Venting a bathroom - vent tiles?

[skotl]

Had the very friendly and helpful roofer out the other day as I was convinced that that damp in the bathroom was due to a leak in the roof.

Was pretty embarrassed (as I previously thought of myself as a competent DIYer) to learn that the problem is a combo of a failed shower door seal and lack of a vent fan in the bathroom (despite it having an exterior window).

So the seal is easy enough, and I’m perfectly comfortable fitting a fan in the ceiling and wiring that to the light switch (including the perm live and a neutral).

My question is about venting. I don’t want to drill a 150mm hole in the side of the house so can I get the roofer back to fit a “vent tile” and then it’s just washing machine hose up to the tile, or is it more complex than that?

Bonus question: I guess very near the shower is the ideal location but it would be easier for me if it was around 1m away from the shower - is that a big issue?

 

[gaz1]

im not a lover of breaking a seal on the roof just to fit a roofing vent

theres a little bit more to it than you may think

ripping 4 tiles off your roof, cutting felt, drill hole in board ( on a low slope where you need support under the felt ) then it depends on which roofing vent you choose to have as theres a few choices

but that is your choice

do you need a 150mm hole nope 100mm is just fine if you dont want round you can use retangle instead thats 4" x 2"

im also not a lover of a vent in a bathroom one of the best places to loose heat for fun out the vent but unless you open the bathroom window for so long and vent the room after a shower and then shut it afterwards would be the best thing if you want to retain a heated bathroom

 

[brightspark]

get as close to the shower head in ceiling as possible if venting through the roof . use insulated flexible ducting as short as possible as you get condensation in the pipe and the water travels back down in to the fan and wrecks it. if u can vent out of the soffit if it isnt bricked right up to the roof

 

[skotl]

im not a lover of breaking a seal on the roof just to fit a roofing vent

theres a little bit more to it than you may think

ripping 4 tiles off your roof, cutting felt, drill hole in board ( on a low slope where you need support under the felt ) then it depends on which roofing vent you choose to have as theres a few choices

but that is your choice

do you need a 150mm hole nope 100mm is just fine if you dont want round you can use retangle instead thats 4" x 2"

im also not a lover of a vent in a bathroom one of the best places to loose heat for fun out the vent but unless you open the bathroom window for so long and vent the room after a shower and then shut it afterwards would be the best thing if you want to retain a heated bathroom

Good points - cheers Gaz

Wonder if I really need one then, given the family are pretty good at opening the 80x80cm window when we shower?

And if we do then perhaps a 100mm hole in the wall is the better option.

 

[Robotstar5]

Our bathroom extractor vents through a hole in the soffit with a grille over it.

 

[skotl]

Our bathroom extractor vents through a hole in the soffit with a grille over it.

Hmmmm… ladder time…

 

[skotl]

Do the masses think an extractor will make a difference if we genuinely have the window open (it’s a hinged at the bottom 80cm square job)?

Just wondering whether the (probably) weedy motor will actually push appreciably more air than just naturally recirculates.

The problem I’m looking to solve is black mold spots that appear on the plaster. Dosing them with mould killer pretty much fixes the problem for six months at a time.

 

[brightspark]

Hmmmm… ladder time…

get up in the attic and have a look a high flow inline 2 speed fan is best dont buy a crap cheaper one. it is best taking out the gable end if possible heres the best and cheapest . id wire it on its own switch and not of the light just use it when having a shower https://www.electricpoint.com/manro...MI4s7h_fuYiQMVlKVQBh0OpCW-EAQYAyABEgLlqPD_BwE

 

[skotl]

get up in the attic and have a look a high flow inline 2 speed fan is best dont buy a crap cheaper one. it is best taking out the gable end if possible

Bathroom is literally in the middle of the building so gable end would be too long a run, I suspect.

 

[Nomad]

Watching with interest as I have a similar problem (small bathroom, new roof recently fitted has no vent / fan - despite one being agreed as part of the works).
Traditional "cottage" build, sloped wooden ceiling, insulation on top then red tiles (clay?), vent has to go in the ceiling as there's no external wall to go through.
Any suggestions for the neatest easiest / least hassle way to fit an extractor...

Apologies for the thread hijack but as the problems are so similar

 

[brightspark]

Bathroom is literally in the middle of the building so gable end would be too long a run, I suspect.

any great length use grey 4inch soil pipe with flexible on the ends flexible is ok up to over 5 or 6 meters if it sat flat on a piece of timber with a slight slope downwards and strait

 

[JimmyS]

The issue with duct runs and pressure drops is mainly with axial bog fans. If you get a centrifugal one duct runs etc and pressure drops are less of a problem.

