jeff wrote:
I'm buying a townhouse, and the home inspector found out that the
bathroom fans are vented into the attic, causing damage to the roof
sheathing in the area above the bathroom fans. The home inspector
suggested an easy solution, which would involve connecting a 4"
flexible plastic exhaust hose to the fans and then running the hoses
underneath the attic's roof-exhaust-fan, and nail the ends of the
exhaust hoses immediately below the attic exhaust fan and having them
pointed upward toward the exhaust fan. The idea here is that the
moisture will escape through the fan's opening whether or not the fan
is running.

I just wonder if the solution suggested by the home inspector is
actually going to vent the moisture from the bathroom properly. I'm
worried that, with such a setup, in the winter, the moisture from the
bathroom would simply condense on the attic's exhaust fan causing
damage to the fan. What do you think?

Wouldn't venting through a gable end of the townhouse be the ideal
solution? The path to the gable end might be 20 feet long though...is
that too far a path?

Please advise on the best solution.

If I'm unable to get the condo association to approve a proper
correction of this problem, then would it be okay simply to avoid
using the fans when taking a shower. The home inspector things that
not using the fans is going to be a problem (since it could cause
mold/mildew problems in the bathroom, or paint to peel in the
bathroom, etc.) but my thoughts are that this may be less
problematic than the ongoing damage to roof-sheathing caused by the
existing setup. In other words, is my not using a bathroom fan
really going to cause major damage to the bathroom?

What do you think?

Thanks.

Jeff

Give it its own vent. Besides, the fan in not going to be on in the
winter.


--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math