Bathroom fans

[Sparks]

As I have said before, I am currently refitting my bathroom.

Currently we have a very old Xpelair extractor fan on the wall, with just a pull cord to turn it on and off.

The hole for this is huge, probably at least 150mm wide.

I will be installing a shower cubicle in the corner, do I need to install a fan above this, or can the fan be on the wall further along the wall? - The trouble is, the ceiling above where the shower is going, is sloped (The majority of the ceiling is flat, it just slopes down with the roof line down one edge - where the shower will be!

So, as you can see, if I install a fan & light thing here, the light will be pointing in the wrong direction! - Also, space is extremely tight in the loft above where it slopes, so getting a duct connected there will be rather difficult/impossible.

What would you do?

Do I need to lower the ceiling over the cubicle, so I then have a sort of cube stuck to the ceiling above the shower cubicle? - Did I mention the shower "cubicle" is actually curved - How do I replicate this!?

Installing a full lowered ceiling is not an option, as the window goes to the very top of the higher part.

Moving the shower is not an option either.

Whatever happens, I guess I need a light for the shower - any suggestions? Can I get a wall mounted light that looks good and is IP44, and preferable

12v?

Thanks for any pointers!

[Lobster]

Are you able to post a photo of this configuration somewhere? I for one am having difficulty visualising it.

David

[chris French]

In message , Sparks writes

I don't think it matters much. In our previous bathroom (approx 2.5m x

2.5m) we had a shower cubicle in one corner. The extractor fan was in the centre of the ceiling.

It worked fine, didn't suffer any mould etc. in the shower, or other symptoms of lack of ventilation.

[Guy King]

The message from "Sparks" contains these words:

You'll be glad to see the back of that wallpaper then!

[Sparks]

That's nice.....compared to the avocado bathroom suite!!

[John Rumm]

Install a humidistat controlled fan elswhere in the room. It does not need to be directly above the shower to do its stuff.

[Guy King]

The message from "Sparks" contains these words:

Eeek! I remember my parents fitting on of them.

[Lobster]

And me. They still have it, too...

My (oh-so-charming) brother keeps dropping hints that they should update it for a nice white one, for the sole reason that the bugger reckons that when our 70-something parents eventually move out (ie feet first) that his inheritance will be uprated accordingly.

David

[deano]

Sparks,

Assuming you have an exterior wall (you mentioned a window). Hire a core drill for a couple of hours, don ear defenders, seal the door with tape and punch a hole thru the 9" wall. Then fit an extractor in there which is wired up to your lighting and comes with a timer, letting run on for up to 30mins or so.

Alternatively, put it in the ceiling... the ducting that comes with such fans can be 3-4m long, is very flexible and can be vented to a grille fixed to the soffits, under the eaves of your roof... if you have any kind of access to the area above the bathroom, you shoul be able to thread this through somehow.

hth.

deanlo.

[John Rumm]

Probably not that much of an issue here, since the room is to be redecorated anyway, but I thought I would mention this tip in case it helps anyone who found the same problem as I did....

I wanted a way to install a fan without having to either surface trunk the wiring to it, or have to remove tiles to chase the wall since the tiles were no longer available. I found the following trick worked nicely[1].

I did the core drilled hole as described above, near the top of the bathroom wall. Then measured carefully how far along the wall the new hole was from a datum point (side wall in my case). I then went into the loft space with a 400mm dril bit, and drilled straight down into the top of the inner leaf of the wall - right through the wall plate - aming to intersect with my core drilled hole. I could then run the cable down the vertical hole into the duct spac, where there was just enough gap[2] between the liner and the brickwork to allow the wire to run into the back of the fan. Net result, concealed wiring, no damage to the tiles, and all in a 9" solid brick wall.

[1] I did have the roof off at the time which made vertical access to the top of the wall nice and easy. You may need to lift a few roof tiles and do it from a ladder outside to get the required drilling angle! ;-) [2] 107mm core drill, 100mm duct, 1mm^2 T&E