Ouch.<\/p>\n
It seems we always do Big Home Improvement Projects when the in-laws come to visit. So when my folks came this time, I thought, hey, why not a home improvement project (of at least moderate size) for them.<\/p>\n
Aha. The ceiling fan.<\/p>\n
We’ve been wanting to put a fan up in the breakfast room for some time. We don’t have a\/c in the house — most folks in Denver don’t, and there aren’t more than a few dozen days per year when you really wish you had some. Well, maybe more if you’re working from home.<\/p>\n
So, now that summer is waning and we’re finally getting a few brisk (to coin a phrase) evenings, it’s time to put up a ceiling fan.<\/p>\n
We’ve had the fan, and a between-the-joists bracket — for three or four months. Time to put it up.<\/p>\n
And to learn, once again, why I don’t tackle these projects on my own.<\/p>\n
Turn off the power, first.<\/p>\n
Go up and pull off the existing, chintzy ceiling fixture.<\/p>\n
Hmmm. Odd. I expected this to be a simple electrical box nailed to an adjoining joist. Well, there’s a joist, next to it, but no connector. Just some screws at the top.<\/p>\n
Wait. Not screws. Rivets. Odd.<\/p>\n
Call Jim, my Father-In-Law Master of Things Home Improvementish. He thinks its already mounted on some sort of bracket between the joists. Cool.<\/p>\n
Assemble the fan. Big fan. Assembles easily, though.<\/p>\n
Getting ready to mount it. Hmmmm, what’s this next step?<\/p>\n
Remote control. Yes, this ceiling fan has a remote control. And that’s good, since we only have a single power line coming up here (otherwise we could have separate switches for light and fan). And the way that works … is with a modules the size of a garage door opener, with wires for the incoming power, then wires for the fan and light, and a little antennae for the remote control.<\/p>\n
Y’see, this is really sort of a hybrid unit. It’s a ceiling fan with the wiring a ceiling fan would be. And it’s a remote control kit for a ceiling fan.<\/p>\n
One problem. No way that little module is going to fit in the electrical box on the ceiling. <\/p>\n
Okay, not a big problem. I can pry open some ceiling drywall next to the electrical box, make a slot for the remote unit to fit in, and still run the wires back through (I hope) to the box. Problem solved.<\/p>\n
Cut, cut, cut. Be careful not to make anything that will be visible around the ceiling fan’s decorative bell around the electrical box. <\/p>\n
Hmmmmm. That’s interesting. I can see up now past the electical box …<\/p>\n
… and it’s simply has a hanger riveted to the top of it, that hanger in turn nailed to the joist. Seriously NFG to support a ceiling fan.<\/p>\n
Damn.<\/p>\n
Okay, drop back and punt. We’ll pull out the old electrical box, by brute force, then use the bracket-between-joists doodad up there, hang the enclosed electical box, all’s right with the world.<\/p>\n
(What the hell is this old box made of? Some sort of bakelite, or quasi-ceramic material Weird.)<\/p>\n
Okay. Slide the bracket-between-joists doodad up through the hole. This thing’s cool. It has a spiked bracket at each end to dig into the joist, and you turn the shaft in-between to extend it out. It starts out just short of 16″ — the usual distance for joists — and extends out to 24.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately …<\/p>\n
… the distance to the next joist is 11″.<\/p>\n
Off to Home Depot to return that guy, see if there’s a different, shorter one. Alternative is to tear out more drywall, bracket\/hang a 2×4 between the joists, and go from there. Or so suggests Jim, after another phoned consult.<\/p>\n
A very, very helpful fellow at HD speculates that the bracket things — they have them there — could be cut down with a hacksaw. Duh. Buy a hacksaw for $5, come home, cut it off, lookin’ good …<\/p>\n
…. And it’s time to go off and start off our new Star Wars <\/i>campaign. Tale to be continued ….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ouch. It seems we always do Big Home Improvement Projects when the in-laws come to visit. 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And operating. Cue \"Dave does the Happy Ceiling Fan Dance.\" Use your imagination....","rel":"","context":"In "Home Improvement"","block_context":{"text":"Home Improvement","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/home-improvement"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13514,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/11\/24\/home_improvement_gremlins.html","url_meta":{"origin":645,"position":1},"title":"Home Improvement Gremlins","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 24-Nov-08 8:40pm","format":false,"excerpt":"We decided not to do any Big Projects while Jim & Ginger were out this time. Instead, we pulled up a list of little things ... most of which Jim...","rel":"","context":"In "Home Improvement"","block_context":{"text":"Home Improvement","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/home-improvement"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13487,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/12\/01\/things_done_and_things_le.html","url_meta":{"origin":645,"position":2},"title":"Things done, and things left undone","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 1-Dec-08 7:40am","format":false,"excerpt":"We intentionally did not do any \"big\" projects for this Jim\/Ginger visit, but a lot of little ones got written down. Here's the project list from the weekend, with accomplished...","rel":"","context":"In "Home Improvement"","block_context":{"text":"Home Improvement","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/home-improvement"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6416,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/09\/07\/every_time_a_do.html","url_meta":{"origin":645,"position":3},"title":"Every time a door closes, another opens","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 7-Sep-04 2:06pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Friday, we made a bold move. As part of our \"For second prize you get to stay with us two weekends!\" campaign with my folks (in which we took them...","rel":"","context":"In "Home Improvement"","block_context":{"text":"Home Improvement","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/home-improvement"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":638,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2001\/09\/09\/a_note_from_the.html","url_meta":{"origin":645,"position":4},"title":"A note from the installation instructions …","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 9-Sep-01 6:59pm","format":false,"excerpt":"... for the ceiling fan: NOTE: The important safety precuations and instructions appearing in the manual are not meant to cover all possible cnditions and situations that may occur. It...","rel":"","context":"In "ZT & PC"","block_context":{"text":"ZT & PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1059,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2001\/10\/20\/my_father_in_la.html","url_meta":{"origin":645,"position":5},"title":"My father-in-law is extremely handy","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 20-Oct-01 12:40pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I mean, all the neat home improvement, do-it-yourself stuff around the house here is all due to him. Shelving. Lighting. Closets. Doors. Ceiling Fans. All good stuff. 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