Ceiling Fan Nightmare (Again)

The ceiling fan in my bedroom has been wobbling for quite some time. Since the one in my living room was improperly secured to the joist, I assumed this one probably was, too.

Last weekend I bought a new fan and took down the old one. What I saw still perplexes me: attached to a piece of wood that was affixed between joists is a metal plate that has two long bolts coming out of it. Attached to the bolts was an outlet box, but it was held in place with just two nuts. The fan was then secured with just a couple of screws, with no nuts. I took the outlet box to a couple of stores, and no one there had ever seen such a thing. The worst part is that I cant remove the metal plate! It's bolted in, and I can't figure out how anyone could get to its other side in my attic. So my only recourse is to put the outlet box back up there, and then affix the new fan to it with just a couple ordinary screws, which I don't want to do.

It's very frustrating, and I'm thinking of bringing in someone to look at it. So to install a $50 fan, I may be looking at a total bill of who knows what.