How do I start this bathroom project?

[Acorn]

One bathroom, 4 people, and no ceiling fan just isn’t good. There’s a window but now that we are running 4 showers a day, mildew is a constant battle.

We have an attic above the bathroom so it seems possible to get an overhead light/fan installed. Then somehow would need to drop into the wall near the light switch for the vanity lights to add another switch.

I don’t want the moisture only venting into the attic though. I doubt an electrician should punch through our roof. Who do I call to start investigating feasibility? I can’t image I need a general contractor for what is a small job.

 

Then there is the saga that our house wasn’t well built in 1960. Some things probably weren’t code even then. It could be a huge can of worms that we just can’t update right now. At a minimum, a electrician will say to get a new circuit breaker box. We might need to get hardwire smoke detectors. Who knows what else?

 

I just want to mold to stop.

[Pawz4me]

I'm sure not an expert, but I don't think there are any regulations that require you to bring an older home up to the current codes.

[fairfarmhand]

Damp Rid?

[JIN MOUSA]

Obviously any new work will need to be up to code, and depending on your area's building codes, you may also need to address every problem that is exposed by opening walls or doing this work (i.e. electrical, venting, insulation, fire blocking). I think you're right to be concerned about the potential of scope creep. 

 

I would probably start by talking to an electrician who is familiar with the codes in your area. 

 

A much smaller idea to address the mold is to keep a stand-alone dehumidifier in/near the bathroom. I bought a decent one for a couple hundred bucks off Amazon. 

[PrincessMommy]

I'm am in a similar boat as you.   2 bathrooms without vents and an aging electrical box.    Fortunately, my BIL is an electrician - but it also means I need to get in line.  I've been waiting since Nov.

 

I could pay to have the electrical box done within a week but there's so much to do throughout the house.  I'd like to try and be patient and save money.  For the record.  To have the electrical box updated by a company was $2700.  

 

A bathroom should never be vented through the roof... attic because of moisture build-up and then mold problems there.  A reputable contractor will know how to do it through the siding.

 

I was told by a contractor that any big updates on the house will mean we must update the smoke-detectors.

 

I too am afraid of what might happen once the county gets involved with giving permits... because I suspect the previous owner did a lot of things off permit... and the condition of the electrical box. 

Edited January 26, 2018 by PrincessMommy

[solascriptura]

My dh did something similar for our bathroom that didn’t have any windows. The vent just went into the attic! He remedied that by connecting the vent to a long flexible tube that was in the attic and went to the soffits. I think that’s what it’s called. When we sold the home, the inspector was satisfied with my dh’s work.

[Annie G]

You guys must live in areas that have much more stringent building code requirements. Last year we had our bathroom gutted and redone and the city didn't even come out to inspect. They said since we didn't change the layout they didn't need to. Our house was built in 1880 so we're used to finding things that need to be addressed. 

 

Anyway..our guy vented our new fan to the outside via the siding. It was easy.  In the past when we had to run an overhead light and switch, our electrician was able to open 2 small holes- one on the ceiling right where it hits the wall, and the other on the wall where it hits the ceiling. Then he used a wire thingy to snake the wiring from the light to the switch. It was pretty easy to patch the holes- you can't even tell where they were. 

 

Hard wired smoke detectors are a requirement in some places? I didn't know that. 

 

As your electrician about the permit/code details. In our town permits aren't needed for minor jobs like adding a ceiling vent fan.  

[MBM]

One bathroom, 4 people, and no ceiling fan just isn’t good. There’s a window but now that we are running 4 showers a day, mildew is a constant battle.

We have an attic above the bathroom so it seems possible to get an overhead light/fan installed. Then somehow would need to drop into the wall near the light switch for the vanity lights to add another switch.

I don’t want the moisture only venting into the attic though. I doubt an electrician should punch through our roof. Who do I call to start investigating feasibility? I can’t image I need a general contractor for what is a small job.

 

Then there is the saga that our house wasn’t well built in 1960. Some things probably weren’t code even then. It could be a huge can of worms that we just can’t update right now. At a minimum, a electrician will say to get a new circuit breaker box. We might need to get hardwire smoke detectors. Who knows what else?

 

I just want to mold to stop.

You want to get the right sized vent/fan that’s quiet and has maybe a few other features as well, like auto shut off after it runs awhile. It is well worth your time to investigate your options.

 

You definitely would want the fan to vent outside. That and running the electrical are not terribly difficult to do for an experienced person. You could ask some electricians for their recommendations as to how to proceed.

 

If you’re in a climate that gets snow, the vent, if not properly insulated, can warm up the attic and roof and cause ice dams to form. So you’d want to do what’s necessary to prevent that.

 

You’d also want to make sure the flashing is properly done on the roof and not just globbed up with something to prevent leaks.

 

Family Handyman online might have some advice and illustrations.

