Five 6-Inch Cans Retrofit to LED and New Vanity Lights in Vancouver, WA

Some jobs are a single, quick, satisfying visit. In about an hour at this Vancouver home, Newman Electric retrofit five 6-inch kitchen cans to LED, replaced a 4-inch can over the shower, and swapped two vanity lights over the double vanity.

Retrofitting cans instead of replacing them

Older 6-inch recessed cans don’t have to come out of the ceiling to get LED light. An LED retrofit trim screws into the existing socket and seats in the can:

• No ceiling cuts or patching, because the housing stays where it is
• Less heat, and no more bulbs to change every year or two
• Even light with a clean, flat lens instead of a bulb hanging in a can

The one place to be careful is the shower. A fixture over a shower has to be rated for a wet or damp location, so that 4-inch can got a full replacement rather than a retrofit trim. Our LED lighting retrofit page covers when a retrofit works and when the housing has to go.

Swapping the vanity lights

The bathroom had two three-light vanity fixtures with seeded glass shades and bare bulbs. They were replaced with crystal fixtures. The new fixtures went on the existing boxes, centered over each round mirror and level with each other so the pair reads as one design.

When a new fixture’s mounting plate doesn’t line up with the old box, or the new canopy is smaller than the old paint line, that’s when a vanity swap turns into more work.

Small jobs are worth one call

A visit like this is a list, not a project: a few cans, a fixture or two, the light that’s been bugging you. Grouping them into one service call is the cheapest way to get them done. Our lighting installation in Vancouver section has more examples, or call 360-828-7143 to send us your lighting punch list.