Ceiling Fan Installation

I need to replace an old ceiling fan with a new one. Does anyone know of a good carpenter/electrician whom I can contact who can do a NEAT, reliable and dependable installation of a bedroom ceiling fan?

I’d try an electrician rather than a carpenter. And I’d highly recommend Superior Wirework, 973-713-5345. Ask to speak with the owner, Dan. 

I'm wondering how much of a specialist you need when the wiring is already there. Should be a piece o' cake for anyone with some experience.

If you have an existing fan, that means that there is a solid electrical box in that ceiling.  Then you do not need an electrician (at $85+ per hr) to replace it.

I do it all the time for half that price.

tomcat said:

If you have an existing fan, that means that there is a solid electrical box in that ceiling.  Then you do not need an electrician (at $85+ per hr) to replace it.

I do it all the time for half that price.

Big assumption there. Lots of substandard existing installations.

Well, I would think that any installation that has held solid for ten or twenty years is probably OK.

drummerboy said:

Well, I would think that any installation that has held solid for ten or twenty years is probably OK.

 You've never opened a ceiling  box full of old wires and had the insulation crumble in your hand, have you?

FilmCarp said:

drummerboy said:

Well, I would think that any installation that has held solid for ten or twenty years is probably OK.

 You've never opened a ceiling  box full of old wires and had the insulation crumble in your hand, have you?

If that is the case, the whole building should be re-wired.  That is an electrician project ($$$), and I would always defer to an electrician if that is the case.

The main issue is whether there is a properly installed electrical box in the ceiling.  

The reason I suggested an electrician is my experience has been there can be many variables. The existing box for a ceiling light might not be the right box for a fan, for instance. Maybe there was never a fan where one is going now. Maybe it was never installed properly years before. When you’re talking wires and electricity, I like to defer to true experts, but that’s me...

FilmCarp said:

drummerboy said:

Well, I would think that any installation that has held solid for ten or twenty years is probably OK.

 You've never opened a ceiling  box full of old wires and had the insulation crumble in your hand, have you?

 I have, actually. Not a ceiling box, but other boxes. But ceiling fans haven't been a thing long enough, for the most part, so the odds of that happening are low. Sure there's a chance, but pretty small I think.

Stacey Electric is now a part of Service Professionals. We've used them for ceiling fans and light fixtures. I am in the camp of hiring electrical expertise. I will prune most anything, but that's a different set of knowledge.

drummerboy said:

 I have, actually. Not a ceiling box, but other boxes. But ceiling fans haven't been a thing long enough, for the most part, so the odds of that happening are low. Sure there's a chance, but pretty small I think.

 Ceiling fans were first sold in the 1890's, but that's not what I meant.  Frequently in houses wired in the 20s and 30s octagonal boxes in the ceiling had a spiderweb of wires emanating from them.  Far more than can legally be placed in a box today.  Taped up and undisturbed they were fine.  But along comes someone, maybe 20 years ago, who does open the pile to swap the light fixture for a fan, and shoves everything back in.  Now, opening it again, the insulation no longer has the elasticity to flex, and it just crumbles.  I have seen this many times.  

FilmCarp said:

 Ceiling fans were first sold in the 1890's, but that's not what I meant.  Frequently in houses wired in the 20s and 30s octagonal boxes in the ceiling had a spiderweb of wires emanating from them.  Far more than can legally be placed in a box today.  Taped up and undisturbed they were fine.  But along comes someone, maybe 20 years ago, who does open the pile to swap the light fixture for a fan, and shoves everything back in.  Now, opening it again, the insulation no longer has the elasticity to flex, and it just crumbles.  I have seen this many times.  

 I had to do this in 3 bedrooms, my house was built in 1947. Very small octagonal boxes, every wire is black, lots of black tape, and as soon as you touch them they’re crumbling. These old boxes are nailed to a joist. Not for ceiling fans, yet people still install ceiling fans without replacing these boxes with the right box and bar. I had to cut open the ceiling and install the bar with the box connected. Then patch the ceiling.