My DIY ceiling fan install turned into a 3-day saga

Last Saturday I tried swapping out a old ceiling fan in my bedroom, and the mounting bracket was completely rusted to the junction box. I spent 6 hours with a hacksaw blade cutting through the bolts one tiny scrape at a time because I couldn't get a drill in there. Has anyone else found a quicker way to deal with rusted ceiling fan brackets, or am I just cursed with old hardware?

2 comments

2 Comments

lee_ward541mo ago

Grabbed a can of PB Blaster halfway through and just soaked the hell out of it for like 20 minutes while I went and made coffee. Came back and the rust had loosened up enough that I could get a vice grip on the bracket and twist it free. You probably already tried that though. I mean, maybe it's just me but sometimes the brute force approach works better than trying to be precise with a hacksaw in a tight spot. Idk, my problem was more that the guy before me used drywall screws to hold the box up, so the whole thing came crashing down when I finally got the bracket off. Had to patch the ceiling and start over with an old work box.

smith.anna1mo ago

Did you try turning the power off first or did you just wing it and hope for the best?