DIY - Generating Steam Heat: Venting The loo.

My bathroom has a window, and while typically a luxury and a means to expel steam from the shower, this window is actually in the shower, making it more of a voyeur vantage point rather than something utilitarian. So in order the shield the outside world from myself, protect the virtue of my wife and vent what is otherwise a shvitz, I bring you the bathroom vent DIY.

To install a bathroom fan in an apartment that you don't own, you need the following tools:
1. Pliers - for mashing the sheet metal.
2. Sheet Metal Shears - for cutting said sheet metal.
3. Screwdriver - for screwing to the sheet metal.
4. Wire Cutter/Stripper - for stripping/cutting wires.
5. F'n S'tload of duct tape.
6. Infinite F'n patience.
7. Hammer.

Once you have all that crap, you will need the following materials:
1. Bathroom Venting Fan - $20-$50
2. Sheet metal with a hole cut in it.
3. Vent with attached duct.
4. Vinyl Duct - Preferably in a color that matches your decor, cause you ain't gonna spend the time or money painting it.

So, take a measurement of the window you want to put the vent in. Then measure out that same dimension on the sheet metal, using the hole as your guide for where you want this thing to eventually end up. Next fold the metal to double it's thickness in areas where the hole isn't.

Pro Tips: You measurements are worthless unless you have professional gear to fold this metal. I used the edge of my dinning room table and a plastic ruler. The product of my effort was 2 inches too long and 1.5 inches too wide.

After slicing your hand on the sheet metal. Put the vent with duct through the hole and secure it by putting some bolts through the plastic of the vent and the sheet metal. It should look something like this.

Next step is finding out that the duct on the vent and the vinyl duct are different sizes. So you cut the vent duct lengthwise so you can create a cone to slide the vinyl duct down the pipe. Secure the vinyl duct with zip ties.

Pro Tips: It is incredibly important that you slice your finger with the sheet metal and scream bloody murder.

Once the duct is in place, proceed to the bathroom and apply hydrogen peroxide to your finger, bandage, and repeat for any additional fingers.

To hookup the fan, follow the directions in the box. Seriously. Follow them, cause electricity and water...not so good.

Attach the other end of the vinyl duct to the fan and enter the bathroom. As you can see, I have jammed the sheet metal with vent into the window, and stretched the vinyl duct over the shower head and placed the vent over the medicine cabinet. Fortunately for me, this fits well. If it doesn't, you could enclose the vent in a box and hang the box on the wall.

Begin to apply duct tape to the space around the vent duct and the sheet metal. Start by cutting neat, even strips to maintain a good look for the interior of the bathroom. No sense in making it sloppy. Once the first piece of duct tape is down, place each piece over the previous to prevent pest penetration points (PPP's).

Pro Tips: After the second time you've caused the duct tape to stick to itself and create a nasty wrinkle on the sheet metal, begin adding copious amounts of duct tape ad nauseam only stopping once you feel that the sheet metal has been covered to a degree of bullet proofing.

You're basically done. Place an inline switch somewhere on the power cord, nail the duct to the wall using string or an excessive amount of zip ties and you're there.

Pro Tips: Be sure to hammer some holes into the wall for later filling in. I think that this adds the perfect DIY accent to an already pathetic job.

In conclusion: it works great. The bathroom vents well. The towels dry much faster, and pests have less incentive to stick around. I would recommend taking your time, paying your health insurance, and checking when your last tetanus shot was.

Posted by davidissimo  ::  Permalink  ::  Comments [2]  ::