Exhaust fan — how to vent through roof
DanCC
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I know my exhaust fans for the bath rooms should be vented, but I am more than a little concerned about cutting a hole in my roof and not making a bigger problem. What has to be done and any tips on common mistakes to avoid? I have a 45 year old house with plaster walls. I have replaced the fans themselves with much larger units and no longer have moisture in the bathrooms themselves, but I suspect that come winter I am going to have problems if I don’t get them properly vented to the outside. Please help.
Dan Carroll
Replies
Dan,
I hooked mine to the ridge vents. Three less roof penetrations.
Chuck S
Bad bad boyThe ridge vent iss palnned to handle normal venting. You doubled what it is being rquired to handle. I can't tell you how many timnes I have seen the aftermath of somebody havng the same brilliant idea and needing to fix the rotted sheathing and replace the moldy insulation withing 10-12 feet of the dump ends
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Paul,
You've got me thinking. Here's how I do it.
79773.146
79773.140
Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
Here is some information :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gee3itzjOG0
Orrrrrrrrrrr you could die....LOLOLOL
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we just drill a big #### hole from the attic and caulk it from the inside
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=90583.6
My way
Forrest
If your house has eaves, they make vents that mount on the underside of the eave.
Eaves are a long way off and especially open since the prior owner did a cheap plastic siding job over the old redwood. I have opened most of the eave vents and had a ridge vent added for for good measure so the attic has reasonalbly good air circulation now. I will be ont he look out for the kits. Are there any problems to look out for or special tools that help out?Dan Carroll
Going through the roof is no biggie. Firstly, do this when the roof is cool, early morning or cloudy day (easier to pry up the shingles to get your vent flashing installed properly). Plan your hole location carefully, as close to the fan as possible and centered between two rafters. This job usually requires a round hole through the roof deck (5" hole saw is very handy). Will also need to cut out a larger square patch of roofing material. Plan the square cut through the shingles first (after locating the hole between two rafters), with the uphill edge of the square cut following the bottom edge of a course of shingles. The size of the square cut will be dictated by the vent that you select. Once you've removed the shingles (a utility knife work fine), line up your round hole in the deck according to your vent requirements. Get your vent flashing under the shingles on the top and sides (you will likely need to find and pull a few roofing nails), and on top of the shingles on the downhill side. A bead of roofing cement to seal along the top and sides (don't goop the bottom edge). Think like a raindrop, and don't fall off the roof.
Good luck.
It is much easier to go thru the roof than the soffit and the soffit location is not the best becuase the regular soffit vents can suck thatmoisture right back into the attic
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Insulate and seal the whole length of the duct very well so that you don't have condensation problems. This is a good place to use abs pipe if your code allows it.
I'm not sold on venting through eaves as the moist air is usually re-introduced to the attic by the soffit vents.