place by spring-loaded clips that pull on the back of the plasterboard. If you were to use a filler, then the spring-loaded clip would pull on the filler, crack it and cause it to fail.

The only way to properly fix this issue is to cut out a section of plasterboard to install a Gyprock Repair Panel.

Have a look at How To Repair A Large Hole In Plasterboard for some guidance on how to install a repair panel.

Just make sure the timbers are around the perimeter of the patch so the downlight can fit between them.

Let me know what you think and if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob

[AlanM52]

Hi @rorycarr,

Your sparky mate goofed and what you need to fix that is - Goof Trim Rings 🙂

I had the same job last year but they wanted the older larger lights (larger holes) above the kitchen sink replaced with the regular LED lights available these days. I never used the goof rings because I found trim rings in one of my lighting crates.

You may need a 2nd ring in the ceiling if the spring retainers can't latch onto plaster.

Cheers

[R4addZ]

Hi @rorycarr 

Goof rings (?) are an easy fix if they cover the area you have problems with. If you don't like this option then you have to find a backing for your repair and the simple answer that springs to mind is a thin plywood or even some more plasterboard (the reason I suggest plywood is that it is thinner than plasterboard and may be able to accommodate the spring clips of your light fitting without modification). Cut some to suit the repair radius and cover an overlap into the rest of the ceiling and put it in place using something like liquid nails on the inside of the ceiling and then, once set glue some plasterboard to the plywood and fashion that to the hole required. That will allow you the option to fill the gaps and sand down to an invisible repair before painting then refitting the light fitting.