Plate For 3″ Recessed Led

The PL-3" is a galvanized 3" pot light plate with no lip. Fix it to the framing before the drywall goes up, let the boarders router the hole against it, then snap your ultra-thin light in once the ceiling's closed.

It measures 13-3/16" x 6.5" with a 3-1/8" opening, and both long edges carry a printed inch scale.

Galvanized steel throughout. Built for new-construction rough-in.

How big a hole do you cut for a 3" pot light?

3-1/8". The plate carries that opening, and your boarders router straight against it, so every hole in the run lands identical. No template, no marking off the last fixture.

What if the recessed light hole is cut too big?

With a plate up first, it doesn't happen. That's the whole reason these exist. A freehand cut-out that wanders leaves a gap the trim can't cover, and the fix is a patch, a sand and a repaint on somebody's finished ceiling. The plate turns a judgement call into a routed edge.

Is a smash plate the same thing?

Same product, different word. Smash plate, rough-in plate, pre-mounting plate and mud plate all describe this: a steel plate fixed to the framing before drywall that reserves the opening for a canless light. Order it by either name.

Laying out a run without pulling a tape

Both long edges are printed with an inch scale, so the plate doubles as its own ruler. It's 6.5" across, which puts the centre 3-1/4" in from either edge. Set a laser that far off your line, run the plate edge up to it, and the whole row centres itself.

Which lights does it take?

3" ultra-thin recessed LEDs that snap into the opening, the canless kind with no housing behind them. It isn't a can bracket and it won't carry a housing. The order matters too: plates go up at your marked locations first, and the light goes in last, after the board's cut and finished. Check the cut-out on your fixture's own spec sheet before you order a pallet, because trimless and regressed models often want a wider opening than a flat 3" panel does.

For the drawing, the hole detail and the full dimensions, open the Spec sheet (PDF). Send us your plate count and the fixture you're pairing them with, and we'll come back with a wholesale quote and confirm the opening matches.