I dunno, but now you've made me call in the dropship.
Re-Installing Loft Flooring and Fixing the Errors of the Past
- Thread starter Mysterae_
- Start date
I dunno, but now you've made me call in the dropship.
Managed to get some decent time to work in the loft...
Mounted the extractor fan on a rubber mat, ran it's power/isolator and finished the ducting including the condensate outlet to the outside.
Thermal wrapped the ducting that would be above the insulation level and next to the wall. I also insulated the condensate line just in case that were to ever freeze.
Fitted all the legs and crossbeams for the loft flooring.
First layer of insulation is now down in this section. I decided not to separately insulation the long length of ducting as the final layer of insulation should keep it snug.
Almost finished...
Mounted the extractor fan on a rubber mat, ran it's power/isolator and finished the ducting including the condensate outlet to the outside.
Thermal wrapped the ducting that would be above the insulation level and next to the wall. I also insulated the condensate line just in case that were to ever freeze.
Fitted all the legs and crossbeams for the loft flooring.
First layer of insulation is now down in this section. I decided not to separately insulation the long length of ducting as the final layer of insulation should keep it snug.
Almost finished...
Looks very comprehensive.
Going to make a start on ours this weekend. Thinking 100mm to shove in between ceiling joists and then 170mm or 200mm laid transversally over the top. Price seems to have increased since I last bought it.
Going to make a start on ours this weekend. Thinking 100mm to shove in between ceiling joists and then 170mm or 200mm laid transversally over the top. Price seems to have increased since I last bought it.
I've done a few bits and pieces but this post is about the outside of the loft....
Somebody was using the shower and I just happened to be outside and looked up at the vent as I couldn't hear it over the wind. The extraction fan was running but the surrounding area is looking a bit moist!
WTH?!
This is purely the moist air being extracted by the fan and I can only presume (and hope) that it's just condensing upon extraction and the wind is blowing back to the building making it wet?
There is no other source of water near there and it's bone dry on the loft side of the ducting although there is a cavity so who knows. I'll check it out tomorrow morning and see if it's dried out.
Really should have extracted through the roof but knowing my luck roofers that would have leaked anyway.
Somebody was using the shower and I just happened to be outside and looked up at the vent as I couldn't hear it over the wind. The extraction fan was running but the surrounding area is looking a bit moist!
WTH?!
This is purely the moist air being extracted by the fan and I can only presume (and hope) that it's just condensing upon extraction and the wind is blowing back to the building making it wet?
There is no other source of water near there and it's bone dry on the loft side of the ducting although there is a cavity so who knows. I'll check it out tomorrow morning and see if it's dried out.
Really should have extracted through the roof but knowing my luck roofers that would have leaked anyway.
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
Haha funny you say this --- I noticed the humidity went mad in the master bedroom today. Turned out my wife had opened the windows to stop humidity, and basically the fan was venting and then the moist air was being forced into the bedroom via the open window.
Seems like a never ending battle with humidity! Even when you get it out the house it wants to get back in...
A little update for those interested, regarding the fan extraction.
It turns out (quite obviously really) that my ducting path was restricting airflow quite severely. It was quite the fail.
Count the number of bends here:
To sum the bends up: 90+90+45 (fan->) +90+45+90=exit. The restrictions really added up killing the flow and resulting in the moist air from the bathroom either not being thrown far enough or just lingering around the vent, resulting in the image you saw earlier:
Time to rip it out and start again but first a bit about this style of fan - they leak water when it condensates. No matter if you mount it horizontally or vertically with a condensation trap, when the moisture condenses it'll leak from the detachable spigots and run down between the pipe and insulation if it's wrapped. More concerning is that I even had moisture get through the hole for the wires to the control board and gather there.
Water and 240Vac is not a good thing and it did start to corrode the fan controller's circuit board causing a no run fault a few months ago. Cleaned and repaired the corroded joints and got it working again.
So no matter what you do with this type of fan water is going to condense inside it and leak from somewhere. Time to embrace that and just let the ******* thing leak!
