Recessed light trim and 2-layer 5/8" drywall

What do you do in this situation: I have recessed lights (4" housings) and 2 layers of 5/8" drywall in the ceiling. My 4" housings are NOT height adjustable. Because of the 2 layers of drywall, the trim for the recessed lights does not reach high enough into the housing (it won't stay in the housing). Aside from cutting out my drywall and replacing my housings with height-adjustable ones, what are my options? Are there such things as "housing extensions"? The only other thing I can think of would be to contact a friend of mine who is handy with metal - and could possibly manufacture some new "fingers" for my trim that would be long enough to reach into the housings.

kindohm wrote:

What do you do in this situation: I have recessed lights (4" housings) and 2 layers of 5/8" drywall in the ceiling. My 4" housings are NOT height adjustable. Because of the 2 layers of drywall, the trim for the recessed lights does not reach high enough into the housing (it won't stay in the housing). Aside from cutting out my drywall and replacing my housings with height-adjustable ones, what are my options? Are there such things as "housing extensions"? The only other thing I can think of would be to contact a friend of mine who is handy with metal - and could possibly manufacture some new "fingers" for my trim that would be long enough to reach into the housings.

I've not seen extensions at the local HD or Lowes and i go there alot. Perhaps a google search might locate them. But my question is, how did you put recessed lights in without shooting your isolation to sh!@#...lol

to keep the isolation you build a double (or triple) layer drywall box around them inside the ceiling and seal it. very likely need to make some sheetmetal extenders but then again maybe someone has them commercially available.

I think my best two options are to either a) find someone/someplace that can do metalworking and extend/remake the "claws" on the trim that reach up into the housings, or b) use springs to "hang" the trim from the housing. In order to hang the trim, I'll need to drill some small holes in the housings to hook the springs in.

Doing that may be a fire hazard. I think those fixtures are designed to vent a certain amount of heat upwards, so modifying their design in such a drastic way may increase the risk of fire. Personally, I don't think recessed lighting is very practical in a studio, unles the recessed lights are a part of a soffit of some kind that is not technically a part of the mass-air-mass envelope. --Keith :mrgreen:

I am planing track lighting in a 2 layer 5/8" ceiling on rc( the hat type channel on isolaton clips). The electral boxes would need to extend 2 1/8" below the joists. While i have found wall boxes that extend ( are adjustable via a screw) I havenot found ceiling type. One thing I thought of was to use a remodeling box ( i.e not attached to the joists). Any thoughts