I am not an electrician and this should not be construed as professional advice.

It's my understanding that electrical boxes ARE supposed to be flush with the surface to which you mount something. Consequently, you have answered your own question as the screws for mounting to the box are short by the thickness of the ceiling material presumably added after the box was installed.

The answer to the dilemna will be to purchase a 1 inch box extension which is like a ring that fits to the electrical box and extends it down by one inch so that the correct mounting screws can be installed for your ceiling lamp.

Good luck. I hope the ceiling fixture is suitable for outside installation where it might get wet or damp......

This is something you could discuss on the electrical forum

Hi... I think I must not have been clear as I did eventually find a website which described with pictures how to mount an outdoor ceiling light. It confirmed that they are typically mounted to an electrical box that sticks out from the surface, hence the shorter screws.

What I am doing is using a ceiling light that is an outdoor light, in the kitchen (obviously, in the inside of my house), not the other way around. When I was looking around on the internet, all the so-called "kitchen lights" were super expensive (like $250+) but I found basically a similar model that was only $75 but was considered an "outdoor" light. Bought that as well as longer screws and it's now happily in my kitchen, looks nice!

Jay