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civ_iv_fan

ceiling fan support

civ_IV_fan
12 years ago

needing to hang a ceiling fan in an upstairs bedroom, i removed the 20-ish year old simple light fixture that was supported merely by the wood lath. knowing this wasn't good enough to support a ceiling fan, i picked up an old work ceiling fan kit and got to work cutting out the plaster and lath in about a 4.5 inch diameter.

working slowly, i found a certainly original 1x3 or 1x4 support above the wood lath, dead center in the room, with the original knob and tube (still in service) running through it. i tested the support with some modest weight and it seemed very sturdy. so i simply cut out some pieces of wood, glued them to the support to give me something to mount the fan brace to at ceiling level, predrilled and then ran 2.5 inch screws through the brace, into the wood blocks and into aforementioned support. it seems to be holding wonderfully.

what i'm wondering is if anyone else has found a similar existing cross support in their ceiling (not sure what kind of weight a light fixture had ~ 1910) and reused it, or if the typical approach is to attempt to cut it out partially and install the ceiling fan box above it.

i have no attic access

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