Don't Hang Your Ceiling Fan Without Proper Bracing

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If you're hanging your own ceiling fan, David Lupberger shows how to make sure your ceiling fan can safely hold its weight.

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David Lupberger on Don't Hang Your Ceiling Fan Without Proper Bracing: Hi, I'm David Lupberger with ServiceMagic.com. If you're hanging a ceiling fan, you need to make sure the electrical box is reinforced and can carry that weight. Most residential light fixtures are 5-6 pounds. Ceiling fans can be 20 pounds or more. Let me show you what a reinforced ceiling fan bracket looks like and how to install it.

David Lupberger: First thing to do is to remove the existing ceiling box. You'll see I did this in the model that we put together to show how this is done, so imagine this is a ceiling.

David Lupberger: This is the ceiling fan brace and box kit. And you'll see it is a brace that goes into the ceiling and as you unscrew this, it goes into the supports on both sides and those cleats connect, and create a very firm connection to allow you to come back and hang a box off this that will support up to 50 pounds.

David Lupberger: After you remove the other lighting box, you're going to be up on a ladder and you've got a hole to work with. You're going to push the wiring out of the way. You're going to take the actual bracket and fish that through the hole. This is all meant to fit in because once I put this in place I'm going to unscrew this so it cleats into the framing on both sides. It's pretty darn tight.

David Lupberger: Once the brace is in place, I'm going to put this bracket in. Once my bracket's in place, I'm going to take my electrical box, pass it through the ceiling and I'll have poked out one of those holes to push my wiring through. And I'll bring my box through and you'll see there's some screw holes. I'm going to line up my box and take at least two screws and connect the electrical box from the bracket below.

David Lupberger: Every ceiling fan requires some kind of bracing. So, make sure you look for something like this before you hang a ceiling fan in your own house. Also, be careful, because you're working with electricity. Also remember you may be on a ladder. So if either of these things you're unsure about or uncomfortable with, make sure you hire a pro.