Hi,
Got another question on ceiling fans. I've got a hampton bay fan in my 2nd bedroom, and there are two things bothering me :

1) the depth of the ceiling opening is more than the height of the fan-rated junction box that's in there. The box is currently installed with side tabs on the bottom, open end and not snug up against the wood behind it. This is a problem in itself ( the box has romex coming in, but also has one of the armor-clips in the back of the box - the kind with a nut that fastens to it's thread).

2) the plaster (true plaster) around the opening to the junction box has some uneven areas - up to 1/8" or even larger - in an area where one of the ceiling fan bracket edges is supposed to sit. As a result, the fan bracket sits up on one edge and that canopy screw will not go in (the canopy hole ends up not aligned with the bracket hole).

I hope this vague explanation makes sense! My thoughts to remedy it are :

- pull it all down, and properly mount the box all the way up and right against the wood.

- use longer screws to mount the bracket into the box.

- I'm thinking of cutting a circle of wood or metal to go directly under the fan bracket. This hopefully will spread the load and force it flush and even, so the holes will line up.

- maybe also use spackle to fill in the gaps.

Thanks in advance,
Matt

Hi,
I've attached two drawings in an attempt to illustrate what the heck I'm talking about.
Hope they help - thanks again for advice in advance.
Matt

I would just install it so the fan bracket sits on the plaster ceiling. Use longer screws and spacers if need be. From your drawing it doesn't look as though anything is drastically wrong.

Except-- how is the box mounted to the wood?

Box is mounted to wood with 4 long wood screws. Plaster is uneven and fan bracket sits at too much of an angle - one canopy screw hole does not line up.

Is there a spacer between the box and the wood? According to your picture there is space there.

No, no spacer. My picture kind of stinks - those are wood screws going from the box to the wood. The reason it's offset is the romex clamp behind the box hits the wood and creates the gap between the box and wood. What do people do about this? I want my ceiling box to be flush and fully against the wood it's being mounted to.

Is there a reason you can't remove the box and mount the appropriate size box directly to the wood, moving the romex to a side knockout?

yup, exactly what I did. Made the initial mistake of learning how to do things by observing what was already there. Big mistake, flippers we bought the place from cut corners *everywhere*, no I'm on cleanup duty. New 2X6 in the attic, new fan box mounted right up against it. Nice and solid. Thanks again for the help. Some joint compound and a plastic ring helped deal with the uneven plaster.