 

[JimmyS]

At the end of the day if there's trickle vent in the head of the window and the windows opened after a shower then it should be ok without a fan imo.

 

[DAPPH]

get as close to the shower head in ceiling as possible if venting through the roof . use insulated flexible ducting as short as possible as you get condensation in the pipe and the water travels back down in to the fan and wrecks it. if u can vent out of the soffit if it isnt bricked right up to the roof

I have set two branches of brown soil pipe in the roof void and have put a 4 inch inline fan after the unction then piped it out low through a louvered vent at the gable end .
Previously controlled by a time switch override connected to the light switch for a 40 min period , they were not 100 % satisfactory & the timers only lasted two or three years .
So I had a visit to Temu and now sitting on my desk is a humidistat fan controller with adjustable humidity switch . So it's on as long as there is high humidity in the wet room set to work between two settings .
It's called .... , Humidity controller XH-W 3005
The sensor for it is soon to be fitted & sealed into a pipe( glued in ) stirrup joint , with an access hole cut into the waste pipe to take the sensor which will then hung in the down pipe of the suction pipe above the shower cubicle and lowered down to just above the cubicle ceiling louvre so any rising humidity starts it off. Doing it like this so I can easily & quickly change out the sensor in the future .

The controller supply wires and fan power out wires will be put in quick disconnect connectors that cannot be mismatched both on the fitted unit and the spare unit as I discovered more than once it's no fun half squatting on a board in the roof void trying to change out such things when the roof void is just above freezing and you've got screaming back pain and can't bend you left leg . or feel the screw driver in your cold hands .

I have got a spare humidistat & sensor and an inline fan with th special connector plugs to sort out failures in seconds within hours of them failing as currently they only seem to last eight or nine years .

Edit forgot to say the outlet pipe is attached the th rood spars every other spar & runs down at 1 in 75 from above the suction end above the shower cubicle to the final louvre out let some 8 mtrs away

 

[gaz1]

Watching with interest as I have a similar problem (small bathroom, new roof recently fitted has no vent / fan - despite one being agreed as part of the works).
Traditional "cottage" build, sloped wooden ceiling, insulation on top then red tiles (clay?), vent has to go in the ceiling as there's no external wall to go through.
Any suggestions for the neatest easiest / least hassle way to fit an extractor...

Apologies for the thread hijack but as the problems are so similar

vent into 2" or 1 1/2" plastic pipe and go down straight away by bringing back the old vent to waste pipe method but i wouldnt use the waste pipe where the water goes down as it will stink

5v to 12v centrifuge fans pull air for fun and these can be piped into plastic waste pipe

this is what i would do

no water no dripping back and blowing the fan as the water is within the waste pipe and blown out at teh same time

and dont forget 4 or 2 slimline centrifudge fans can be used as there low voltage and that can be fitted into a small 1" lower ceiling profile

 

[DAPPH]

get as close to the shower head in ceiling as possible if venting through the roof . use insulated flexible ducting as short as possible as you get condensation in the pipe and the water travels back down in to the fan and wrecks it. if u can vent out of the soffit if it isnt bricked right up to the roof

Two supposedly " Professional wet room experts " did exactly that on the two extractors they fitted to my wet room using four metre soft clothes dryer tubes to export the moist air , which promptly condensed in the tubes laid on top of the insulation and flooded the fans shorting them out in a matter of months .

Re heat loss :-
I've made it so the bathroom door is fairly close fitting so there is not much air circulation with it fully closed , I've put a magnetic closing door cat flap in this door too as the cat litter tray is in the wetroom . When the extractor is running the flap opens three or four mm , when it's off it closes ,so hopefully there is not much heat being drawn out the rest of the bungalow .

 

[DAPPH]

Good points - cheers Gaz

Wonder if I really need one then, given the family are pretty good at opening the 80x80cm window when we shower?

And if we do then perhaps a 100mm hole in the wall is the better option.

The bath towels after showering will hold a fair amount of water ( weigh them dry and when wet /used 1 pint = 20 fluid ounces ) which will evaporate into the room as they dry out .

Having two gals in the home with long hair and all of us showering twice a day brought this problem to the fore for me 40 yrs ago .

 

[Erie Fred]

After hearing some of the stories of "Adventure Eating" around here.....I think some should wire 3 phase to the bathroom fan.....

 

[voipio]

The window alone, left open, should be sufficient. The other thing is to keep the bathroom at least slightly warm (heated towel rail?), and leave the door to the bathroom ajar.

 

[minimutly]

When I was rebuilding our bathroom some 10 yrs ago I looked into venting the toilet pan - like a vent between the seat and the cistern - it just turned out too complicated for the available time though..Would have solved one issue at least.