My bathroom vent fan quit working after 8 years

Last month I noticed steam hanging around after showers way longer than normal. Turns out the duct from the fan to the outside had come loose inside the attic, so it was just blowing hot air into the insulation. I spent a Saturday crawling around up there and finding the connection had slipped off the collar. Reattached it with foil tape and a zip tie for extra hold. Anyone else had this happen or am I the only one with shoddy attic ductwork?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_hall16d ago

Heard a guy on a home improvement podcast say this is actually pretty common in houses built around the early 2010s. Apparently builders were using those cheap flex ducts and they just don't hold up well to the heat and moisture over time. Mine had the same problem, just popped right off like it was never attached right. I ended up using a metal clamp instead of tape because the tape eventually peels off in the humidity. That zip tie trick is smart though, might add one to mine just for peace of mind.

michael66916d ago

I read somewhere that this happens in about 12% of homes, and @evan_green52 described the exact same failure I found.

evan_green5216d ago

Crawled up into my attic last year for the exact same thing, fan was running but air was just dumping into the insulation. Found the duct had completely separated from the roof vent, just hanging there useless. I was pretty ticked off because the tape job from the builder was a joke, barely any surface contact. Ended up cleaning both ends real good with a rag and some rubbing alcohol before using a proper metal clamp like you mentioned, then wrapped the whole seam with gorilla tape for overkill. That flex duct stuff is garbage, mine was already starting to crumble where it touched the hot roof deck. Zip ties are a solid backup, I actually put one on each end of my fix just to keep things snug through the seasons.