I wish I’d asked this question before I already did it, but here goes…
I installed a bath fan in the ceiling of a small gable-type dormer. There is no access from above, so I cut a large opening in the plaster to install the fan and mounted it to the framing and vented to the gable-end outside. I then cut a sheet of blue board (with a square hole in the middle for the fan) and screwed it up into place.
I’m about to plaster over the whole thing and it occurs to me that should there ever be a problem with the fan, the only way to gain access to it is to cut into the plaster again.
Is this legal the way I did it? Should I have made some kind of access panel?
Replies
Most of them I have seen you can replace the motor from the bottom side.
Right, but it's got a built-in junction box for the wires that will not be accessible (located on the top of the unit) once I tape and plaster.Toolfanatic (a.k.a. The man formerly known as "Toolfreak")
Generally the junction box is accessible from below, through the fan opening. You just have to be sure that the grille can be removed.
If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people
happy?
Couldn't you just unscrew the whole unit from the ceiling - you are screwing it into the blueboard after all.
BTW, you are attaching it to some framing too, right? Not just the blueboard I hope.
It's mounted to the framing.Toolfanatic (a.k.a. The man formerly known as "Toolfreak")
I was wondering about something similar, like recessed lights in the ceiling of a flat roofed structure w/no attic. Wire connection couldn't be accessed w/o ripping the drywall open. Doesn't seem legal, since jb's have to be accessible. I just don't know if it's treated the same way.
if you drop the trim on recessed cans the JBs are accessible from below....no need tto wreck the ceiling, you just need to shrink your hands sometimes
Yeah, being an orthoscopic surgeon helps.FWIW, I replaced the entire fan (including box) in our downstairs bath this way -- just operating through the existing hole (slightly widened because the new fan was larger). Connecting the ductwork was interesting.
If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people
happy?
I swear the can frames are made by Gillette™ ¯ ©
Edited 1/3/2006 2:27 pm by maddog3
Actually it is like having Edward Scissor hands for a helper.
....yeah......Too bad UL doesn't expand their testing to include #of lacerations per linear inch of fixture ......
I think they are about tied with the extension braces on can lights.
you think about it...the whole country changed because someone spilled hot coffee in her lap.....but you can slice a tendon in two all day long and nobody cares....
.
..... that's just wrong
Don't get me started on the coffee thing. McDonalds had around 700 complaints. Coffee should not be hot enough to burn to require skin grafts. If I was on the jury and McD's witness said that it was statistically insignificant I would have nailed them for a statisticly insignificant number of millions.
But we digress and have hijacked enough. Cheers.
...bye...
Most ceiling fan/exhaust fixtures are made to be accessed from below. Most of the time, all you've got to do is have access to the screws that hold the cover on to access what you'll need. Also, Make sure through maunfacturer specs what the insulation requirements are surrounding the unit.
Tight Lines
Whitefish
Here are pictures of it:
Usually removing a couple of screws will drop the motor/fan out of the box. put one slightly proud screw through the housing into the stud and use it to hang the motor from some picture wire while you connect/disconect wiring during replacement.
On "A" installations, the put in a regular plug/socket to faciltate changing the motor.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario