ᐅ Niche with spotlight: not enough space for a drill

Hello everyone,

We would like to install lighting in our shampoo niche by the bathtub. The electricians have already run a cable into the niche for this purpose. The problem now is that after installing the drywall and plastering, my drill with the hole saw no longer fits into the niche. It is about 1cm (0.4 inches) too small.

Do you have any suggestions on how to cut a hole for a recessed spotlight in this situation? Are there especially slim hole saws available? So far, I haven’t been able to find any.

I have also considered using a surface-mounted spotlight. Unfortunately, the cable coming out of the niche is quite tight (it seems to bend sharply behind the wall). I don’t see how I could push the installation cable plus the lamp cable with a connector block through the small opening.

If running cables is completely impossible, battery-operated spotlights would be the last resort. Maybe even compatible with HUE. I still have a smart button available for this.

I am open and grateful for any tips on how to light the niche.

Flexible drill extensions (just try searching online, you can even rent them at some home improvement stores). However, I’m not sure how much torque they can handle. Or the good old Dremel...

I don’t think you can apply enough pressure on the hole saw using the drill extension. Has anyone ever worked with one? A Dremel tool might be worth considering.

I assume the tiler will still tile the niche. Just ask them to drill the hole directly through the tile. They often have attachments that can be mounted on an angle grinder.

Malle Zwabber schrieb:

I assume the tiler will still tile the niche. Just have him drill the hole directly through the tile.
They often have attachments that can be mounted on an angle grinder.

The sealed plaster or microcement is the final layer; no tiles will be applied on top of that.
I plastered it myself and unfortunately forgot to make the hole beforehand 🙁

There are angle drills. Maybe you can rent one somewhere. They are also available used, for example on eBay Classifieds.