Found out my bathroom fan was venting into the attic, not outside

I was up in the attic yesterday looking for a box and saw the flexible duct from my bathroom fan just sitting there, coiled on the insulation. It's been dumping moisture into the attic space for who knows how long. I checked the outside wall and there's no vent cap at all. Has anyone else found this in an older house and fixed it themselves? I'm looking at about $150 in parts to route it properly to the soffit.

4 comments

4 Comments

lisas781mo ago

Oh man, that is SO common and a total nightmare! You are 100% right to fix that ASAP because all that damp air is just begging for mold and rot up there. Honestly, skipping the soffit and going straight out a gable end wall is a MUCH better plan if you can, because in winter your soffit vent can just suck that moist air right back up into the attic. The extra work now will save you a huge headache later.

campbell.thea1mo ago

Ugh, "sucking the moist air right back up" is such a good point I never would have thought of! My own attic is probably a science experiment by now. I once tried to fix a leaky sink and accidentally created a fountain in my kitchen, so I'm hiring a pro for this one for sure.

zara_wilson1mo ago

Yeah, that's the kind of discovery that makes you feel like a real home inspector genius lol. I once spent a whole winter wondering why my bedroom was so cold, only to find a gap in the wall behind my dresser big enough to fit my hand through. My DIY skills are basically just finding problems for other people to fix.

angela7289d ago

Wait, but what if that damp air helps keep the attic insulation from getting too dry and brittle?