How to Install Downlights With No Access Above | It is Possible! 

What’s next? Loads planned for the autumn and winter! 😊

You are a top Geezer. This is what RU-vid is supposed to be about.

Great video, another time saver tip, if you drill your cut out holes on the joist, then notch your joist for cable then use metal box lid over the notch. Plaster board cut out will then go back , less faffing about making good. The hole saw needs to be bigger than width of joist. Also dont need to check both sides of joist, for cables/pipes.

Great to have someone to come to who knows what they are doing and can simplify everything for amateurs like me. Many thanks

I saw this video before the first one as I wanted to install downlights in my living room, and I was a bit scared to drill the extra holes and through the joists. However, I saw the first one, got a bit of confidence to attempt it in my bedroom with loft access, then went back to this one and did my living room and it look absolutely amazing. Best guide on here.

One of your the best videos yet, after serving as an apprentice and alway been given these type jobs you really made that look effortless can’t believe all the gadgets that are available these days. Keep it going.

Thanks Cameron, I love learning from all your uploads. They are super helpful.

Superb video, just done this in my kitchen project! El3ctrician with 44 years experience!

This is the exact job I have to do this week, the timing is perfect! Thanks for a great video.

Great video! Thank you so much for posting! We have a couple of jobs come up. And one without access which we were about to leave due to the access. This is brilliant! Thank you!

Brilliant! I felt I was actually there in the room doing it. Many many thanks. Best wishes Peter

Nice one Cameron, every detail covered. I'm sure a lot of home DIY'ers get worried about drilling in to the ceiling, terrified of what damage they could cause, but thanks to the excellent explanation of use of little tools you have taken most if not all the fear out of it. Another cracking vid, Paul.

Great video, and I have done this exactly like you, several times. Honestly, the toughest part for me is what you show at the end, the Drywall patching. On a Ceiling you need the drywall repair to be pretty much perfect. Seriously. You almost always view a ceiling from an obtuse angle and that shows the flaws much more than a wall does. Anyway... when you patch, I always use a Primer like Kilz or similar. Otherwise you will see the Mud thru the paint, it will be slightly off color. I almost always repaint the entire ceiling in a room that size.... Scary the first time you do one, it looks like a Gopher infestation when you cut all the holes you need to wire thru the Ceiling Joists. TOTALLY worth it in the end! Primer is cheap... use something like Kilz over the patch

As an electrician of old it’s good to see the advancements in the technology and skills now employed. This video is really helpful to keep up to date. I’ll definitely be looking at the quick wire products. 👍

Im a fully qualified electrician. Great job mate and brilliantly done. Ive just finished a job like this that had no access above and this is exactly how I do it well done!! 👍

This is exactly what I've' looking for for weeks! Thanks

wow seen a few downlight videos and none were explained as slowly clearly and concise as you did and none made it look half as easy as you showed with the connectors and lights ect im seriously considering doing this to my flat im just a DIYer but think i could do this, if anyone has watched and feels the same please reply be ace to hear if anyone has tackled this at there home and how its come out would give me even more confidence to try myself cheers guys and cheers DIY GUY for the awsome vids

Another excellent video! Just one point to add, it's worth getting the ceiling check for asbestos which is dangerous to breathe in, I recently found I have asbestos which prevented me installing downlight until I get it removed. I hope you don't mind me mentioning this, in older houses it is important to check.

I’m just about to embark on my first house purchase and it’s needs a refurb and I’m defo going be doing the majority of it to save on the costs you make it look so easy cheers Cameron

Great one Buddy this is a real winner of a video from someone who know's what they are talking about

When replacing the ‘puck’ into the holes you make to drill through the joists it’s a good idea to remove the backing paper from the upper side (that you won’t see). This gives just a little relief for when you a filling the hole to give a better finish. Also using a fine ball-chain on the lead end of the rods makes it easier to fish the rods out using a hook or magnet.

Your vid gave me inspiration to start a kitchen project. I needed all the advice from the brilliant quick wire downlights to repairing the holes. Mine was different as my looping was done at the light switch with no switch live info and at points I had double joists to go through. But it looking good.

Amazing , I wanted to know how to do this since your first video on downlights , thanks so much for this , really useful

Nice job, thanks for sharing. keep up the great work.

Drill the holes further from the joist depending on the length of your wood bit then use a nice wee angled chuck. That way the holes through the joists are horizontal and a bit easier to get rods through. Also makes it easier to reach the back of each joist if you need to move cables out of the way. Not tried that lighting system yet but it does look handy.

