Mounting ceiling fan with structural lumber joists.

[Kevin G]

Greetings all,

I am trying to install a ceiling fan in a downstairs bedroom that has structural lumber (wooden "I-Beams") for the ceiling joists. The original plastic box that I removed was nailed adjacent to the bottom of the "I" with a 4 inch hole that is just next to the bottom of the joist. One nice thing is that I have about 9 inches of space between the ceiling and the floor above in this space.

The problem I see is that all the retrofit braces seem to assume dimensional lumber is used. The bottom of the "I" only is 1.5 inches deep, then the structure is indented in a about a .5 inch or so where the plywood is. Most braces try to grab, at the minimum, right at 1.5 inches (the Reiker 33310) and most are even taller (e.g. Reiker 22200). I don't think a 1.5 inch brace would fall down but I the teeth might ride up over the edge, allowing lateral movement. Overall I am not as impressed with this method based on what i have.

I recall seeing a different kind of brace (at Home Depot I recall) that has a bracket that is screwed into place when a joist is next to the opening. The fan actually hangs from this bracket that sticks out over the center of the exisitng hole and a box is mounted to the bracket to contain the wiring. I am not sure how high up on the joist the bracket is installed, but if I put a piece of lumber (using oak or hickory about 6inches long and 3.5 inches wide) on the bottom of the joist (screwed and glued into place) that would "fill out" the beam profile. I could then screw the bracket into the lumber using also epoxy or gorilla glue on the bracket to further affix it to the joist. This would seem to be strong enough to hold a ~30 lb fan.

If anyone knows who makes the "side bracket" hanger or knows of a brace made for structural lumber I would be very grateful. Google searches have been relatively futile. I hope to learn much more following this thread and newsgroup

Thanks

Kevin G.

[RBM]

Any electrical supply house will have side bracket fan support boxes. Your idea of building up the side of the beam sounds fine, another approach is a fan support "pancake" box, which screws directly to the bottom of the beam and is only 1/2" deep

[No]

Its very common to build out the I joist. You do not need to go nuts here. Just a scrap of plywood and some screws. If your really anal then add some construction adhesive.

I think you are trying to make this more complicated than it needs to be. Those braces are a lot of unnesecary expense.

I bought a box, similar to the pancake box described in another post, that has lots of room for wires. See

You may have to patch your existing hole. You could consider a ceiling medalion to cover it Here are two - Or, just brace the existing box with a 2x4.

[EXT]

I installed a ceiling fan on wood "I" beams after removing the plastic box. A 2 x 4 was cut to fit snugly between the web of the two "I" beams so that it sat on the top of the lower wood "flanges". This was installed through the hole where the plastic box was previously and it was well coated on the ends with construction adhesive. A metal box was screwed to the underside of the 2 x 4" to support the fan. Been there for years and is still standing, it could take a man's weight.