How to Add a Bathroom Ceiling Light

The addition of a bathroom ceiling light lends extra illumination in a room that, depending on its location, may not have enough. Adding light in a windowless bathroom can make a dim space more comfortable. It also gives you a chance to adorn the bathroom with a new light fixture that adds aesthetic charm to the room. Whatever your reason for doing it, a bathroom ceiling light is a relatively easy installation. With the fixture, a few tools and this how-to guide, you can get it done in a few hours. 

Step 1 - Find the Ceiling Joists and Locate a Circuit

Use the stud finder to locate the ceiling joists above your head in the bathroom. Mark their position from both sides on the ceiling with a pencil. Mark the approximate spot you will cut into the drywall to attach the light fixture. Locate a circuit into which you can wire the light and a switch. If there is an available junction box or you know there is a circuit wiring directly above or in a wall, you can use that. Ideally, you connect to a circuit that is used only for lights. 

Step 2 - Cut into Ceiling, Attach Light Box

With the drywall saw, cut out a square of the ceiling adjacent to a ceiling joist, small enough though to be concealed by the light fixture. Affix the plastic light box into which the wiring will run to the visible ceiling joist. If there are no preset nails in the box, use wood screws. If the light fixture weighs more than 50 pounds, it will require a special brace.  

Step 3 - Position Switch Box

Determine where the light switch will go on the wall, locate the nearby studs and cut into the drywall as before. Wiring must run from the light box to the switch, so there needs to be a clear path within the walls. Attach the switch box to a stud flush with the finish on the wall. 

Step 4 - Turn Circuit Off, Wire Light

Turn the power to the circuit you are working with off at the main circuit panel. Run the insulated 14/2 wire to the light box, making sure there is slack in the line. Cut the line and stretch about 6 inches of wire into one end of the light box. Feed the other end (which leads to the next receptacle) into the opposite hole in the box 6 inches as well. From the power source, pigtail the hot wire with that leading out and with a white wire marked black leading to the switch. Pigtail the neutral wire with that leading out and with the light. Finally, pigtail the ground with that leading out and with that leading to the switch. Connect a fourth ground to the light box (if metal).

Step 5 - Wire the Switch

At the switch box, connect the white wire marked black with the bottom terminal screw. Connect a black wire to the top terminal screw and run it back to the light box and connect it to the hot terminal on the light. 

Check your connections, turn the circuit on and make sure the light works with the switch. If you have to repair any drywall and/or the finish, do so before affixing the faceplates. Otherwise, screw the switch in place and attach the faceplate. Tuck the wiring into the light box and attach the fixture. Your new bathroom ceiling light is ready for use.