As a fully qualified spark it warms my heart to hear you call it a CPC 😂 great video as always. My favourite channel on youtube 👍🏻

Ha! Did this job a week before... Exactly like this but I found holes carrying existing cabling I could use. A plugable solution is great for when the plasterer comes in. Great video as always.

Excellent video. Did most of this a few months ago. But the ceiling was seriously chaotic with solid insulation, nails, screws... it's a loft extension ceiling under a flat roof. There was space above insulation under OSB with wedges over the joists for the roof slope. Got there in the end. Screwfix had a refurbished Magnussen inspection camera that I snapped up - exactly what I needed. I prefer 1.5mm² but my lamps struggled with it. In this case, I used 3-core flexible cable and ferrules. Still got my dust holder for the hole saw, thank goodness. Took a week for skin to get over the scraping from hand and arm in the holes!

Pukka video mate. I've wanted to do this for ages but was never sure how to tackle this. Will definitely give this a go.

Love this content. Just bought a new house with lots of DIY to crack on with. Learned a lot so far, ty

Thanks for taking the mystery out of this task. I'm tempted to give it a go as I've got two single light and they have always looked a bit "lost".

Im a builder n i find your videos pure brill. Great advice, easy to follow n I might need to hide this channel from my wife lol

this is exact guidance I needed. thank you for this @The DIY Guy

Great video and great tips. Never been a fan of down lights myself. But great video none the less.

Best video ever well and truely explained and very professional job.

Those QuickWire junctions are really neat.

Very good and helpful advice good video I’ve used them when they first came out and I’m doing the bathroom and I try the downlighting one 👍👍👍👍👍

Awesome video!!! Love that Quickwire Kit ;)

Great video mate !

Another great videos Cameron 👌 nice to hear about the insulation issue as well as im about to do our bathroom ceiling, quick wire looks the bees knees !

Those Quickwire jobbies make for a neat install!!

cheers guys for the video

Some great tips and nice explanations on the job in hand .

Enjoyed your video

Fantastic job

Very similar to what I did in my lounge. You're right, it's not quick or easy, that cable fishing business! Mine took a full day, but I did also run cables down the wall and fitted a 4 gang switch so each row of 2 lights could be controlled separately. My downlights are quite deep so before drilling I made a small hole and used a single wire from the 1mm cable bent into an L shape and spinned it round to feel for obstacles. Another tip is don't be shy about making as many access holes as needed. Even if like me you're going to use Polyfilla and sandpaper rather than re-plastering it doesn't take long to fill them in perfectly.

All good chap, but one little tip when drilling holes for downlights, keep the hss drill bit as short as possible in the hole saw, it only needs to guide in the hole saw and keep it from skidding off line, if it's sticking out 2" it asking for trouble hitting unseen cables or pipes.. from my own experience..:)

Great explainer video! Well done!! 👍

Absolutely solid video. Been waiting for a solid DIY downlights with no access above for ages. No one else does the guides like you. Spot on bud, keep it up

Absolutely awsome 😊😊

Very informative video. Thank you

An engineer's view on this: holes should be drilled along the neutral axis of a joist to prevent weakening of the structure. Drilling through the bottom half of a joist weakens the portion that is in tension.

Those connectors are ace. Done a few lights in my time and nowhere as neat as that 👍👍

Great tutorial video, thanks a lot!

Nice one mate, good to see your channel doing well

I'm loving ur videos, being a diyer all the tips are brilliant

Fantastic my man.

Really helpful, great detail and easy to follow. Thank you very much. Have you got a video about installing a separate switch for the spotlights? Or converting a single switch to a double switch? Thinking about situations where you want to have a centre main light and spotlights around it that you can switch on and off separately. Thanks in advance.

good video lad keep em coming

Need to watch the wiring part a few more times but very good many thanks!

Great video - thanks.

I've lurned more from you than 4 years in Electrical Installations at college

He's scrummy! I'm subscribing!

Thank you, brilliant tutorial, do you know; if I follow this guide for a new built home, with metal studs instead of wood studs, this would be similar in achieving same results?

Cheers got to do this perfect timing

Always wanted to know how to do this. Now I know. Many, many thanks.

Thank you, subscribed and liked 👍

Cracking job

Great video !! thanks

From the centre point towards the switch you might be lucky and find the existing cables which you could pull back with a new cable attached to reroute to a new position light point and that way you save some holes

Nice one Cameron, another good job. What do you do full time ?

Great video 👍 I need same thing done on my kitchen But worry of the asbestos side It’s same ceiling as showing on n your Video

Hi Mate, excellent video. how would I connect 4 Downlights around my existing ceiling light ?.

