So, yesterday my brother and I attempted to remove the bath fans… Got those suckers opened and realized we had absolutely NO idea how to remove them, much less replace them. Great. Called my go-to electrician first thing this morning and he’s booked until the end of the month. I’ll be making a panicked call to my realtor here in just a few minutes to see if his handyman can somehow handle this.
I can’t find the supposed staples sticking out of the carpet. I keep forgetting to look and figure out where the shower head is leaking.
Now, the good news is that the HVAC has been inspected and there is nothing wrong with it, the chimney has been cleaned, the vent flap that was stuck open is now closed, the smoke detectors have been replaced, and the aerator in the guest bath sink is clear and ready to go back on the sink. The bathtub will be caulked this afternoon, and the shower head either replaced or fixed today, and I’ll go over the floor with a flashlight to see if I can’t find these phantom staples.
I’m going to finish my coffee and then have a good freak out.
October 5th, 2007 - 12:50 pm
I’ve installed all of one exhaust fan in my life and you didn’t mention what state they’re in so….
It sounds like you got the cover off. If it was like mine you need to then remove the motor. Mine had some screws connecting the motor to the housing. Since you don’t wan’t to save the fan you can safely (once you make sure it’s powered down) just starting unscrewing stuff until you just have the housing left. The housing should be nailed or screwed into a joist from inside the housing.
In the sad case that it was original to the house there is a risk that it is attatched to the joist by screws or nails ouside the housing. If this is the case you can hopefully pry the whole housing loose using a screwdriver or hammer, but if it’s screwed in place that is going to be an issue.
Once the housing is free you need to get it through a hole exactly the same size as the housing… fun.
There are probably wire clamps locking the wires into the housing they need to be unscrewed so you don’t try and yank the wires down.
That’s all I can think of.
October 5th, 2007 - 2:49 pm
I got very lucky on this one. Went to the hardware store to get the replacements, figuring I’d turn them over to the handyman. Found out it’s not the entire housing that has to come out, just the motor. And it’s a plug-in motor. Well, damn, I could do that.
Got ‘em home, unscrewed the bracket holding it in, popped the old motor out, put the new one in, put the bracket back on and WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, it worked. :-D