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
i would look for another place for sale.. its gonna be a problem down
the line when the sheeting has to be replaced... what other defects did
the inspector not find??? cant expect someone to find all the falts that
places get over the years....