I made a sump of sorts out of an old cat litter tray with some wooden braces across it with anti-vibration mounts to boot. Lined the tray and wooden braces with silver tape so they won't absorb any moisture.
Total overkill but got to try something huh?!
I'll keep an eye on it and see how much it leaks and pools if any.
I also fitted an inline backdraft shutter to hopefully reduce the cold air entering the fan and ducting when the fan stops running. It will add some restriction but not much (hopefully!).
Finally, the new ducting routing path:
It's now only two 45 degree bends (and the backdraft shutter) instead of all the multiple 90's and 45 degree bends that reduced the airflow before.
I'll monitor it over time and see how it goes.
It turns out (quite obviously really) that my ducting path was restricting airflow quite severely. It was quite the fail.
Count the number of bends here:
To sum the bends up: 90+90+45 (fan->) +90+45+90=exit. The restrictions really added up killing the flow and resulting in the moist air from the bathroom either not being thrown far enough or just lingering around the vent, resulting in the image you saw earlier:
Time to rip it out and start again but first a bit about this style of fan - they leak water when it condensates. No matter if you mount it horizontally or vertically with a condensation trap, when the moisture condenses it'll leak from the detachable spigots and run down between the pipe and insulation if it's wrapped. More concerning is that I even had moisture get through the hole for the wires to the control board and gather there.
Water and 240Vac is not a good thing and it did start to corrode the fan controller's circuit board causing a no run fault a few months ago. Cleaned and repaired the corroded joints and got it working again.
So no matter what you do with this type of fan water is going to condense inside it and leak from somewhere. Time to embrace that and just let the ******* thing leak!
I made a sump of sorts out of an old cat litter tray with some wooden braces across it with anti-vibration mounts to boot. Lined the tray and wooden braces with silver tape so they won't absorb any moisture.
Total overkill but got to try something huh?!
I'll keep an eye on it and see how much it leaks and pools if any.I also fitted an inline backdraft shutter to hopefully reduce the cold air entering the fan and ducting when the fan stops running. It will add some restriction but not much (hopefully!).
Finally, the new ducting routing path:
It's now only two 45 degree bends (and the backdraft shutter) instead of all the multiple 90's and 45 degree bends that reduced the airflow before.
I'll monitor it over time and see how it goes.
Finally finished having found some time.
I did remove the backdraft shutter from the extractor vent as it was reducing the flow too much for my liking and there's shutters on the external vent anyway.
I'm happy with how the insulated loft hatch turned out. The lift-up lid will really prevent any heat and moisture from getting in to the loft from the house below.
Relocated the light switch for the loft lights to a more accessible place and also changed it to a Schneider illuminated switch so no more fumbling in the dark looking for it.
The lid of the insulated loft hatch made in to an inverted top hat of sorts so that it sits in the recess rather than just on it.
With the lid in position.
The hazard tape speaks for itself.
So gone from this:
To this:
More light, more insulation, better routed extractor venting but less space width and height wise. Time will tell if it was worth the effort!
Thanks for reading / looking at the pictures
.
I did remove the backdraft shutter from the extractor vent as it was reducing the flow too much for my liking and there's shutters on the external vent anyway.
I'm happy with how the insulated loft hatch turned out. The lift-up lid will really prevent any heat and moisture from getting in to the loft from the house below.
Relocated the light switch for the loft lights to a more accessible place and also changed it to a Schneider illuminated switch so no more fumbling in the dark looking for it.
The lid of the insulated loft hatch made in to an inverted top hat of sorts so that it sits in the recess rather than just on it.
With the lid in position.
The hazard tape speaks for itself
.So gone from this:
To this:
More light, more insulation, better routed extractor venting but less space width and height wise. Time will tell if it was worth the effort!
Thanks for reading / looking at the pictures
.
The main positive is the satisfaction and knowing its all done right
Definitely right!
Moving on to the next job....!
Nothing exciting, just storage although the lad has asked if he could live up there
.It was more about improving the insulation and fixing the bodges of the previous owner (and some of my mistakes!).