So...marked up our bedroom ceiling where I wanted the downlights. Identified where the studs are, avoided the studs. Drilled holes. Now above the holes I find that there's another piece of wood, running the length of the roof, about 4" wide, sitting on top of the studs (so about 70mm from the top of the plasterboard). So, I'll have to move the lights either closer to the centre of the room or closer to the edges. Closer to edges is a no-go because on one side they'll be directly above the wardrobe - wasted light. Moving towards centre of room, there's small peices of wood in between the studs, also running lengthways, which appear to be there for the plasterboard to screw to (I think). This means I'd have to go *even* closer to the centre of the room to avoid them... Given that I can't position the lights anywhere near where we wanted them / they look sensible, I feel like giving up. Any suggestions?
Search for “low profile down lights” on google. May not solve your problem entirely. Also look for surface mounted down lights - again it may not be to your liking but it will work.
The piece of wood you're referring to was probably simply fixed to hold your trusses in place whilst the roof was being built. It's possibly perfectly alright to move or even remove it. Post some pics on here to get an answer.
Sorry but that doesn't really help. Can you take a picture from further back to show as much as possible of the board? It's the sort of thing that @Jord86 or one of the other experienced specialists could tell you hopefully.
The 2x1 1/2" noggins are to support the edges of the plasterboard from sagging, though it's minimal anyway, and the 4x1 is lateral bracing to tie the trusses together. Being as the ceiling is acting as a brace to the underside of the trusses, I'd just drill the holes for the downlighters wherever you want them, obviously not through a truss though. If there was a real concern, you could always add another length of bracing alongside the existing, but I wouldn't bother. I don't know the design of the spots but the bracing may prohibit the clips from securing in place properly, in that case just cut a section out.
Have a think. Do you really want downlights in a bedroom? Imagine lying in bed with a bright spotlight in your eyes
Well I don't have them in the bedroom, but what I do have elsewhere are dimmerble. But I know what you mean.
This - I managed to drill through one close to the ceiling edge, they're definitely noggins along the plasterboard edges (which I would think are screwed to the joists anyway). We have a side extension, very similar roof / joist spacing, no noggins on the plasterboard joints. So just remove where they're in the way? Thanks!