Bathroom vents?

Question

How do you check to see if there is a clog, blockage in a vent in your bathroom. Where do I check to see if there is a vent for my shower. I looked on the roof and saw the pipe that comes out of the bathroom, but what do I do now to check it.

Answer 1

First thing you should to is remove the vent cover for the fan and inspect it as much of the ducting you can see or reach above the fan. Bathroom fans, due to the moisture they carry out, are notorious for build up of a sort of gunky dust. on the grill and screen (if you have one) and the immediate ductwork, also the vanes of the fan and the fan unit itself). The vent cover is held on by two spring wires and should just pull off by prying on one side until it drops, then pinching the wires to release it. Same for the other side, and reverse the process to reattach to the built in clips on the fan's metal housing.

Agree on the ducting for previous answers. Ducts should head outside, never vented just to the attic. Builds up too much moisture in the attic if not vented out. If a single run of ducting is used, it almost always goes horizontally to the outside wall of the house. If it is a two story, it could be Y'd into one of the other vents, such as the smell pipe for your toilet area.
If after cleaning the what-you-can-see portion does not improve air flow out, holding a piece of paper up to the vent before and after cleaning and seeing how much suction there is, you could have some form of blockage and following the other directions is about the only way to resolve--either get up in the attic and inspect the connections of ducting, or try a medium wire snake since toilet snakes are so heavy They can actually knock some connections apart.
If you do have a singly story or the line is vented through the outside wall, you should be able to minimally measure what is getting out of the line by just watching (and gross, sometimes sniffing), but in either case you should have air movement. No movement on the vent, blockage somewhere.

In the old days, for those types of applications, a softball fit perfectly through the venting, but you had to have access to a straight line and something to push it with.

I clean out the vent line every year. You would be surprised how much lint can build up, especially if it is Y'd into a dryer vent.

Answer 2

Certainly "venting" need not be applied strictly to every fixture. Vents are designed for EXIT water/sewage, gases and might be a single that handles toilets sinks tubs showers, everywhere in the house...UNLESS you happened to live in a mutil family dwelling.

My question might be what cause have you to think a vent is blocked?

Certainly a snake can determine any blockage and hopefull break it/ dislodge it. You might fit a collar cap/roof over the vent ends allowing venting while preventing debris.

Answer 3

You should have an exaust fan in your bathroom. If you go to your attic and find it, it should be piped straight to the outside somewhere. If you can't access it, (it's on the first floor of a two story house) it probably goes straight out the side of the house through a little square vent near the bathroom somewhere. (outside) It should be flexible and it's probably not clogged, it probably came unattatched somewhere. Find it and reattatch it.

Answer 4

plumbing vent stacks can be snaked and ventilation fans can be checked with a smoker. Chances are your shower isn't vented separately from your bathroom.