Ceiling fan mount question

[Ryland]

Does anybody know of a ceiling fan mount for new construction that takes into account the offset of both 3/4" ferring strips AND 1/2 drywall? Most of the ones I have found only take the drywall into account and don't have a height adjust for the ferring strips. I could attach some 2x6's to the joists but since they are engineered I would have to dado out the 2x6's to size and would rather not do that.

 

[Jakkle5]

Why do you need to take the drywall depth into consideration? Most of the ones I use attach the flange to the strapping and then the drywall installs over the flange. The finish trim covers roughly 2" around the opening so there is nothing to see. There are also the fans where the metal box gets roughed in and then the plastic fan/flange get installed as one pc into the metal rough in box and over the drywall. Then the finish trim is applied over that. Either way is fine. If you're worried about a sell, silicone the drywall to the flange so the fan doesnt try to **** in air from behind the drywall.

 

[Ryland]

The bottom of the mount needs to be flush with the bottom of the drywall.

 _                     _
| |                   | |
| |                   | |       <- Joists
 -                      -
===============      <- 3/4" Ferring strip
~~~~~~~~~~~~~    <- 1/2" Drywall

most of the mounts I have found screw into the joist and extend 1/2" below the joist which means it is 1/4" above the top of the drywall. I could build something that spans the joists and extends down to the bottom of the ferring strips and then mount the ceiling fan mount to that but was wondering if someone knew of a product that puts the bottom of the mount 1 1/4" below the joist.

 

[Freejack]

EDIT: just reread this...you are dealing with new work, not old work. What you might want to do in your case is grab the one of the two braces I linked to below so that the height of box is referenced off the drywall instead of the bottom of the joist. I'll leave the rest of the info up, in case someone is having similar trouble.

I just had to deal with this issue, and you are right, most old-work ceiling fan mounting kits don't accommodate engineering joists well at all. I ended up getting both a kit from Lowes and from HD. The Raco/Lowe's version did not work at all, even though it looks like its supposed to. It has a fat surface that looks as if its supposed to rest on the lip of the lower beam of the joist. The problem is then you have no teeth digging into the joist, so no matter how tight you try and crank the cross beam, it can still be easily forced out of place.

The Westinghouse/HD version has a circle of teeth that is large enough in diameter so that at least the lower third of the circle grips the lower beam of the joist.

Jake

 

[Ryland]

That sounds like you used the retro kit that would be used for existing ceilings. How low did that end up going and did it clear the drywall?

 

[Nostraquedeo]

They sell something similar to this at Home Depot. The depth is adjustable. They come in a yellow box if I remember right. I used them for all my ceiling fans.

http://www.electriciansupplies.com/product.cfm/p/16788/.htm

 

[Ryland]

To use those I would need to build the side of the engineered joists out so that there is something for it to nail into. I need to double check how close it is to a stud because I might be able to offset it down with a piece of ferring and then mount a box in place. I found some at HD that mount to the bottom of a stud and extend the 1/2 so if I mounted a piece of ferring as a spacer then it should fit. Just need to find the right screws to mount the ferring to the joist.