 

I would be surprised if you’d need to install hard-wired smoke detectors. Have a reputable electrician (or three) take a look and advise you how to proceed.

 

 

ETA

Https://www.familyhandyman.com/bathroom/remodeling/venting-exhaust-fans-through-the-roof/view-all/

Edited January 26, 2018 by MBM

[xixstar]

There are videos on youtube for doing this and depending on your handyness, it seems a reasonable project.

This is on my spring project list - 5 people, one bathroom, no fan -- it can't go on any longer. I will install a fan unit in the bathroom ceiling, there is already a light there so that helps. I will go with one of the timer units because that makes the most sense and then will install a vent in the gable end of the attic which happens to be right above the bathroom, so that's helpful. There are soffit vents and roof vents too, but the gable end of the attic looks easiest. The wiring won't be complicated, but thankfully DH is good at that stuff. 

[PrincessMommy]

You guys must live in areas that have much more stringent building code requirements. Last year we had our bathroom gutted and redone and the city didn't even come out to inspect. They said since we didn't change the layout they didn't need to. Our house was built in 1880 so we're used to finding things that need to be addressed. 

 

Anyway..our guy vented our new fan to the outside via the siding. It was easy.  In the past when we had to run an overhead light and switch, our electrician was able to open 2 small holes- one on the ceiling right where it hits the wall, and the other on the wall where it hits the ceiling. Then he used a wire thingy to snake the wiring from the light to the switch. It was pretty easy to patch the holes- you can't even tell where they were. 

 

Hard wired smoke detectors are a requirement in some places? I didn't know that. 

 

As your electrician about the permit/code details. In our town permits aren't needed for minor jobs like adding a ceiling vent fan.  

 

 

3 of the contractors that came to give me estimates stated that it was the case beginning in 2018 for my state (Maryland).  I think what one of them said that the law stated that any reno job that required electrical work had to include updating the smoke detectors (at least if you did it with a licenced contractor)

[xixstar]

3 of the contractors that came to give me estimates stated that it was the case beginning in 2018 for my state (Maryland).  I think what one of them said that the law stated that any reno job that required electrical work had to include updating the smoke detectors (at least if you did it with a licenced contractor)

Going off the new law, if you have hard-wired smoke detectors more than 10 years old, they must be replaced. If you don't have hard-wired smoke detectors, you don't have to install hard-wired smoke detectors. You must replace any battery-operated smoke-detectors that are more than 10 years old with sealed-compartment smoke detectors. You cannot replace hard-wired units with battery-operated units.

 

Note: I'm commenting only on Maryland law.

Edited January 29, 2018 by xixstar

[Annie G]

Thanks for that heads up. I checked our state and the state we plan to retire to in a year or so...neither require hard wired smoke alarms.  In our state, if you have a hard wired one, it MUST have a battery back up.   I'm glad we can still have battery operated ones in our state- it would be very expensive for us to run the lines needed to hard wire the new smoke alarms. 

 

And on that note, I'm off to check to be sure all of ours are under ten years old and are working.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kiwik]

I would suggest if the electrician says the board needs updating it probably does. Ask about alternative though as sometimes there is an approved alternative solution (I have an RCD on the user end rather than the board end for my new bathroom plug. The electrician should know how to do the roof vent or know another tradespetson who does. Alternately if you can go out the soffit - an electrician should have no trouble with this. If you can go straight through the wall though do it.

[kbutton]

In the meantime, I would suggest hanging towels, washcloths, and the floormat to dry someplace other than the bathroom (folding drying rack if your kids won't put them someplace sane), and if you have time in the schedule, be sure people leave the door open between showers and afterward. You can ask everyone to fan the door back and forth a few times as they go in and out.

 

You might also put a small fan in the doorway pulling air from the bathroom out into the rest of the house after all the showers are finished. It can be a regular floor or stand fan. 

 

If you have shower curtains, pulling each end in towards the middle a little bit can help. I would think doing the same with shower doors would help.

 

Using a squeegie on the showers walls/doors after the last shower helps (or wiping them down with a towel).

 

I know it's not much, but it can really help. We had a very inadequate fan before we remodeled this bath (remodel has a better fan AND it's own vent for heat and A/C below the towel bar--it dries the towels and clears the air one way or another most of the year). We are moving into a house that has no bathroom fan in one of the bathrooms, so I am brainstorming ways to keep moisture down for us as well.

 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

We used a large handyman service that employed licensed plumbers, electricians, etc.  You are correct that you will need someone who can punch through the roof or connect a flexible vent to an already existing exit hole.  The bid we got was $550 for installation, fwiw, in a fairly LCOL area.

 

In the meantime, can you run a dehumidifier? We ran one, and we emptied about a gallon of water out of it a day.

[HSMWB]

I would get a large (150-250$ range) dehumidifier and plug it in and start running it ASAP. And then figure out how to fix over the long term.