Home Improvement Today?

Very nice looking install.

 

I’m not to this point yet, but how do you install a ceiling fan if it’s in a room with drop ceiling?

Usually you just install the box 1/2” down from the rafters/joists so your fan sits flush in drywall but if the drop ceiling is 3” below that what’s the right plan? Build a support down that 3”? Cut a hole for just a short dowel rod for the fan? I really don’t know and am coming up short on Google.

 

Would a downrod mount fan work for you? https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=ceiling+fan&refinement=1907624524

 

Yeah down rod is what I meant by dowel lol

 

https://www.aifittings.com/landing/suspended-ceiling-boxes

 

Ooooooooo do those work well?? I feel like a fan supported by a drop ceiling is a bad idea..

 

Hung a fan at my Moms place in Florida …

New
Old

 

And new thermostat

 

i've used those kits before. they work perfectly fine.

think of it more like the suspension on your vehicles. the a-arms aren't holding the vehicle up, it's just keeping the wheel from moving into or away from the vehicle. the suspension spring is what keeps the vehicle up in the air.

these work on the same idea. the metal cable is taking all of the vertical weight of the ceiling fan, with the box and bracketry in the picture only there for the electrical connections and to locate and hold the box within the opening properly.

though if your dropped ceiling is only 3" lower than the rafters, i would absolutely just screw some boards across the rafters and drop a fan-rated box right above the ceiling tile it the fan needs to protrude out of.

fan boxes need to be rated to 50 pounds. if you run some 2x4's across rafters and then can hang off them, it will be more than enough for any ceiling fan.

 

Wrapped up this painting job this morning. Entire first floor was a dull yellow color. You can see it in the upstairs hallway looking down the stairs. Other than the blue in the bathroom and breezeway, 2 coats were needed on the walls. Did ceilings, walls and trim. Significant drywall repair in several areas and replaced about 50' of the baseboard trim. Used a 2x12 plank & ladder to reach the walls & ceiling in the tall stairwell. Almost 8 days of work.

Kitchen
Bathroom
Breezeway
Bathroom/Laundry
LR
DR
Stairwells to 2nd Floor and Basement

Had the place to myself as the homeowners were on vacation. Great inside winter work.

 

Looks great!
They will be impressed when they return!

 

I've been texting pics of progress. They like it.

 

Just checking in again to say mudding sucks.

Here’s a picture this time for you to critique and me not give af what you think



please don’t zoom in

 

does not look bad......

 

Thank you, it’s def not professional work, but I learned to use more mud than I originally think.

sand later, got a sander on order.

 

report back after 2nd coat and sanding

 

Will do

 

speaking from experience, what it looks like now really doesn't matter. but you do absolutely want to spend the time to make sure that whatever you mudded is flat.

i over-sanded all my seams in my bathroom, and they 'looked good' before paint(after 6 times trying to do it over, i gave up and called it good). but now the paint highlights the low points in the mud. it irritates me, but not enough for me to change it.

 

Looking good!

My first drywall experience:
This was long before the internet BTW.

A fellow told me "It's just like bodywork", so I laid the mud on generously and stood by with my cheese grater file at the ready to cut it down when it partially "kicked".

As it seemed to be very slow to kick I got a lot of mud done, the entire room in fact...

Just in case there is anyone out there dumber than me I learned four lessons quick:
1) mud doesn't kick
2) you can't cut it down with a cheese grater file
3) drywall is not at all like bodywork
4) the guy who told me that was either an idiot or a sadistic bastard

Left with a large room with joints covered in 3/8" of mud I began to sand.

It got old real fast...

BRAINSTORM: Put the sanding screen on a 1/2 sheet electric sander!

This worked much better, actually did a good job.

And then, without ceremony, came the fifth lesson:
5) Don't sand pounds of mud with the (warm air) furnace running -- the adjoining kitchen looked like it got hit by a snowstorm.

 

I was doing mud today up above the door in the kitchen, some fell on the floor and reminded myself to clean it up. Unfortunately, I didn't remember until after walking into the living room and noticing white footprints behind...