This ceiling fan is kicking my butt.

After I closed, I realized one of the ceiling fans made an awful noise at any setting but the lowest one. So I went and bought a new Hunter that matched all the other ceiling fans. I came home, checked that the electrical box in the attic was braced, assembled it, took down the old one, and hung it.

The next day, it had fallen off the ceiling. Not all the way off - the electrical box was caught in the drywall, but it wasn't attached anymore. So I took it down. It seems that not all braced electrical boxes are rated for ceiling fans, and this one only had one screw holding it to the brace, which had come loose. Reattaching the screw put the box back up, but it was obvious on close inspection that it wasn't going to stay there. I suspect, now, that the noise the old fan made wasn't the fan at all, but the box rattling on it's brace. We'll see when I hang the old fan in the garage someday.

I went to Home Depot and bought a braced box rated for a fan. I got up in the attic and realized that the old box had been put in before the drywall, and would have to be cut out. I got out the Dremel and started cutting, after laying down a damp towel so I didn't set the insulation on fire with the sparks. I got the old brace out.

When I went to put the new brace in, it was too big. My studs (joists?) in the ceiling are spaced slightly closer then 16 inch centers, and the brace at it's smallest setting was 1/4 inch too long. Back to Home Depot I went.

There, I found a box that hung on the joist directly with 2 big wood screws, rated for 70 lbs, and since there's a joist right next to the hole in my ceiling, I figured that would work. I got back up in the attic last night to hang it. There, I realized that the drywall hole is for a box that is turned 45 degrees from the direction of this new box, so the drywall's going to have to be trimmed before I can install it, and that's going to require one person in the attic and one on a ladder downstairs. Plus, I didn't have a drywall saw anyway.

I gave up for the night and put the futon together instead. I've been working on this for over a week now, and the ceiling fan is still sitting on the floor. This is truly the universe getting back at me - all the other projects I've done have gone incredibly smoothly. This should have been the easiest project of them all, and it's still not done....

On the upside, I finally got some sleep last night. I'm taking tonight off and taking Michael some dinner. Tomorrow, I'm going to draft Mike to help, and we're going to kick some ceiling fan butt...

Oh, yeah - I started window shopping last night.

Tags: townhouse
Current Mood: tired