ceiling joists in a 1998 Homes of Legend-- 4 ft ???

[zzsladies]

we bought our home new, and other than the usual MH issues (A-Coil leaks, water leaks,,shower tub drain cracks,etc) we love our house!

now for the problem,,,

today we were installing a new ceiling fan in my office, it is bedroom #3 of 5. we took it apart, and looked for the joists... well instead of them being 16 or 24 inch in the ceilings,,, GUESS WHAT??? they are 4 ft apart ! the idiots that made the house in BOAZ AL,,(i want them to know i'm MAD) made the joists nailed on 1 side,,, and flopping on the other, (the board that runs in between the joists )
there is NO way to fix it without taking the sheet rock down, and since they are on 4 ft joists,, i would have to take a 4 ft section down... what's up with this ??? suggestions ???
i had bought a cool fan bar install kit that goes in the ceiling and you twist it, the teeth grab in the joists and holds the fan. well that would have worked properly if they had been 24 inch centers,,
i am sadly disappionted in HOMES OF LEGEND !

please any suggestions would be greatly appreciated... that is the hottest room of the house,,,, but then again that is another ongoing issue,,,

thanks,
stace

[Mark Bower]

Do you suppose it's 48" centers all the way thru the house? Maybe they forgot a joist right there? Otherwise I would think you could see sags in the sheetrock all thru the house. Is there cross-braces from joist to joist? It's just not possible to have sheetrock hang on 48" centers on not sag. And with a 1998 home, you'd see serious sagging by now. So that makes me think they installed some cross-braces.

Mark

[zzsladies]

there is no way to tell through out the house as there is NO craw space. i have taken a mirror and a flashlight and spied up in the hole for the lights in a couple of places so far there is a cross brace where the fixtures come out of the ceiling.
the ceilings are perfect with no sagging so there is something somewhere. i can tell though where the 4 ft sections end. the popcorn is heavier there. lol.
stace