Warning this is going to be a very long post.
Here is our brand new ceiling fan that we installed in our master bedroom. It took us 10 hours to install. Do you want to know why it takes that long?
Step 1: Buy new ceiling fan and ceiling fan hanging bracket
Step 2: Put daughter down for nap, time to get started. Get into attic (for the first time) to remove existing can light, look at insulation and wonder if it contains asbestos - 30 minutes
Step 3: Get on Internet to research insulation with asbestos and come to the conclusion that most likely you do not have insulation with asbestos - 30 minutes
Step 4: Get back into attic and realize while trying to walk around in a half crouched condition that boards that are up there to walk on are incredible thin, break a board, then decide to haul up new boards so you won't end up falling through ceiling - 30 minutes
Step 5: Measure distance to light fixture in room, and then lay out the measurement in the attic so the existing light can be found beneath the many layers of insulation - 15 minutes
Step 6: Realize this measurement takes you to the area in the attic which is incredibly hard to access and you must contort yourself to do the work, cuss a little at your luck
Step 7: Start removing existing can light, then realize you need to remove light bulb and cover plate below. Ask wife who is down in the room to do it - 10 minutes
Step 8: Start to remove the fixture housing in the attic, realize insulation will fall below, conveniently onto your bed. Have wife try to maneuver queen size mattress off bed by herself - 15 minutes
Step 9: Again, start to remove the light fixture, find out that it was installed underneath the sheet rock, so you must really twist and turn in order to get it off without damaging the ceiling, cuss again at your luck - 10 minutes
Step 10: Attempt to install hanging bracket, trying to keep it centered in the existing opening, while also trying to nail it into place. Realize it can't be done, cuss more - 10 minutes
Step 11: Wife attempts to hold bracket in place from below, while husband tries to nail from above. Husband cussing the whole time about how contorted he is in order to make this work and how said ceiling fan is not worth all this trouble. Also complaining about how much insulation is all over his body, in his face, in his hair, all while sending insulation down through the hole onto wife so she can also experience insulation in her hair and in her face (not on purpose) - 15 minutes
Step 12: Take a break then clean up all insulation that fell into bedroom, then take a shower to clean selves up - 1.5 hours
Step 13: Open ceiling fan box and get out pieces. Put ceiling fan piece which goes up against the ceiling in place to check if it covers the existing hole. Realize that it does not cover the hole. Pack it back up, time to take it back to Home Depot and pick out a new one - 40 minutes
Step 14: Get daughter up from nap. Feed daughter a snack and play with neglected dogs - 1 hour
Step 15: Take family to Home Depot, return fan, go to fan aisle. Decide that you had previously picked out the best ceiling fan for the money that was the right color and had a remote control included. Decide that all you really need to do is purchase one of the ceiling medallions to cover the opening. Wonder if you should purchase a large ceiling medallion so that it won't get in the way when you install the fan, decide against it and pick out the smaller one so it won't be so noticeable on the ceiling. Repurchase exact same fan you just returned and ceiling medallion - 1 hour
Step 16: Eat dinner, feed daughter - 45 minutes
Step 17: Get all pieces of ceiling fan out, again - 10 minutes
Step 18: While reading instructions, realize that you bought a P.O.S. fan that had a remote included but not installed, so that you have to install it yourself. Realize that you can't get the transmitter to fit into the fan kit as instructions say. Husband gives up and decides to give daughter a bath, while wife gets on Internet to look for new fans - 30 minutes
Step 19: Wife reads that remote is hard to install, but can be done. Gets everything out and figures out the one position that it can be done in. Husband puts daughter to bed. - 10 minutes
Step 20: Husband installs mounting bracket - 5 minutes
Step 21: Husband connects remote transmitter to power supply, then gets the transmitter to barely fit inside the mounting bracket- 5 minutes
Step 22: Husband holds up motor housing, while wife connects remote transmitter wires to fan wires - 5 minutes
Step 23: Time to fully tighten the fan to the mounting bracket, can't use a screwdriver because of the ceiling medallion needed to cover large hole, can't come from below because the motor housing is too large, wife tries to use her smaller hands to tighten but can't get it to work - 30 minutes
Step 24: Decide in order to make this work, must drill through ceiling medallion and worry about covering up the holes at a later time - 10 minutes
Step 25: Wife puts together fan blades and attaches them to the motor housing - 20 minutes
Step 26: Husband installs light housing, bulbs, and glass cover - 10 minutes
Step 27: Husband turns power back on, and wife prays for everything to work. Uses remote and both the light and the fan comes on, hallelujah - 5 minutes
Step 28: Husband comes up and turns fan on high, fan wobbles all over the place, husband cussing and walks out of the room - 1 minute
Step 29: Wife turns fan to medium speed, no wobbling - 1 minute
Step 30: Husband and wife decide fan at medium speed will work just fine, decide it's too late to put bed back together, so they retire for the night in the guest bedroom
Project complete.
And that is how it takes 10 hours to install a ceiling fan