When the wind won't blow...

I install quite a few ceiling fans a year, with very few complications. In most homes, the original purchaser had fan rated junction boxes installed throughout the home. That was the case with this Morgan Hill home, but the home owners wanted two fans installed in the back covered deck area. There were only light fixture rated junction boxes there, not fan rated.

Those plastic boxes needed to be removed and fan rated junction boxes installed. This is also a fairly common request that I received, but with outside installations, one important detail needs to be addressed. Inside a home, the drywall is usually 1/2” thick, but the siding material is 3/8” This might not sound like much, but if not addressed, the fan will have a gap between the canopy and ceiling. Not only will it not look good, it is not advisable… especially outside where yellow jackets might find it to be a nice home.

With the installation today, both junction boxes were installed so that the fans were flush to the ceiling. The gaps were sealed with yummy looking, spray cheese-like fireblock. Though outside fans do not last as long as inside fans, they will still provide a few years of a nice breeze when Mother Nature does not.