When I decided to install a ceiling fan, I chose not to put a switch with the box. First, the fan we were going to use had a remote control. And second, I hate crawling around in the attic with 12 plus inches of fiberglass insulation. Just thinking about it makes me itch. I still need to crawl in the attic to supply power to the fan and install a box. I borrowed power from the attic light and ran the romex wire to the center of the room. Go ahead and chastise me, but I just laid the romex on top of the ceiling joists to the box.
Before I made my journey to the attic, I needed to separate the bed. (We both have adjustable beds. The beds are next to each other, but not connected.) The legs on both sides were planted deep into the carpet. I finally was able to muscle the bed apart wide enough to slip the ladder between them. I found my center of the room and hammered a nail through the drywall.
I made my journey to the attic, and after swimming in insulation, found the nail. Finding the nail was a challenge. Even though I laid down pieces of plywood as I made my way to the nail, I still was full of insulation. I moved away the insulation so I could check to make sure I had room to get the electrical box into the opening between the joists.
I backed out of the attic. I got on the ladder and proceeded to drill the 4-inch hole for the electrical box. (I actually had a 4-inch hole saw.) With two 2 x 4’s cut to 14-1/2” and the electrical box, I went back into the attic. I laid out the box and 2 x 4’s aligning with the hole in the ceiling. I put marks where the box should go between the 2x 4’s and again, backed out of the attic with the electrical box and 2 x 4’s.
In the light and on solid ground, I lined up the box to the marks on the 2 x 4’s and screwed the box to them. I made sure the box was offset 1/2 inch so it would be flush with the drywall. Back in the attic I went to install the box. The box dropped nicely in the hole, and I started screwing in the 2 x 4’s to the joists. I had to move more insulation to get to the other side of the joists. I did not pre-drill the joists and that was a mistake. Those joists had hardened with age and after a couple of broken screws, I had no choice to remove myself from the attic and get a drill.
Before I went back in the attic, I decided to install the wiring in the attic light box. I found the circuit breaker for the box. The box was a shallow one, so I needed to add an extender to it. Unfortunately, that required a trip to the hardware store. Nonetheless, I got the box extender installed and connected the wires. With the end of the cable, a drill, a driver, and a handful of screws, I crawled my way to the electric box.
I got the box screwed down, but I could not remove the knockout to insert the cable into the box. Laying on top of a piece of plywood, sweating and starting to itch, I was beyond myself. I wanted to be done! I had to make another trip out of the attic to retrieve a hammer and screwdriver. When I finally was able to run the cable in the box, I moved the insulation back, grabbed the plywood as I crawled back to the attic opening and I was done with the attic.
On the ladder I tightened down the cable clamp in the box. I separated the wires and removed some insulation to check for power. I clicked on all four breakers I turned off before and headed back upstairs to check for power and…I did have power. Yay! Now I can install the ceiling fan. But first, I needed to shut off the four breakers again because I did know which one was the one I needed off.
I was going to install this fan as one unit. I installed the fan bracket which held the wireless control module. I left the blades on and balanced the fan on the top of the ladder. I cut back the sheathing and trimmed away the insulation on the three wires. The wire nuts were still on the fan wires, so I removed the nuts, matched up the black, white, and green wires and turned the wire nuts tightly on the wires. I tucked in the wires into the box and raised the fan. I tried to line up the screws to the slots of the fan housing. I pushed and pushed the fan up, but the slots would not line up with the screws. Exhausted and angry, I put the fan back down.
What was going on? After examining the fan bracket closely, I noticed the drywall was covering the screws. The electrical box was not deep enough in the hole. Either the box with the 2 x 4’s moved up when I screwed it down, or I was working with 5/8” drywall. I was not going to worry about those issues, but fine a solution. I needed to drop down the bracket to expose the screws. I could add washers between the bracket and the box to lower the bracket.
I went downstairs to my unorganized box of fasteners, and I did not find washers small enough to fit, but I found nuts. I grabbed 2 nuts and headed upstairs. I put the nuts on the screws and tightened down the bracket. I grabbed the fan and pushed it up to line the screws to the slots. The screws were still too high. Back downstairs to get two more nuts. The extra set of nuts created the spacing I needed to get the fan installed. I tightened down the screws, got off the ladder, grabbed remote and pushed “ON.” We now had a working ceiling fan in our bedroom.
I was happy and exhausted. I was sweaty and itchy, but I had that sense of accomplishment. You know, the feeling a DIYer gets once the project is done. (But first I needed to clean up my mess.)