Electrical — Lighting
A ceiling, once drilled, cannot be undrilled. Before fitting spotlights, we decide on their number, their spacing, their colour temperature and how they will be controlled — and only then do we drill.
Ceiling
Suspended, plasterboard, period plaster
Light
Colour and intensity chosen before fitting
Area
Paris 6th, 7th, 14th, 15th, 16th
Five things to settle before the first hole.
Too few and you see pools of light; too many and the ceiling looks like a car park. I work from the ceiling height and the beam angle, not from a rule of thumb.
2700 K for a living room or bedroom, 3000 K for a kitchen, cooler only for a workshop. It is the setting that changes everything, and the one most regretted when it is wrong.
Suspended ceiling, plasterboard, or old lath and plaster: drilling and fixing differ, and in a period ceiling not every spot can be drilled.
One circuit, two zones, or dimming: this is decided beforehand, because it changes the wiring. And if you want to dim, the spotlights and the dimmer must be compatible.
A recessed spotlight buried under glass wool overheats. We use fittings designed for it, or leave clearance around them — a matter of safety, not a detail.
Other services
Consumer units · Ceramic kiln installation · Fault-finding and electrical repairs · Switch replacement · Socket replacement · New sockets · Bringing wiring up to standard · Recessed spotlight installation · Recessed spotlight replacement · Appliance installation · Appliance connection · Lamps and light fittings · Doorbells · Radiator and towel rail installation · Radiator and towel rail replacement
From the workshop's other trades
Bespoke bookcases · Bespoke wardrobes and dressing rooms · Bathroom renovation
I draw the complete layout on the ceiling, we look at it together, and we move whatever needs moving. Five minutes of chalk spares a round of filling and two days of drying. It is also the moment to locate joists and conduits, so as not to drill where one should not.
Five arrondissements — the Left Bank, and the 16th just across the river — covered neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Each arrondissement has its own page, as does each neighbourhood.
Paris 6th Luxembourg · Rue de Rennes · Saint Sulpice · Mabillon · Raspail · Notre Dame des Champs · Odéon · Montparnasse · Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Paris 7th Champ-de-Mars · La Tour-Maubourg · Saint-François-Xavier · Rue du Bac · Saint-Germain · Solférino · Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin · Invalides · Ecole Militaire · Gros Caillou
Paris 14th Brune · Didot · Montsouris · Denfert Rochereau · Mouton Duvernet · Plaisance · Pernety · Montparnasse · Alésia
Paris 15th Necker · Saint Lambert · Vaugirard · Croix Nivert · Lecourbe · Convention · Commerce · Javel · Beaugrenelle · Grenelle
Paris 16th Trocadéro · Passy · Auteuil · La Muette · Victor Hugo · Porte Dauphine · Chaillot · Ranelagh · Exelmans · Porte de Saint-Cloud
Beyond these five arrondissements: elsewhere in Paris and the Île-de-France, depending on the project.
Tell me about the situation, with a photo if you have one. I reply the same day.