Ceiling Fan - What do?

[andrew_94]

Hello Again GJ!

The current situation I'm in involves a ceiling fan. Our house was built in 1946 and for what little I know, I can tell you little was done properly and now everything is aged.

In the living room used to be a light fixture, but my mother wanted to have a fan installed.

Local contractor installed the fan, 6-8 mo later the reciever for the light control remote takes a **** and We get sent a replacement.

So i am tasked with going up and replacing it. I replaced it without a hitch, except the housing with the wiring and what the fan screws in to is sagging to the right and I'm assuming contractor just bolted it in to the same housing as the light fixture? I can take pics if you guys need.

My question is should I purchase one of those support beams that expands out to hold the fan?

 

[ForceFed70]

Hello Again GJ!
My question is should I purchase one of those support beams that expands out to hold the fan?

Yes.

The box needs to be supported. If you are in the top floor, I would skip the expanding beam thing and just go into the attic to add some wood framing and secure the box to the additional framing.

You can install the expanding support/frame and a new box from below but it's a PITA.

 

[rlitman]

If you have an attic above, I agree that you should just add a wood brace across the ceiling joists. I wouldn't connect that to the box though. That can be too difficult, depending on how the wires are leaving the back of the box.
Instead, the easier thing to do, is to use very long wood screws (I've used 5" long Spax screws from HD with extra large heads) and screw the ceiling plate to the wood brace with the screws going straight through holes in the back of the electrical box.

If you don't have access to the space above, then you're going to need to use the expanding beam, and be prepared to do some plaster repair work and painting.
It can be done without that, but it can be very difficult.

 

[wssix99]

If you are like me and are severely allergic to ceiling fans falling on your head, you should better support it.

IMO - the method rlitman mentions is best and more secure. If you don't have access, I'd recommend going for the sturdiest model of the remodeling brace you can find.

 

[pentavolvo]

If you have an attic above, I agree that you should just add a wood brace across the ceiling joists. I wouldn't connect that to the box though. That can be too difficult, depending on how the wires are leaving the back of the box.
Instead, the easier thing to do, is to use very long wood screws (I've used 5" long Spax screws from HD with extra large heads) and screw the ceiling plate to the wood brace with the screws going straight through holes in the back of the electrical box.

If you don't have access to the space above, then you're going to need to use the expanding beam, and be prepared to do some plaster repair work and painting.
It can be done without that, but it can be very difficult.

agreed on the 5" long screws

 

[andrew_94]

agreed on the 5" long screws

Went to HD and bought a 3/8x10 inch carriage bolt and I will go into the attic tommorow and make a brace for it like this (rendered in paint, actual results tommorow)

 

[rlitman]

I used a carriage bolt for this purpose once too. It was where the fan was under a closet, so I didn't mind the bolt head in the floor, but couldn't add a brace above to screw into (which is what I've done under the attic). I think I needed a 12" bolt and cut just a bit off of it.
One issue I had, was I had to use a special no-turn washer with it. HD doesn't carry these, but my local Ace hardware does (although truth be told, I just used some sheet steel and made it myself). It's a washer with a square hole, and spiky protrusions on one side like a tee-nut. Align that with the hole, hammer it in with the carriage bolt, and you won't have to worry about it slipping when you turn the nut from underneath.

When I did this, I drilled out the center post from the round ceiling box (most round boxes made today don't have this any more, and you need to bolt that spanner across their face to hang a lamp), and ran the carriage bolt all the way through to the ceiling plate.

I'm a bit lost with what you're trying to do in your drawing though, as I'm not sure which way is up.

Now if you have no floor in your attic, and full access to the wiring, you may just want to remove the old box, and use one of those new-work fan boxes. Its like an $8 kit, and expands to reach both joists, and you screw it in. If you can work from above, then there's no need to wrench in the style with the spikes, and no real risk of damaging your ceiling.