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New construction recessed can lights

500 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  miamicuse
I am in the process of doing LED retrofit to a bunch of old 6" recessed lights.

After removing the old AT baffle & trim I see two issues.

The eight recessed lights, four under the left soffit and four on the right. They are new construction cans with the metal frames attached to the framing. The left soffit looks fine, where the holes were cut and the cans lowered to be flushed with the bottom of the sheetrock. However, the four on the right the holes are slightly smaller then the cans so the cans sit above the sheetrock. How important is it to enlarge the holes now (by about 1/8") so that the cans (these cans do not have lips around the bottom) can be lowered to be flush with the ceiling? Or no big difference?

In addition, these old cans do not have the "ears" on the inside where you can attach the trims with legs on springs. These trims use two friction clips that claw onto the side of the can and when you push up the clip flips up to secure. Most of the retrofit LED lights use the springing legs. Is there some sort of adapter thingie that will add those ears to older style cans?
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When I converted our cans to led retrofits, I used these:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips...t-Trim-with-Warm-Glow-2-Pack-802389/304705223

No need for those springs or side brackets. Hold tight to the cieling too
I’d take the time to fix the holes. A few passes with a utility knife should fix them. Then you can adjust the can down flush. Right now, your cans are about 1/2 to 5/8 high.

These are one style of clips,
https://www.amazon.com/Recessed-Dow...MWTD02WXV7W&psc=1&refRID=WG11EKQZGMWTD02WXV7W

Here is another .
https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Rece...JKG0NG3M30Q&psc=1&refRID=H2PNJVKV3JKG0NG3M30Q

Thank you, this is exactly what I need. :vs_cool:
When I converted our cans to led retrofits, I used these:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips...t-Trim-with-Warm-Glow-2-Pack-802389/304705223

No need for those springs or side brackets. Hold tight to the cieling too

These use integrated "flip clips". That's what I have on the airtight trims for these lights. The issue with these is sometimes they don't stay flush and may slide down half an inch here and there.
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