Hi - I would really appreciate any help possible- I was trying to do the following projects and hit snags- Project 1- I was attempting to replace a dimmer switch with a regular on/off switch. The dimmer controlled the lamp portion of a ceiling fan. When I removed the dimmer- it was attached to two wires on one of its' wires (a black and a white), the other side was attached to a white wire. I used a pigtail to attach the two wires together to one side of the switch and I attached the other wire to the other side of the switch. Now, the fan will not work, the light goes off and on with the switch. Project 2- I was trying to replace an old ceiling fan with a new one. Unfortunately, while I was removing the old fan- it fell and I could not see how it had been wired. There are four wires coming from the ceiling- two very old ones that appear black, one white and another black. I tested the wires with the circuit breaker off with an electronic tester - the two old wires made the tester's light light up,the other black wire and the white wire did not light up the light. No matter how I arrange the wires, the light and the fan will not come on. I also replaced the switch in this room. It had a white wire and a black wire to a dimmer switch. I put the black on one terminal of the new on/off switch and the white to the other terminal. Any suggestions?

Hi ~ I want to mount a new porch light fixture but I have wood lap siding that is 6 inches wide and naturally, the mounting base for the fixture is bigger. I found what's called a mounting block by a company called Portfolio/Laurel Lighting but they only offer it for 4 inch lap siding and I cannot google anything about this online. Any suggestions for how I might go about this in a reasonable manner? The mounting block looked like the very simplest solution since it creates a flat vertical surface that, on the underside, conforms to the steps in the siding, but I don't know that I have the ability to create a custom one myself. There's got to be a better way (or a source for these mounting blocks that fit.) Thank you, Linda