Hanging lights from exposed decking

[jdhen]

I'm getting ready to do the electric service on the house and I was wondering how folks have trimmed out the ceiling boxes that are hung from 2x6 loft decking.  I plan to hang two light/ceiling fans below the lofts and obviously I can't recess the electrical box.  Redoverfarm- perhaps you have a few ideas?  I saw in your thread how you hung those two lights but they create their own cover.  I'm not sure that with the fans I pick I'll be able to do that.
Is it easy enough to trim around the box with miter cut wood trim? Does anyone have any pictures?

Also, what are the opinions on plastic boxes vs metal? (other than the fact that one is 10x as expensive)

[devildog]

The main ones we used were lice these round small flat ones. And If I remember correctly, the fan base covered it.

http://homerepair.about.com/od/electricalrepair/ss/elec_box_ltg_5.htm.

they also make a fancy conduit to hide wire,but I havent seen it used in years.
Darrell

[Don_P]

 A fan requires a fan box, a metal octagon box with heavier mounting. For between exposed beams under a loft floor I've used cutoffs of the loft beams turned flat up to the underside of the decking and fitted between the joists. A 4" hole saw drilled into the center of the face and chiselled out will let the box recess within it. The wire leaves the back of the block and is routed to the joists.

The conduit devildog mentioned, wiremold, is still available up here. So far I've always been able to find a way to avoid it.

[Redoverfarm]

I'm getting ready to do the electric service on the house and I was wondering how folks have trimmed out the ceiling boxes that are hung from 2x6 loft decking.  I plan to hang two light/ceiling fans below the lofts and obviously I can't recess the electrical box.  Redoverfarm- perhaps you have a few ideas?  I saw in your thread how you hung those two lights but they create their own cover.  I'm not sure that with the fans I pick I'll be able to do that.
Is it easy enough to trim around the box with miter cut wood trim? Does anyone have any pictures?

Also, what are the opinions on plastic boxes vs metal? (other than the fact that one is 10x as expensive)

If you look at the fan/light kit that comes with the fan there should be a mounting bracket that is normally used with a ceiling box.  Then there is a cover that usually has 2-4 screws that mount the trim to the mounting plate.  All I did was to mount the mounting plate via heavy wood screws (normally metal machine screws for the box) into the T&G.  Then with the trim ring I cut a notch (semi-circle) the diameter of the wire at the location where the wire would enter the trim ring .  I used a piece of 3/4" stock color matched to the T&G and cut a channel to accept the width of the wire and 1/4" shoulder on each side of that.  Where the trim met the ceiling fan trim I cut the contour of that trim ring so that the wooden chase would snug up to the trim ring. I did however manage to run my wire partially in the "v groove" which helped to embed the wire flatter.  The other fans were in the ridge and I did use a metal box for those. Just double check the drop demensions to make sure you have the clearence for the blades.  They are usually illustrated on the box that the fan comes in. If not you may have to make a small wooden plate to drop it the required distance to clear the beam with the blades.

I also mounted several other lights ( lights only) in this fashion and am pleased with how they turned out. Here is one that I have yet to make the wire molding for but as you can see it is fairly hidden without.  



Here is the one fan/light that I did.





I don't think you can "zoom" in on the image above but they are on this page of my albumn.  Just click on the image and it will seperate it from the albumn, then allow you to zoom the image for a better look.

https://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/redoverfarm/hightop/?start=40

[jdhen]

Thanks for all the great ideas!  Don- I like the idea of using the beam cutoff.

Red- Thanks for all the pictures and descriptions.  Very helpful as usual.
So are you saying that the fan's in the picture were hung with plastic mounting covers or did they come with metal?
Do the monte carlo fan's move a lot of air?  I've only seen one other installation of a small blade fan and I was surprised at how much air flow it created.

[Redoverfarm]

Thanks for all the great ideas!  Don- I like the idea of using the beam cutoff.

Red- Thanks for all the pictures and descriptions.  Very helpful as usual.
So are you saying that the fan's in the picture were hung with plastic mounting covers or did they come with metal?
Do the monte carlo fan's move a lot of air?  I've only seen one other installation of a small blade fan and I was surprised at how much air flow it created.

Jesse the fans that I purchased came with metal trim rings.  They have 4 screws that attach to the mounting plate.  One of those quick mount designs where you put two screws in the plate and they have an offset made that just twist in place. Then put the other two remaining screws in.  I would use a small lock washer on the screws that you use to affix the mounting plate to the T&G.  Not sure if vibration would work them loose or not. Doubtfull but just a little more security.

And yes the little fan does stir the air quite well for it's size.  With 7' of headroom to the bottom of the beams I was limited in my options.  I could have used a 30" fan in between the beams but I could not find one with a light combination that did not cramp my headroom clearence.

@ H-12 in the following mounting brackets available is what I had.  As you can see there is two screws visible on one end and corresponding other two on the opposite end.  The slotted screw holes is where your normal screws go to mount it to a metal box.  That is where I substituted the woodscrews for application to the T&G.  With this application I did reconfigure the canopy for flush mount rather than down rod.  The instructions showed how to make that reconfiuration.

http://www.eceilingfans.com/hanger_brackets_ceiling_fans.html