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Potlights

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  • Jun 7th, 2016 11:34 am
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Deal Addict
Jun 12, 2009
1050 posts
448 upvotes
SLOGAN wrote: Same price.
I had 10 installed in my kitchen and they were done in an hour and a half.

My before and after pictures are in this thread:
potlights-recommendations-1719117/

Full disclosure: I am not affiliated in any way with the company, I just want to contribute where I can.
Saw the pictures, you kitchen looks much better now.

How did they test for any obstructions behind the drywall?
Deal Fanatic
Jul 4, 2004
7534 posts
792 upvotes
Toronto
FastFret wrote: Saw the pictures, you kitchen looks much better now.

How did they test for any obstructions behind the drywall?
Hope and pray really. They blind drill between joists and hope there's no plumbing or electrical stapled to the joist behind, nor any ductwork.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Oct 19, 2008
7407 posts
2998 upvotes
Whitby
FastFret wrote: How did they test for any obstructions behind the drywall?
There are obstructions behind a drywall ceiling, joists that have to be drilled. Experienced installer will also examine above and below the ceiling he's working on the see if he can locate any plumbing/hvac/electrical in joist bays behind that ceiling. A decent stud detector helps, as does some 'touch' and common sense....as installer drills through a joist if the auger hits something 2" past that stop. Doesn't help if a Pex line was fastened to backside of joist drilled but with a little time spent pre-drilling chances of that can be minimized.

Seen cans installed with 15 added to circuit that already had 9 mixed devices...sure the LED draw is low but that is still a violation. No strain relief, connections made outside boxes etc. Doesn't matter as ESA isn't involved?
Sr. Member
Sep 12, 2008
580 posts
201 upvotes
Hamilton, on
Basically there are two games in town. One is Mr Potlight, the other is the Potlight King. Mr potlight is somewhat lazy amd really only does this work moonlighting from his job at the powerplant. The Potlight king on the otherhand is a hopeless alcoholic. I cant vouch for one over the other, but they have a fierce rivalry.
Member
Oct 14, 2007
373 posts
47 upvotes
GodSendHockey wrote: Basically there are two games in town. One is Mr Potlight, the other is the Potlight King. Mr potlight is somewhat lazy amd really only does this work moonlighting from his job at the powerplant. The Potlight king on the otherhand is a hopeless alcoholic. I cant vouch for one over the other, but they have a fierce rivalry.
HA.... had to think about this one.... Simpsons.... does he have a cool jacket as well?
Member
Oct 14, 2007
373 posts
47 upvotes
Zamboni wrote: There are obstructions behind a drywall ceiling, joists that have to be drilled. Experienced installer will also examine above and below the ceiling he's working on the see if he can locate any plumbing/hvac/electrical in joist bays behind that ceiling. A decent stud detector helps, as does some 'touch' and common sense....as installer drills through a joist if the auger hits something 2" past that stop. Doesn't help if a Pex line was fastened to backside of joist drilled but with a little time spent pre-drilling chances of that can be minimized.

Seen cans installed with 15 added to circuit that already had 9 mixed devices...sure the LED draw is low but that is still a violation. No strain relief, connections made outside boxes etc. Doesn't matter as ESA isn't involved?
Anyone have any experience with "Potlight Expert"? http://potlightexpert.com/main

Just wondering as it seems that Mr. Potlight is quite busy. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Deal Fanatic
Dec 31, 2007
5252 posts
1905 upvotes
Richmond Hill
Zamboni wrote: There are obstructions behind a drywall ceiling, joists that have to be drilled. Experienced installer will also examine above and below the ceiling he's working on the see if he can locate any plumbing/hvac/electrical in joist bays behind that ceiling. A decent stud detector helps, as does some 'touch' and common sense....as installer drills through a joist if the auger hits something 2" past that stop. Doesn't help if a Pex line was fastened to backside of joist drilled but with a little time spent pre-drilling chances of that can be minimized.

