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Sorry in advance for the basic question. I just need to replace my fluorescent lights with some flush mount or pot ones. The fluorescent lights are recessed in the drop ceiling and removal will leave a large hole that would need to be drywalled (?) over to make it flat with the rest of the ceiling.

Lighting places I am working with only recommend electricians, and I read electricians wouldnt typically handle any sort of drywalling (fair of course). So I would need a drywaller to come patch it up, but then an electrician to come in and cut into it to do the wiring? We've just been hiring one off contractors at this point. I was just hoping one person could come in and do the whole shebang, but want to respect the skillsets of the contractors

Drop ceiling

Hannah
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    Sorry , but trades people will not cross lines and risk losing their license. You need the drywallers to do their job and the electricians to do theirs. – RMDman Sep 13 '23 at 22:22
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    You probably want the electrician in first to pop holes where needed. A drywaller afer to finish/make it look good. – crip659 Sep 13 '23 at 22:30
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    this also could be a handyman job. Since no new wiring, just use the existing. – asinine Sep 13 '23 at 22:31
  • Drywall work typically does not require a license. Electrical almost always does. So nobody is risking their license by crossing trades in this case. But it's still a good idea to hire separate tradesmen. – Cheery Sep 13 '23 at 22:54
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    @Cheery and RMDman how does an electrician risk their license by doing drywall? – jay613 Sep 13 '23 at 23:11
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    @jay613 I said the same thing. The electrician is not risking his license. And the drywall person has no license to risk. – Cheery Sep 13 '23 at 23:16
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    It sounds like you could use the services of a general contractor. Their expert knowledge in scheduling work can help sometimes. Some jobs are best done before others, like painting before finishing floors. – crip659 Sep 13 '23 at 23:16
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    Am I missing the drop ceiling? That looks like regular drywall to me. – Huesmann Sep 14 '23 at 12:49
  • A handyman would likely do all the work, however, make sure he's a licensed electrician. Most countries require that electricians be licensed to do work on a property they don't own. – FreeMan Sep 14 '23 at 15:08
  • Have you considered using a LED ceiling panel instead? If you can find one that fits the fluorescent light recess then you won't need a drywaller. – Ian Goldby Sep 15 '23 at 08:06

3 Answers3

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This job could be done by a skilled handyman. Or a good DIY project as suggested by another answer here. It really depends on your current skillset. If you get one of those new flat recessed light fixtures (also called can-less), they even come with their own junction boxes and detailed instructions. The drywall part depends more on your experience, as there are lots of tricks that experienced tradespeople use to make it look just right.

However, if you must hire an electrician, you will need the electrician to come in twice: first to do the rough-in electrical, then to do the finish electrical. The electrician's bill will be larger than whatever you paid for the lights and the drywall person combined.

Cheery
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  • I have a handyman I use who can do electrical work (I found out when he got mock-miffed at another electrician friend of ours for encouraging me to DIY a small electrical wiring project), so such people do exist. I'd imagine any self-employed person who can do HVAC work could do both of these. – T.E.D. Sep 14 '23 at 13:43
  • I'd caution on a handyman doing electrical. You can run afoul of laws that require a license to do electrical work on a property you don't own and live in. In general philosophy, though, I agree with this answer. Maybe ask the handyman if he's licensed, insured & bonded so any failures are on his insurance, not yours. – FreeMan Sep 14 '23 at 15:09
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    @FreeMan Agreed. But any handyman licensed to do electrical work would not be called a handyman, but an electrician. I don't think any insurance will cover a handyman doing unlicensed electrical work. It's a big risk for both parties, but also very common. – Cheery Sep 14 '23 at 15:16
  • Kinda proves my point. ;) – FreeMan Sep 14 '23 at 15:30
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    @Cheery: I would think that many jurisdictions should recognize a distinction between some wiring-related tasks that require a maximally trained and licensed electrician, and others that don't. The level of training needed to safely remove and replace a switch plate or even a receptacle would be far less than what would be needed to safely remove and replace a breaker panel. – supercat Sep 14 '23 at 17:50
  • @supercat Agreed. In my previous life as a municipal inspector this work, as I understand it, would not require electrician in my jurisdiction. If you are not changing the branch circuit, ie. just changing fixtures a permit is generally not required and therefore a capable handyman is all that is needed. In short call your permitting jurisdiction, describe the work done. If they require a permit then the work will require a electrician, if not just get a good handyman who likely could do both very competently. – RomaH Sep 16 '23 at 05:25
  • @RomaH: On the flip side, I wonder if it would make sense for an entity like UL to offer an inexpensive credential for paid workers doing tasks that could be done by a competent homeowner, to demonstrate a basic understanding of things like which side of a receptacle needs to connect to each color of wire, and when an existing installation is sufficiently bad as to require hiring an electrician. For example, when my brother's was changing a bedroom ceiling light fixture in his old house, he found that the old fixture was wire nutted bare in the ceiling with no box. A handyman finding that... – supercat Sep 16 '23 at 05:50
  • ...shouldn't simply wire-nut the new fixture in place of the old one, but instead notify the homeowner that the wiring needs to be inspected and likely reworked by a licensed electrician [the electrician would be qualified to know what rework is required]. – supercat Sep 16 '23 at 05:51
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I don't know about your skillset/interest, but this is a good diy project. You take down the old light. You figure out if you have enough wire to easily get to your first pot light. (If not, call an electrician.) You cap the hot wires in a temporary handy box with a cover and push the wires to near where the first light will be. Document where the framing is by measuring to adjacent walls.

Now call the drywaller. They'll prep the opening, apply sheetrock, tape, skim, sand and you'll have a smooth ceiling.

Depending on the lights you want, it might be diy or electrician. Some are really easy to install and have their own junction boxes, so might be a good candidate for diy. Others are a bit more troublesome, or perhaps you live in a jurisdiction/setting that requires an electrician... Somebody will cut the right sized hole in your ceiling (avoiding the framing that you documented earlier), grab the wire and install the lights.

Aloysius Defenestrate
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Makes sense but in the wrong order.

Hire the electrician first. He or she can remove the old lights and rough-in the new ones.

After that, yes it's drywall and paint. And from the looks of your photo, it's not as if you don't need drywall work in there.

Robert Chapin
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