3 rd
Floor Bath |
Inspections and Venting
No way I am getting up there.
Joe the Plumber got his part of the project inspected and approved.
That meant I needed to get busy on the new ceiling supports so I could
temporarily place the power vent up in the ceiling. That would mean that
the electrician could come back and finish the rough in of the vent, lights,
outlet and switch wiring.
Here is where indecision can cause huge delays. I knew exactly where I
wanted the outlets and light boxes. Even marked the studs with the
location and made sure there was plenty of nailers in place for the
electrician. It was the ceiling that just kept me from moving ahead.
Remember that this bathroom is being built in a space that used to be a
closet. That closet was partially formed by the roof line. That
means there is a substantial portion of the "ceiling" that is at some
bizarre angle. How high should I put the new ceiling? I had to
create a new, lower ceiling to accompany the power vent or I would have had
essentially no decisions to worry about.
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The original ceiling in the old closet space
is about 10 feet high. You can see just to the left of the picture
the slope formed by the roof line. There is a pipe...look up high
to the left, that Joe the Plumber thinks may have been used to vent a
basement bathroom years ago. At first we thought we might be able to
hook into that pipe with the new power vent, but found out we could not
do that. The pipe is 3 inches and the new vent is 4 inches.
The old pipe is also connected to the flu for the furnace. We both
felt it a better idea to vent directly to the outside, either through
the roof (yeesh) or through the one outside wall. Either choice
made me dizzy just thinking about it. Joe the Plumber found a
roofer willing to help me out. |
I eventually decided to lower the ceiling
about two feet, leaving plenty of head room and easy installation of the
required power vent.
Here you can see the hole in the outside wall, freshly made by a brave
roofer and his helper. It did not take them long to make the hole and
install an outside vent device. Them it took about one hour and
$150. Me, it would have taken days and about a million dollars in
medical bills for the myriad of broken body parts. Hire a pro. |
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This is why you hire a pro. This brave
roofer (actually the helper..the owner was safely inside with me!) has
his left hand just over the area where the new power vent outlet was
placed. It was just a little bit too high for him to reach, so they had
to add another ladder for the job.
Years ago, I had a little get together at another house where friends
gathered to watch something on TV. It was a bit windy and the
antenna (yes, an antenna) turned so the image was lost. Filled
with a fair amount of liquid courage, I practically ran up the ladder
and quickly adjusted the antenna. Then I froze. I could not
for the life of me make my body turn around and put my foot on the
ladder. It took over an hour (and a quickly filling bladder)
before I could shake my way down to the ground. |
| This picture give you a better idea of just
how high the hole in the outside wall had to be. You will note it is at
roof top level with the house across the street. I was also a
little surprised at just how thick the outside walls are.
After the vent was in place, I called the electrician and he came out
right away to complete the rough in. About a week after that the
electrical inspector passed that work. Now, all I have to do is
get the building inspector out to approve my woodworking, then I can get
this bubba finished walls, ceiling and floor. |
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