My second project for the day was installing a ceiling fan in the bedroom. We’ve had the fan for a month and today is the day to git ‘er done!
I carefully opened the box, found and removed the packet containing the instructions. I’ve learned from previous installation projects that it’s good to read the instructions before ripping open the box and scattering all the parts around the house.
So I read through 6 pages of step-by-step, detailed instructions (with photos and diagrams) and it really looks doable! I can’t quite picture all the details, but it looks like it will make sense when I get to it.
The first thing is to make sure the electrical box you’re going to install it to is UAL approved and properly fitted, then go for it.
I took the existing light fixture down and discovered that the existing electrical box is plastic and is not properly anchored to a ceiling joist or support bar and I have no idea what to do next!
Thinking it through, it seems that one might go into the attic, try to avoid falling through the ceiling, and carefully fit a support bar between two ceiling joists at just the right location to match the hole in the ceiling sheetrock, install an approved electrical box, and properly attach and anchor the electrical wires.
Thinking it through again, that’s way beyond my agility level (climbing up a ladder, through a 16-inch hole in the closet ceiling, picking my way over the wall into the space above the bedroom, crawling across 14 feet of ceiling joists – and then discovering I forgot the tape measure). It’s also way beyond my skill level to think I could get the support bar cut and installed so it would support the weight of a ceiling fan. And I have no doubt we’d have a sort of oblong hole in the ceiling sheetrock about a foot from where the fan should go.
So I put it all back in the box for now as I settle down to await a visit from a carpenter-electrician angelic being who will figure out what to do next.
I did, however, manage to put the existing light fixture back and it still works. So at least we’re no worse off than when I started. Oh, and I vacuumed up all the sheetrock, insulation, and plaster dust I scattered all over the bedroom.