A few weeks ago, Justin and I ordered a ceiling fan for the master bedroom. The Saturday morning it arrived, Justin removed the old light fixture and realized that the box in the ceiling that helps hold the fixture to the ceiling was loose and would have to be replaced. We headed to Lowe's and bought boxes (one deep on and one standard one). We think the old box was installed before the drywall was installed on the ceiling. Because of this, Justin had to cut the drywall as he removed the box (some of it just fell on its own). We had quite a hole in the ceiling whe he was finished.
Justin had to go to the attic and move insulation to find the area over the master bedroom. This part of the attic is very difficult to move around in because the roof framing is not very high, so you're basically crawling. There is also no light in this part of the attic, so you're crawling in the dark while trying to hold a flashlight in the heat. Good times.
Justin cut two-by-fours and nailed the new box to them and installed that over the hole. As soon as we started trying to install the first part of the ceiling fan, we realized the deeper box we bought and installed was too deep. Before Justin removed the new box to start over, I went to hardware stores looking for longer screws. I was not successful, so we had to start over, which didn't take too long.
Before we could begin actually installing the ceiling fan, the hole had to be patched. Justin started this, but it was time for me to leave that weekend, so we didn't get very far with the installation. He worked on the hole during the week since the stuff had to dry between coats.
The next Saturday morning, we began installing the fan. As we worked, the ceiling patch was crumbling, but we continued. Justin even let me help wire the fan, which was actually very easy. Before we finished installing the fan, we turned on the electricity to that room to make sure it worked. It did, so we continued (after turning off the electricity, again). We finished installing everything and stood back to admire our fine work. We turned on the electricity and pressed the button on the remote (yeah, isn't that lazy?!). Nothing. We checked everything, but couldn't get it to work.
We began going back through the directions and came to the part that tells us to stick the remote sensor through the ceiling box so the remote will work. Note, this step is very important since the remote is the only way to operate the fan/light and the remote waves (or whatever they are) cannot go through metal. I haul a chair in the room and am given the task of holding the ceiling fan near the ceiling after Justin "unscrews" it from the ceiling plate holding it to the ceiling. That ceiling fan must weigh 30 pounds, which doesn't sound like much, but when you're holding it above your head with outstretched arms, it's heavy! I eventually gave out and Justin had to call Grant in to help (he did this several times because I apparently have no upper body strength). I am a weakling.
Justin worked fast and got the fan reinstalled. We flip the switch and nothing happens. Justin decides one of the wire connections is loose so we'll have to remove the fan again and check everything. He does remove some of the blades and uses the ceiling plate hook to support the fan so I don't have to hold it that entire time. He finds the loose connection and fixes it. We get everything reinstalled and ta-dah...we have lift-off! The blasted thing works! During the next week, Justin purchases joint compound to repair the hole. He says this works much better than the previous stuff. He sands it and paints it before I arrive the next Friday.
It only took three weeks, but the ceiling fan was installed.
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