Hi All,
I have a house that was built in the 1940’s and has drywall throughout. I installed a 6” recessed light in the bathroom a few weeks ago. I ended up drilling some holes and using a fine tooth saw blade to cut the hole. I noticed while cutting slowly a couple times the blade caused the paint to chip in spots around the edge. Think cause there are so many coats on it over the years luckily the trim covered it. Now I want to add a half dozen 4” ones in the kitchen. I am going to purchase a 4” recessed lighting hole saw for this. Am wondering if the hole saw could still cause this issue and any recommendations on how to keep it from happening. Thx

 

You shouldnt have any problem as long as you hang onto the drill and start your holes carefully.

 

Most likely the faking occurred with a down stroke which pulled the paint off, the saw will be perpendicular to the surface so should be better.

 

Try to get a hole saw with fine teeth.
Run the drill in reverse till you get a cut through the paint.
Putting masking tape over where you are cutting can help but sometimes removing the tape also removes the paint so I do not really recommend this.

 

Cutting drywall with a hole saw overhead can be really messy. Get or make a Drill Dust Bowl to contain the dust as you drill. There are also some that come with a shop vac hookup.

 

I had to cut 4" recessed LED lights in a plaster ceiling as well as older plaster/rock ceilings. I bought a carbide hole saw from Milwaukee which I can recommend 100%. It has not chipped any paint. It does make a lot of dust.

(This hole saw is not stocked at most Depots. I bought it at my electrical supply house)
Milwaukee hole saw

 

Another option is to use a utility knife to score/cut the paint in the circle. Then use the saw to cut on the inside of that knife line. It helps prevent chipping paint as well as prevents tearing the drywall paper.

 

Hi, I hope the chips aren’t so big that the fixture trim wouldn’t cover them.
Geo

 

The 4" fixtures have very little extra flange to over boo boos

 

Well I guess that depends on the fixture your using, most of the trims I use have plenty space around them trim.
Geo

 

Hi All,

so a few weeks ago I installed 4” recessed lights in my kitchen. House was built in the 1950’s. The walls and ceilings so far are drywall albeit a very hard drywall. I cut these holes with a recessed light hole saw from Home Depot. It was an adjustable wing style. Now I want to put some in our living room. The living room and dining room are the only rooms that have swirled ceilings shown in pic. It’s almost like a rough plaster swirl. I am assuming not plaster and lathe but some sort of plaster they just swirled over the drywall. Am a bit nervous to drill the holes in this ceiling as I don’t want it to crack or something. Was thinking of using a better hole saw with the carbide teeth instead of the wing style which was pretty rough cutting in the standard drywall. Anyone have any experience drilling in this type of ceiling and any tips to avoid busting a chunk out. Thx

 

I combined your two threads as we've covered a lot of the same ideas already.

I mentioned the hole saw I used. It is not a "teeth" type hole saw. It has a carbide ring on it that is relatively smooth. It doesn't catch on the plaster like one with teeth would.

That two winged hole saw can only be used on sheetrock and even then are a crap shoot.

Also as mentioned...... mark the hole you will be cutting and run a sharp sheetrock knife around it to cut the plaster.

Your new fixtures may not sit 100% flush with the ceiling either due to the raised ridges.

Milwaukee carbide hole saw (NOT STOCKED)

 

I've also used diamond hole saws on plaster. Got mine off ebay.

Pilot drill bit not shown.

You likely have gypsum lathe under that texture. Just make darn sure there isn't a joist where you want to drill.