Seen cans installed with 15 added to circuit that already had 9 mixed devices...sure the LED draw is low but that is still a violation. No strain relief, connections made outside boxes etc. Doesn't matter as ESA isn't involved?
So wouldn't getting an experienced electrician be better? I can't see how using an installer that blind drills will save money, it's like russian roulette...
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Oct 19, 2008
7407 posts
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Whitby
enwhyRFD wrote: So wouldn't getting an experienced electrician be better? I can't see how using an installer that blind drills will save money, it's like russian roulette...
I'm not knocking anyone, I know Mr Potlight pulls ESA permits and does decent work. Experienced installer is an electrician in my post.

An experienced electrician has to drill blindly into some joist bays, there are a few tricks like running taps and having someone flush toilet in washroom of level above that might avoid problems.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Apr 8, 2010
5621 posts
1552 upvotes
Toronto
STCman wrote: i got a guy who does it for $45 each installed.

PM me if you want info
Thanks for the recommendation but i cannot recommend this contractor at all

He's very nice but he was supposed to send pictures and cost for the upgraded potlights last week, and was supposed to start this tuesday but i haven't heard from him, i can't trust someone unprofessional to deal with popcorn ceilings because a botched job can be expensive to fix, but if you have a plain ceiling, i'm sure he can do a great job.
Deal Addict
Nov 11, 2006
1685 posts
1196 upvotes
Gotoff wrote: Thanks for the recommendation but i cannot recommend this contractor at all

He's very nice but he was supposed to send pictures and cost for the upgraded potlights last week, and was supposed to start this tuesday but i haven't heard from him, i can't trust someone unprofessional to deal with popcorn ceilings because a botched job can be expensive to fix, but if you have a plain ceiling, i'm sure he can do a great job.
You should remove your popcorn ceiling. Popcorn ceilings are so dated.

It's a lot of manual labour but if you're handy, it's very doable.
Member
Apr 14, 2008
258 posts
28 upvotes
Toronto
CanRulez wrote: You should remove your popcorn ceiling. Popcorn ceilings are so dated.

It's a lot of manual labour but if you're handy, it's very doable.
We're in the process of renovating our living room. Took down the popcorn ceiling and installed potlights in the new one. Did it ourselves and looks amazing, however had we have known how much work was going to be involved in all of this we probably would have skipped the potlights and left the popcorn ceiling intact.
Deal Addict
Mar 29, 2015
1999 posts
158 upvotes
Wood Bridge
im thinking about doing it myself too, but in the kitchen, how do you drill between the joists to run the wire? lets say your joists goes left to right, thats fine but if you want to run the hydro to the next row, you gotta drill through more than one joist, is there a really long drill bit you buy or rent from the home depo or lowes?
Thanks
Banned
User avatar
Jul 25, 2007
797 posts
48 upvotes
Richmond Hell
Stronzo1 wrote: im thinking about doing it myself too, but in the kitchen, how do you drill between the joists to run the wire? lets say your joists goes left to right, thats fine but if you want to run the hydro to the next row, you gotta drill through more than one joist, is there a really long drill bit you buy or rent from the home depo or lowes?
Yes you can buy long drill bits and most hardware stores. keep in mind though that you are blindly drilling. If there is a washroom above your kitchen you should think twice about doing this.
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Newbie
May 27, 2015
8 posts
Toronto, ON
You can probably try an app called HousPro, it allows you to get couple of bids from installer. I have found flooring guy there, not bad.
Deal Addict
Sep 11, 2006
1382 posts
360 upvotes
Toronto
solon12 wrote: You can probably try an app called HousPro, it allows you to get couple of bids from installer. I have found flooring guy there, not bad.
Yeah I looked at houspro. They claim to have "real" reviews which is untrue. I did some research and found 3 reviews were written from people in India for local Toronto contractors. Definitely were paid Fiverr reviews. So yet another BS contractor app I deleted right away.

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