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I have the lights shown below in the hallways in my house.
I am not a fan of how they look, and replacing the lights are a pain. So, I replaced them with LED pot lights (aka recessed lights). Since the junction box is not accessible from above, I had to figure out how to remove the junction box without cutting a large hole in the ceiling.
Light off
Light on
Turn off the circuit breaker to the light
Remove the old light from below. Undo the cover. Remove the light bulbs. Loosen the screws. Twist the housing and it should drop down. Undo the electrical connectors. Set all the parts aside. I usually give away old housing parts to neighbors. Kids break stuff, and it is hard to find replacement parts.
I have this type of electrical junction box.
My junction boxes are nailed in place
Locate the truss or beam
The nails are on beam side of the opening
Cut away a bit of the drywall until the flanges are visible
Use old flat head screwdriver and metal hammer
Pound up on the flanges firmly until the nails and box are loose
Cut up the junction box. I used the snips shown
When cutting don’t cut the electrical wires
I found that if I cut about 1-2 inches of the side off, then it comes apart pretty easy (but really not that easy)
Use heavy duty snips to cut down to base
With a pliers, twist the cut pieces out
Cut a little then twist a little
Once a 1-2 opening exists, start twisting the side away from the junction box. Bigger pieces should come out.
Once enough of the sides are removed that the junction box can be pulled down, start cutting up the base - but be careful not cut the wires
Someone wrote removing a junction box can be done by a journeyman in about a minute. My first one took about an hour
Install the new pot light
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