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I have a hanging/dropped ceiling in my house in the entrance. There is one electrical cable hanging by the side, waiting to be connected to a lamp.

This ceiling extends to the above of the stairs, and I want to install a motion-sensor lamp in the staircase. Battery-powered lamps just don't cut it, so I'm thinking of actual electric lamps, but I'm not sure how to run the cables or if it's possible without removing the wooden ceiling (or how to access the point in the actual ceiling where I can get more cables). This is a house in the Netherlands, if it helps in answering. The situation is as following where the red circle is the cable already in place and the blue arrow shows the location where I'd want a new cable, above the stairs. View from the stairs

Thanks!

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  • You may need to do some exploratory demolition. If you're careful, it may be easy to repair. You're also likely to need an access panel somewhere, because that cable is not reaching the blue arrow. I assume you do not have access above the ceiling.
    – Huesmann
    Commented Jul 22 at 13:01
  • What is the actual question? Please edit to clarify.
    – Fredric Shope
    Commented Jul 22 at 13:41
  • I can only speak for myself, but I really can't see enough in this photo to be sure I understand the construction. The usual approach would not be to run from the existing wire, but to run a new cable to the new fixture. It's easier to run wire from basement or attic than to try to run horizontally.
    – keshlam
    Commented Aug 3 at 14:17

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It always depends on the specifics of construction.

If the wood section can be removed (or partially removed) that may provide the access you need.

If there's space above (an attic, rather than an additional finished level or somone else's apartment) that can provide access.

In the worst case drywall or plaster gets broken/cut to install cables, and is repaired and painted after they are completed. In some few cases this may be possible using only the holes that devices would mount in anyway, and "fishing" with flexible rods between them, avoiding the need for plaster/drywall repair and new paint. Whether that is possible at all is likewise dependent on specific details of the construction.

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