Bathroom Vent

[beagle150]

Sorry, I am not sure where to post this question.

An upstairs bathroom vent is vented into the attic with about 10 feet of plastic tubing heading towards an eastern gable vent. The tubing is hang from the rafters.

How should the vent be properly vented out of the attic?

* Via the shortest path?

* The roof or siding?

* Should the plastic tubing be replaced with something else?

* Lastly who is qualified or best type of contractor for the job ... an electrician? or roofer or ?

An electrician installed the fan to begin with but said leaving it vented into the attic was okay and not a problem. Insulation contractors want to vent through the siding with insulated 'tubing' (?) and don't want to go up through the roof. This would be about 12 - 13 feet of tubing.

Roofers have suggested putting the vent in through the roof but moving the vent (longer path) up the roof. The vent if put into the roof, straight up, would be about 5 - 6 feet from the edge of the roof.

Any thoughts?

- M. Clark

[ozofprev]

Ideally, there would be insulated duct going straight up through roof. I don't like the plastic tube because the warm stinky moist air from the bath can easily condense and cause obvious problems.

Still, I have seen several homes in Rochacha vent directly into the attic (no plastic tube, however) with no problems. If there is not much distance from the vent to the attic ceiling, then there is more likely to be a moisture and/or mold issue.

[randynavarro]

Pull up any of the mfr's specs online; NuTone, Panasonic, Broan etc.

Best is insulated, smooth wall, and short as possible.

Roof or sidewall doesn't matter to me. Some folks are afraid of punching through the roof.

I personally think its easier to install a roof jack than try and make a good water-tight hole through the siding.

[hausdok]

Originally posted by beagle150

Sorry, I am not sure where to post this question.

An upstairs bathroom vent is vented into the attic with about 10 feet of plastic tubing heading towards an eastern gable vent. The tubing is hang from the rafters.

How should the vent be properly vented out of the attic?

* Via the shortest path?

Yes.

* The roof or siding?

Whichever distance is shortest.

* Should the plastic tubing be replaced with something else?

Yes, replace it with properly sized and insulated ducting - preferably metal and not corrugated.

* Lastly who is qualified or best type of contractor for the job ... an electrician? or roofer or ?

If you put it in the roof, have a roofer install the rain cap and have a handyperson connect the duct between the fan and the male extension on the rain cap. If you install it in a sidewall, have a competent siding guy install it and have the handyperson do the connection.

Of course, you could always hire the handyperson to do the entire job if you're confident that he or she is actually relatively competent.

An electrician installed the fan to begin with but said leaving it vented into the attic was okay and not a problem. Insulation contractors want to vent through the siding with insulated 'tubing' (?) and don't want to go up through the roof. This would be about 12 - 13 feet of tubing.

Many time, I've found those plastic slinkys full of water and sagging so badly between the nylon ties used to hang them that the water had formed a trap and they were useless. Imagine what happens if a tear or pinhole develops.

Venting it out the sidewall will probably work as long as the insulation on the duct is at least an R7 and it's a straight run without any severe sags or bends.

Roofers have suggested putting the vent in through the roof but moving the vent (longer path) up the roof. The vent if put into the roof, straight up, would be about 5 - 6 feet from the edge of the roof.

As long as there's plenty of pitch and you're not likely to end up with it smack dab in the middle of an ice dam in the winter, straight up will be best. If you think there's a chance that you'll end up with ice damming around it or the weight of snow trying to slide off the roof above it might damage it , move it up the roof and make sure the duct is well insulated and hasn't got any sags or kinks in it.

Any thoughts?

- M. Clark

Them B mine!

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike