tiling gone wrong :-(

[memmmmm]

So we got all excited this weekend, decided to tile the bathroom. Now we are all done :-) So while cleaning up I found this nice vent cover and thought well I should put that on its place, thats when I realized we had covered the vent with the backboard and then with the tiles. We were never big fans of having a vent on the floor of the bathroom, it always got wet when we showered, or mopped the floor, so we dont really care if there is no vent there, but would there be other problems? I guess my question is, what are the side effects of having a "fully functional" vent completely covered by backboard and tiles?

Thanks.

[Michael Baugh]

Vent? Sure it isn't....wasn't a floor drain?

[m Ransley]

Of course it should be open , have you ever heard of ventilation, ? heat,? AC? Humidity ? Mold ? Ih hate to see the quality of your hack job, good thing you are not a pro. Just a H.O. hack

[RB]

I suspect that this wasn't a vent put the supply side of a forced hot air and/or air conditioning system. If you don't need heat or air conditioning leave it covered. Seems to me like a sloppy job though.

RB

memmmmm wrote:

[Anonymous]

[MAG]

M-

Having read a bunch of other folks' responses to your problem, I'll offer my own.

Bite the bullet and restore the vent.

I'm presuming it is an HVAC supply vent, which delivers heated/cooled air to the room and promotes good air flow. Anything which moves moisture out of the room is good to reduce mold and mildew.

While not absolutely needed, it keeps the room at a temperature consistent with the rest of the house. In the winter, you don't want the bathroom to be cold, do you? The differential temp effect would probably be more pronounced in winter than in summer (IMHO).

Also, you will always know the mistake is there. If you are like me, it will eat at you. And it might stand out during a home inspection when you resell.

As to the actuall effect of covering over the vent, that depends on your HVAC setup. Probably not such a big deal, as the air will just flow out other vents, but it may have some effect on the system balance.

I recommend letting everything cure fully. Nice and hard. Then get a rotozip tool with appropriate cutter and poke it through the center of where the vent is. Then work it out to the perimeter and chop your hole.

Marc

[Jeff Wisnia]

Maybe if you two had relieved that excitement some other way you would have kept your attention better focused on the job you were doing.

How about describing that "vent cover" a little better, or even give us a break and tell us if you know what its function is/was?

Then maybe we could know WTF you are talking about.

Jeff

[memmmmm]

yeah, I actually wanted to add a drain but we didnt do it :-(

[memmmmm]

I'm glad cause this is the first helpful response; newsgroups have become kind of worthless judging from the other responses, just a bunch of angry people with nothing better to do.

I think we will do that. We havent applied the grout yet, we were waiting for today or tomorrow to do that, I'm guessing we should cut the vent hole first right? or should we do it after the grout is dry?

For everyone else, if you aren't going to help then dont reply.

[memmmmm]

I didnt think it would be so hard for you to understand what a vent cover is, everyone else seems to know. This happens to be exactly what it looks like:

other than that one is on an RV and this is a regular house not an RV.

[Colbyt]

I would be inclined to do it before I grouted because I don't think a roto-zip is going to do the job of cutting the tile. I usually burn up a bit or two just cutting faucet holes. I think you will need a diamond or abrasive blade to do that part. It will work fine for the backer board Wear a respirator; you are about to make a lot of nasty dust.

Back to your first post. I can't think of any harm leaving it sealed would do unless it is a return air vent (not likely). Most systems can handle the addition or loss of a single run if the original installer knew what he was doing.

And don't feel to badly I was in a house where some pro's did an install of laminated flooring a lost one of the kitchen registers just like you did.

Colbyt Colbyt

[m Ransley]

Nobody is angry here , we all got a laugh. Mistakes happen , like the guy I hired to replace my bath floor because it was sagging in the middle , he replaced it and left the sag.

[memmmmm]

Thanks for your reply!

I wonder if it would be better for me to just take a few tiles off around it, cut the backer board and hen retile that area, I have a lot of tiles left since they were a gift, probably enough to do a whole other bathroom the same size.

I got worried when people mentioned moisture, mold growing, however its a bathroom to which the door is usually open all day long, and like I said, we usually had the vent closed anyways.

:-) I am actually really happy with the job we did, we havent done the grout yet like I said but so far it looks very nice, lines are straight, tiles look to be pretty firm in there, I just can't wait to make a final desicion on the vent, and then grout.

[xrongor]

its always funny to me when someone comes here with a stupid problem they created themselves, (and lets face it, this one has at least 3 very obvious ways to fix it), then gets all testy when they dont get the exact response they want and wonder why others cant read their minds. even better when they scold people for giving an answer they dont like.

i think you should shut the hell up, take a deep breath, and realize its this sort of attitude that got you into this mess in the first place. there is a reason you forgot about the vent. and its the same reason you're bitching about the responses. things dont always go the way you want them to.

randy

[MAG]

Yeah! Do this. Like another poster said, depending on the tile you may have trouble cutting it with a Rotozip or similar tool.

Here's another idea, since you haven't grouted yet:

Use your Rotozip or whatever to cut through the backer board around the tiles that are covering the vent. This will result in a hole in the the middle of the vent with some tiles partially sticking out over the edge of the vent. Score the tiles along the edge of the vent then see if you can snap them off. If successful, this may reduce the number of tiles that need to be redone.

On the other hand, it may just be easier and a better use of time to punch out the vent and the surrounding tiles, then re-do them.

Let us know what you end up doing, and how it turns out.

Compliments for recognizing the problem in time to do something about it, and for not just leaving it.

Marc

[m Ransley]

Aw crapola , the bozo probably tiled over 1/2" ply with vynil on it , in a month it will be cracking on every step . Oh did he remember the toilet. then he will be crying we are ass holes again, Its good his day job aint tile, or maybe it really is .....