Painter's caulking, then paint right over it.

tibbrix,

I'm really grateful for your advice.

However, will the caulking hold in place? In other words, will it easily attach to the ceiling edge?

Get your electrician back. There is usually some slop in the way fans are mounted. He can probably fudge it over without too much trouble.

Depending on how big the gap is, you might be able to use caulk if the gap isn't too big as mentioned. Also, if that fan is in the attic, you should seal around the fan completely with spray foam in the attic so you don't have a lot of heat loss there.

I would not use any trick but fix t up proper. I often use a L Bead on all four sides to clean up the rough cut drywall on my jobs.

Doing this next week.

What is an L-bead? I guess I have to google this.

Anyway, in the meantime, first, thanks a lot for all your tips, folks.

You'll have to excuse me. I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I just
want to get this problem solved. Everything sounds a bit complicated for
my simple mind.

So I've simply been adding joint compound along the edge of the gap.

To show you why I'm overwhelmed, I have the same problem in 3 of my 5
kitchen recessed lights. Yes, the holes are slightly larger than the
light trims (see photo of one of the holes below).

My concern is that even if I'm eventually able to narrow the recessed
light holes, how am I going to get the trims to stay flush with the
uneven ceiling? Should I use glue?

OP, is there any play in the cover of the bath vent?

if it is the type that has two wires on either side to
hold cover in place, there may be some play in the
way it fits.

caulk doesn't seal holes over 1/4" without some type
of back rod to reduce size of gap. caulk has a hard
time adhering in these situations, doesn't stick to
sheetrock dust & gravity will cause it to move before
it dries.

these oversized cuts in sheetrock allow attic temps,
air & insulation particles into living spaces.
I use a mastic tape to seal these oversized sheetrock
cuts. hardcast brand 1402 mastic tape. the only
product I've found that works long term.

here's a pic of a supply box sealed with 1402 tape.
use this method to seal openings hidden by covers,
grills & trim kits.

best of luck.
why caulk doesn't work in large gaps

energy_rater_la,

I wish I understood your post but I don't.

Thanks, anyway.

If I was to go with caulking, instead of joint
compound, is there one that would be better than the others in terms of
making the recessed light holes narrower?


I'm thinking that I would want a caulking that firmly holds the recessed light trims to the ceiling.


Please, any feedback will be highly appreciated.


Thanks.

I hate to repeat myself, but joint compound and caulk are not the way to fix this. The wires holding the cover can probably be easily adjusted to cover the gap. If not, depending on how large the hole is, the unit can be moved. This is permanent, professional, and beautiful. energy_rater_la's suggestion is the next best thing.

Joseph-
You're right if the hole is not bigger than the fixture, but, looking at those pictures, I am dubious. I have used the method you are describing in the past, and it has occasionally worked for me, but a lot of fixture housings just don't allow enough sideways movement no matter what you do to the clips, or the cover shifts back over time due to vibration and tension from those clips.

Here is some more info on what a drywall L Bead is.

:) sorry for the cheekyness of the link post. It is a fun service from time to time.

Cheeky is good. We can't take ourselves too seriously, especially with our first-world problems.