You are a genius...

Hello Really liked your video it helped me install downlights, Quick questions how many downlights can I connect after removing a ceiling rose?

Brilliant

Great as ever...costing me a fortune in new gadgets....but worth it, my ferret arrived yesterday wife a bit fed up with me playing with it in bed...so far 🤣🤣

I have used the quick wire on my house rewire didn't know about the quick wire lights though but the connectors are absolutely excellent also don't forget about the little you can get so you can release your cables just incase you accidentally put a cable in the wrong because you didn't take the time to mark it up 😅

well done we spend years learning the trade to earn a living and then people like you show everyone how to do it. well done

Great video. Just the project I am about to undertake. Is there a limit to the amount of down lights you can add to a daisy chain?

I have GU10 ceramic bulb holders - what do recommend please to daisy-chain the connections?

Great video for DIYers, thank you for the tips especially to cover up the extra holes, I have to install some pot lights and I was scratching my head thinking how to deal with the joists and extra holes. Junction connector is good idea but I can't use it, our local code in NYC requires electrical box as Junction connection.

Thanks , he’s good.

You are very good. I have learnt a lot from you. I have even subscribed to your channel

New subscriber

Mate your ceiling is stunning! How did you do that?

Effin brilliant = thanks!

Great tutorial, it's important to mention that all lighting circuits in domestic household premises must now have RCD protection. Reg. 411.3.4 as of 18th edition wiring regs in UK. A lot of lighting circuits in older houses haven't got this as they were installed to older versions of the electrical regs. Yes you can do like for like upgrade of existing light points, but if you are adding new wire, it's classed as an addition to the existing installation and the circuit should be brought up to meet current standards. If the circuit doesn't have RCD protection, then you should get an electrician to assess, test and upgrade the lighting circuit first before doing this work as this is classed as an "addition / alteration to the electrical installation". Sometimes, 2 separate lighting circuits in older houses shared neutrals between 2 or more fuses/breakers (upstairs/downstairs) and this can cause a problem when trying to add the RCD protection to one of the circuits! In addition to this: Class 1 downlights must be earthed, some older historic lighting circuits did not have an earth connection! So you must use Class II downlights or have the circuit re-wired to ensure you have a continuous CPC all the way back to the fuseboard. No basic coloured insulation should be visible outside of enclosure, or termination above the light, If in a special location such as a bathroom they should be suitably IP rated to stop steam from entering the fitting, Loop impedance test should be carried out on the last light on the daisy chain to check continuity of the CPC (green yellow earth) and make sure that, in the event of a fault, the circuit breaker will trip within 4ms, RCD should be tested from the last light as well as the switch point. If you have a bedroom above the room you are installing downlights, I strongly recommend these should be fire rated to prevent the spread of fire from lower floor to upper floor. ....and lets not go down the rabbit hole of led dimmable downlights vs. older dimmer switches and all the flickering and premature failure issues that can cause!

Hi not sure if you’d been asked this. But how did you determine which of the 2 sets of wires from the old ceiling rose was power in and switch cable? As you said in the video nothing was marked. I have the same issue. Changing a 90s ceiling rose to downlights. There’s 2 cables but no induction of which one is loop in / switch live? Many thanks

Can i use quickwire push clip boxes instead of the wago grey box in your other spotlight video to power the spotlight chain instead of using the orange connector switches then storing them in the wago grey clip box

Good job. Iam A spark .. well Done

I wondered about doing this. Looks a bit awkward for an amateur like me but I'm tempted.

Hi. What if I wanted to do this the other way round? I've loads of spotlights in the kitchen but want to install ceiling pendant lights over my island? Thanks!

Don't forget you could hit noggins between the joists. Also floor boards could be attached at the upper level making it necessary to drill access holes at all lights.

nice tools you have there, i was wondering now im changing my old lamp with 3 pendants light, but the old wires there are 2 wires loop, where should therlse 2 wires goes to? Cause now in the new lights only blue, earth and brown

very good

What do you do if you dont want to use quickwire and need to daisy chain the next spotlight?. Do you put the both cables in same spot?

I don't think we can use QuickWire connectors in the States. Question though: The QuickWire connector in the center of the room, you probably used two outputs so you could run one separately out to the opposite sides of the room, right? Great show, thank you.

Great info although I drilled a small hole first and used a piece of wire bent 90 degrees to check I had clearance for the 70mm hole drill..

Well explained thanks…& he’s good looking…Win Win :P 😊 😅