RicodJour wrote:
kj wrote:

Thank you all very much for your suggestions. After looking at
diagrams of similar recessed lighting housings online I realize
that mine is apparently pretty unusual. I now see that, as a rule,
in recessed lighting fixtures the bulb goes into the socket
vertically; i.e. when one screws the bulb in, the axis of the bulb's
rotation is vertical. But that's not the way it is in my fixture.
The axis of rotation is (nearly) horizontal. (Yes, even under the
best circumstances it takes *forever* to change a lightbulb in
these fixtures.)

I guess builders use such an insanely incovenient design because
by having the bulb horizontal instead of vertical they can save
1-2 vertical inches per story. (Since this is a family ng, I will
not say what I think of such builders.)


Save your acrimony as there is absolutely no validity in your
supposition.

Sure there is if the builder did it. If the
architect picked those, he was just nuts,
appearance over function.


There has never been a builder that has determined the depth of the
floor joists by considering the height of a recessed fixture. The
fixture may be dictated by the height of the floor joists which are in
turn based on the design loads.

That's right the builder doesn't do those, but
what he does is fit what the buyer/designer wants
into the space available. You can pick all sorts
of fixtures that won't fit in a specific space
without having to go to some really screwy fixture
design or using a design in a place it is not
intended for.


If the structure was sufficient, and the only reason to increase the
height of the floor was those fixtures, each recessed fixture's cost
would be figured in the thousands.

Bull. Increasing the space for the fixture is as
simple as adding wood strips to the bottom of the
joists. Even you go to the extreme of maintaining
ceiling height by increasing the joist height, the
cost increase is negligible. Especially in the
types of ceilings that typically have those
fixtures. It would cost a bit more if you went
from standard stud lengths to a bit longer stud,
but you would be stupid to make each stud longer,
you would just add 2x4 or 2x6 plates to get the
height.


The builder/electrician chose that fixture for a reason. Whether or
not there were other options available, and whether the right decision
was made at the time, is moot.

Sure he did, profit margin, inability to convince
the designer/home owner of the inappropriateness
of that design, inability to think up a rational
solution, etc.


R


Not sure why you want to defend a mistake by the
builder. Builders make mistakes all the time.