Pro Handyman Blog

Cutting a circle in drywall is not difficult. With the right tools, you can have a circle cut in minutes.

Most circular cuts are for light fixtures (think recessed lighting), or electrical boxes. These holes are not large and can be cut with a drywall saw after you mark out the lines, or by using a circle cutter. For a small circle, like for a plumbing penetration, you can use a hole saw chucked into a drill.

If you are using a drywall saw, mark out your circle by tracing around the electrical box, or use a template from the light fixture. If you use the electrical box, just realize that you will have to make the cut inside of the line so that the remodeling box “ears” have something to hold onto.

For the circle cutter, you can use a two-handed or one-handled style tool. The tool has a sharp point that digs into the drywall and a sharp wheel that scores and cuts the circle. Once the wheel makes several passes, you can pop out the piece of drywall. The two-handed model requires you to hold the pointed end in the drywall with one hand, while the other hand rotates and pushes the cutting wheel (I wouldn’t try using only one hand on this). The single-hand style has a point in the middle and two cutting wheels, one on each end of the tool.