Removing Recessed Lighting in Drywall

Turn off the breaker supplying the electrical power to your recessed lighting inside the main panel. Remove the two screws from the switch plate covering the recessed lighting toggle-switch, exposing the wires connected to the switch.

Touch one test lead from a two-wire electrical tester to one of the black wires attached to the side of the lighting toggle-switch. Touch the remaining test lead to any metal on the switch or switch box. Repeat the test for the remaining black wire attached to the side of the toggle-switch. The tester will not light if the power has been correctly disconnected.

Remove the two screws holding the recessed lighting toggle-switch in the switch box. Loosen the two brass or black screws on the side of the toggle-switch, and pull the black wires from beneath the two screws. Twist an orange wire connector onto each black wire, and tape the connector to the end of the wire with electrical tape.

Look inside the switch box for the white wires and the bare copper wires. Untwist the connectors connecting the set of two white wires together, and the set of two bare copper wires together. Pull the sets of wires apart. Twist orange wires connectors onto the ends of each individual wire, and secure the connectors to the wires with electrical tape.

Push all the wires to the back of the switch box. Attach a single-gang blank wall plate to the switch box with the wall-plate screws provided with the wall plate. This ensures the recessed lighting circuit remains disconnected at the wall switch.

Remove the light bulbs from the recessed lights. Grasp the exterior ring on the recessed trim with your fingers, and pull it down and out of the drywall. If your trim attaches with coiled springs, reach inside the recessed fixture and unhook the spring. If your trim attaches with butterfly springs (two wires on each side of the trim), squeeze the wires together to release them from the fixture.

Remove the screw just inside the recessed fixture housing to push the housing from the bracket, or place a 1-inch wooden dowel, about 2 feet long, into the recessed lighting fixture. Position the end of the dowel against the top of the fixture and to one side of the socket.

Strike the dowel with a hammer until the recessed fixture is knocked from its hanging bracket. This action removes the metal lip of the fixture from the hole in the drywall, giving you the ability to patch the drywall without the metal of the fixture being in the way. It is not necessary to remove the fixtures from the attic.

Place electrical tape over the recessed lighting breaker in the main panel while it is in the “Off” position. This ensures the breaker remains in the “Off” position until you can have the breaker removed from the main panel.