When we selected the features for our current home seven and a half years ago, we elected not to have the ceiling fixtures reinforced in the two spare bedrooms as we didn’t plan to hang ceiling fans there. The Villages wanted to charge us $100 each, so we opted out.

Fast forward a few years. The front bedroom became Mrs. Major’s sewing/hobby room and the back bedroom became my “study”. Now, Mrs. Major, who is almost always hot, ended up in the warmest room in the house. She usually has a portable fan or two blowing up a storm while she is in there.

Fast forward to last Friday. After seven and a half years, being the loving, yet procrastinating, husband that I am, I suggested we hang fans in both bedrooms. (I figured as long as I’m going to hang one, I might as well do two.) So we went to Lowes and picked out a couple of fans. Since there was still light left after we had visited a friend who is in a rehab facility near Lowes, I decided I would go up in the attic and reinforce the existing fixture mount by screwing it into a 2×4 placed above it.

Since it was about 40 feet of twists, turns, and contortions from the attic above the garage, which has a plywood floor and a drop-down ladder installed, to the light fixture site, I decided to get into the attic using the hatch in the hallway, about 10 feet from the fixture. It was still a little over, under, and around, but at least it was closer. Our attic has about a foot of blown in fiberglass insulation. You can imagine what happened when I opened the hatch. I spent the next 10 minutes collecting insulation.

Up I finally went. Unfortunately, once I located the fixture and uncovered it, I discovered the electrical box was a flimsy plastic one that would never support a ceiling fan. I was barely strong enough to hole the light fixture.

So back to Lowes…actually I think it was Home Depot this time. I bought two Saf-T-Braces and a couple of masks to minimize my coughing. By then I called it a day.

Saturday we had an event at 10:30 that would last until around 1:30 and another we had to leave for at 5:00. So, between the two, I finally got the Saf-T-Brace and fan installed. So much for the first fan.

The next day, Sunday, I removed the fixture in the study in preparation for the installation of the second Saf-T-Brace and discovered that the box was metal and was screwed directly into a stud. No need for reinforcement. The installation of the second ceiling fan went smoothly.

So tomorrow, I take the second Saf-T-Brace back to Home Depot.

Old Dad, I hope you enjoy this post.