CEILING FAN/BEAM MOUNT – where ??
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Someone must make a ceiling fan mount suitable for a 4x beam, but I can’t goggle one up.
HO wants a fan mounted from the center of the 4x beam in the bedroom.
What are some elegant ways to get the wires from the wall, down the beam to the fan, etc.? I thought: MC behind cove molding. I thought: box in the beam to create a chase. I thought: EMT, which is not elegant. I thought: ask on BT.
There is a switch controlling a half hot. Cut that over for fan/lights, run up stud bay, thru top plates into joist bay and up to corner of beam, then… what is a clean exit onto the beam?
The ToolBear
“You can’t save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice.” Dogbert
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Lag a pancake box to the beam, holesaw/forstner a recess if needed. Drill UP through the beam to above and fish in the attic for the romex.
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Lag a pancake box to the beam, holesaw/forstner a recess if needed. Drill UP through the beam to above and fish in the attic for the [email protected]@@There is a thought. No attic, just rafter bays and roof, but...And, I could blow that hole so fast with the RA drill.The ToolBear
"You can't save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice." Dogbert
Can you install a board (trim or 2x4) to the bottom of the beam with a dato cut into the underside to run the wire. Wiremold would be another solution.
Tim
Can you install a board (trim or 2x4) to the bottom of the beam with a dato cut into the underside to run the wire. Wiremold would be another solution. @@@@I think they are open to ideas. (This is an '80s CA condo. The '80s was not a good period for quality building in CA, in condos in particular. We are not talking serious fit and finish. Costa Mesa, not Newport Beach.)I have considered Wiremold and running the cable behind a cove molding, etc. Boxing something in is an option. A dado in a trim piece is certainly do-able. I would like the fan to organically flow down from the beam instead of looking like it was plotched there.Does anyone make a nice beam mount fitting. I suspec the normal fan box covers would flare over the width of the beam and that looks poor. Seen 'em. The cover is hanging out in space. Could probably fab up some Craftsman type detail that would give a good looking wide landing for the mount. But I bet there are a number of folks on BT who have alread worked out this problem.The ToolBear
"You can't save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice." Dogbert
This is the closes thing that I know of that that is similar to what you are talking about.http://www.aifittings.com/n_4.htmBut for many reasons it won't work in your application.FWIW wiremold does make a fan rated box. It was interesting I thought that was a specialisted enough product that I went to to a electrical supply house. They had never heard of one. They could not find it in their system at all. But they pulled out a couple of catalogs and found a 2nd tier distributor that they could get one from. The counter guy suggested just using a standard one and drilling though it and using a wood screw to anchor the hanger bracket to the joist that I was mounting it on.Went to HD and found a rack with wiremold and they had the fan boxes. But it took me a while to figure out the parts that I needed. They 3 different sizes of wire mold products, plus a smattering of disconntinued parts for a 3rd.And nothing was in the right place and of course no one even knew where to find the wire mold products, much less what worked with what.Lowes had a copy cat brand and they had a fan boxes. But they did not have as complete selection of all of the parts. They did not carry the compound right angle (goes from ceiling to wall horizonatal) that I needed.So after rearranging the rack at HD I was able to get everything that I needed.Watch out for the types of fans.I just finishing up a Hunter 54" that put in a vaulted shed ceiling. I was able to fish the wire with just a 1" sq hole. I did not want to open up any more of the ceiling that needed because of the vapor barrier.I was just going to surface found the pancake box knowing the the canopy would cover it and it would be too high to notice the small gap.But this fan had a strange mount. It was designed only mount over a joist. And had instructions for mounting a new pancake box on the joist. It did not use a regular hanger bracket. But instead it had a large heavy steel backing plate that had a bend rim on it and lots of slots for mounting holes. And 4 rubber bumpers that when it it and where out side the box. Those rested against the ceiling. So I had to end up having to recess the box into the DW or else the plate would have rested on the box and not the ceiling.And you where suppose to run screws from the plate into the joist. But I had to drill through the box to do that. I also some one of the other slots to use the regular fan mounting screws that came with the box.The canopy was also heavy steel and it had a twist and lock with the backing plate and it forms the bearing for the ball on the end of the rod.Then a trim ring that covered the canopy to backing plate joint.For your application you don't need to do this, but it might look better is you did make some kind of mounting plate or box so that it does not appear to be suspened in mid air. And you can put some detailing on it to make it fit in..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
Some people have all the fun. I can imagine your joy upon opening the box to discover they had reinvented the wheel. Any brands of fan easy to install?If Wiremold makes fitting for a beam, they will probably get the business.I filed that site away. Could have used that at SonInLaw's estancia. The fan is up somewhere near three stories in the stairwell, vaulted ceiling. I think it would have taken two ladders and a pick to reach it. Glad I didn't have to do that one. Figure I did my bit by convincing him to shine the Decora and put the $$ into commercial spec backwire/sidewire receptacles and switches. The panel is a 40/40 in the lower main hall - not stuck off in a corner. What got everyone was that he ran 500' of 4/0 CU up to the house. The general reaction was: "Dude!"The ToolBear
"You can't save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice." Dogbert