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Removing a ceiling fan to put up pole?
My husband okayed it but we are worries about live wires and exposed wires. What do you do with the open spot once you take the fan down????
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15 Replies
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There are little covers/caps that you can buy at any hardware store that you put on the ends of the wires. If you are not familiar with this procedure, please do not attempt it before getting educated. The first step in removing the fan is of course, turning off the power. Once the wires are disconnected from the fan you screw each wire into the little covers and shove them into the space. If you want to keep the space for future electrical use, then you can attach a block of wood to the joist in the opening so it is level with the ceiling height. You can then use that block of wood for installation of the screw. (This is for the one piece pole). If you have a pressure fit pole (like X-Pole) you can just leave the space there and place the dome as usual. If you don't need the space anymore, you can just drywall, etc….but that would be quite a project!
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My father in law is going to do it as he is good with electrical work. Any idea on the dimensions of the wood block?
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You need to take measurements once the fan is down. Most holes will be 4″ in diameter, but the depth may vary. Some installations use a shallow outlet box (mine was 1/2″, the depth of the sheetrock), but I’ve had some that were the deep type. Keep in mind that some ceiling fans aren’t mounted directly to a joist. I used a stud finder to make sure there was a joist before I removed my fan. I used a 3.75″ x 2″ x 1/2″ piece of hobby wood from Home Depot. It was a super-hard Poplar wood, I think. Home Depot also had Oak. They probably have Pine as well in the regular section, but I didn’t want to buy 7′ or 8′ of wood. The Poplar piece was 3′ or 4′ long if I remember correctly. We had to cut the piece to size; 3.75″ was the perfect fit even though the diameter was 4″ because of the arc of the hole. I then covered the hole with a decorative piece of wood that I painted a shimmery white color. Had to get the glitter in somehow! Unfortunately, you can’t appreciate the shimmer unless you get close :-/
Once I get my SV pole (Wednesday, I hope), I will post pics and a review! I obsessed about the hole in the ceiling for a few days since I wanted it to look nice. Also, my fiancé probably wouldn’t like it to look unfinished! The covers in the home improvement stores were not suitable as they did not have a hole for the pole. I guess I could have drilled a hole, but it was still an ugly cover lol. I think I found a reasonable solution, and it wasn’t expensive 🙂
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Just to make this explicitly clear. It was mentioned that you have to turn the power off before removing the light fixture. This does NOT mean just flip the light switch off. You can be electrocuted and you CAN die. You have to find the breaker box for your house. The switches should be labeled but turn off the switch that is marked for the room your pole is in, or test turning them off until you find the one that shuts off power to that fixture. Once the power is cut so the light won’t turn on from the fixture, you can safely remove the fan and put caps on the wires. Each wire should be capped individually- DON’T wrap them together and don’t just use electrical tape. Get the end caps and screw them on each wire according to color (there will be 3 colors.)
If you search YouTube for “removing a ceiling fan” there’s a couple how-to videos that you can check out to make sure you have everything you need before you start.
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if you only want to remove the ceiling fan temporarily there are metal and plastic plates that are made to screw into the electrical box and effectively cover the hole left by the ceiling fan or any other light fixture you might remove. You still need to properly cap and isolate the electrical wires to use these but it is a nice quick way to cover the hole.
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I plan to remove the fan until I move out which will be a few years. I was going to try and put the pole next to the home of I could to avoid hitting wires…but if I have to put it in the hole I can.. Just worried about hitting wires or something and still unsure of how the block of wood comes in…. Is it to cover the hole completely?? Or sit inside of it?
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Quirkygirl, as Jadestrada mentioned, you really need to see what it looks like in there first. As Webbie mentioned, you may be able to get the plates that fit over the electrical box. Without knowing how your fan is mounted we cannot give you any more specific instructions. Maybe once the fan is down, you can snap a pic and post it….Thanks, PDR for being so much more detailed with the precautions!
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Okay I just didn’t want to take it down if it isn’t going to work. I guess if it doesn’t work ill just install a normal light fixture
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If I went with the plastic or metal plate would it be sturdy enough to support the pole? I’d like to do it that way as it will look better but if its not secure enough to support it…
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I've never seen these plates, so I can't answer that. If they just cover the box, then I would say, no. They are probably not thick enough. One thing that Bunniup mentioned was placing the pole next to the hole, and not directly in the middle of the hole. So, you could get the caps for the wires, the plate to cover the electrical box, and then mount the pole in a stud right next to the hole. That might be your best solution, although then you would still have the "hole" showing. To me, it would be worth it. P.S. – Do make sure there is a stud where your fan is before you go any further as that is a requirement.
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That’s what I was thinking. And yes we will be checking to make sure there is a stud first 🙂
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Just FYI, I uploaded pics in my profile of my ceiling mount. Take it with a grain of salt! 🙂
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I just took the blades off my ceiling fan and put my pole next to it. No electric work required 🙂
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I just took the blades off my ceiling fan and put my pole next to it. No electric work required 🙂
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