[/caption]On Saturday, we mostly completed a multi-week project to install 3 new ceiling fans in our home. Rachel had the only electrician who was willing to come out give us a quote to install the new fans. Since we are NOT handy with projects like this, we thought it best have a professional do the work. However, when the quote came back, we decided maybe we should become a little more handy.
The family room fan was first. This project was to replace a fan that wobbled like crazy. I had tried to balance the blades first, but it seemed nothing worked. Rachel was happy to get the ugly fan out of here and put in a new one she picked out.
Our first discovery of the project was that the circuit breaker labels were not correct. I tried every breaker on the panel before I found the one that would turn off the power to the family room ceiling fan. It turned out to be the one labeled "bedroom" and not any of the ones labeled "family room", "living room" or "kitchen". Hmmmm.
[caption id="attachment_55" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Family room finished product with NO wobbling fan!"]
[/caption]Next discovery was that the old fan was installed improperly. The previous owner did not use the correct size box and had hacked a job of installing one side into the box for a light fixture and the other side into the beam. Not safe. Therefore, I had to cut a larger hole in the ceiling to install a properly sized box that we could safely use and hang a fan from.
Installing the fan itself was a painful job as the blood left my arms and pooled up in my feet. I also had to re-splice the wires several times to get all the wiring to fix inside the box with the remove receiver. I will try to block that memory now and focus on the finished job with a fan that works great!
And look! No wobble!
The next phase of the project was a fan to replace the light fixture in Benjamin's room. His was the only bedroom without a fan. He got a cheap fan like the other kids already have. If I thought installing the family room fan was bad, this installation was even worse! I thought it was going to be cake, but boy was I wrong!
[caption id="attachment_56" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="This fan was painful to install."]
[/caption]The first and only major problem was installing the new box, since of course the plastic one used for the light fixture is not safe for a fan. The box needed to mount onto the side of a beam in the ceiling. When I got into the attic to install the new box, I found that I had about 2 vertical feet to work with between the beams and the actual roof of the house. Now, also keep in mind that I have to balance myself on the beams, which are spaced some 3 feet apart. Further, there is loose insulation everywhere up there, and every time I move, it creates a dust storm of this awful stuff. Also keep in mind that I am not a gymnast.
Somehow, after gagging on dust, pulling muscles and causing all sorts of pains I didn't know were possible, I still wasn't able to get the wood screws into the beam to mount this stupid box! Without asking for permission from Rachel (which would not have been granted anyways), I cut a larger hole in the ceiling so that the wood screws could be tightened from below. That did the trick! In the end, we tried to use some of the cut drywall to "repair" the ceiling and now it is hard to tell.
[caption id="attachment_57" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Installing living room fan"]
[/caption]The third and final phase was to install a new fan into the living room. Now, this in theory should have been the most difficult fan to install, since there was no pre-existing fixture nor even electricity running to that location. However, it was actually the easiest in the end, but not without it's issues.
I first went into the attic and with sufficient room I was able to install a new joiner box that I could use to splice in a new wire for the new fan. I soon realized that there wasn't enough wire to get into the splice and back out to it's original destination. So I cut the wire, leaving one poor light fixture without any electricity. I used that same wire to connect up a new wire which I ran along the beam to the predetermined location in the ceiling. Then I realized that the new fan would be on a switch in the hall! Score for us and all by mistake!
The rest of the fan went up without too much problem. It was a much hotter day, so the attic was very warm and I found myself completely drenched in sweat.
[caption id="attachment_58" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="New living room fan"]
[/caption]Ta da! All working and functional!
Now, for the savings calculation!
$90 savings by installing the family room fan.
$156 savings by installing the bedroom fan.
$266 by installing the living room fan.
TOTAL SAVINGS: $512
Yippee! Maybe we should tackle more projects, or maybe not!
ReplyDeleteWell done! You are much braver than I would be!
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