Light shaft and ventilation
While replacing the screen in the exhaust fan in the downstairs bathroom, I noticed that it is vented into a shaft that leads directly to a skylight. The second story vents into the same shaft and there is no ductwork for either. I guess this is bad. I went up to the roof and can’t…
While replacing the screen in the exhaust fan in the downstairs bathroom, I noticed that it is vented into a shaft that leads directly to a skylight. The second story vents into the same shaft and there is no ductwork for either. I guess this is bad. I went up to the roof and can’t find any outlet for this ventilation scheme, so I assume all that steam leaving the bathrooms, is being deposited in the walls and celings around this shaft. Was this shaft designed to provide light to these interior rooms which have no windows? Has anyone used them for ventilating bathrooms and how did you direct the exhaust outside?
Lincolnimestone, thanks for the info. The shaft is topped by a skylight. I did a quick inspection of the skylight while on the roof and I didn’t see any signs of ventilation. I think the steam is being trapped in the house. I guess I need a roofer to install a vent.
When you had/have your roof done, your roofer should mention that that shaft should provide ventilation. How else do all of that steam from your bathrooms vent?
Ideally, you can use this shaft for light and venting. Most skylights provide both.
When I was up on my roof with the roofer recently, he pointed that out. Several of the shaft covers had vents, but many just had the plywood cover. I was told by my roofer that this was not ideal. This (and many other things that he pointed out) were done by roofers who don’t know what they’re doing.
We had the same set up too. We’ve seen that area broken into to create a larger bathroom with the skylight and that looks fab. But in our reno, we needed the space to run the ducting and pipes for our central air system so it came in handy despite not being able to add any interior light. The rest of the space is a handy linen closet.
We had the same thing in our house. We just created a vent for that shaft. When we went to put in our own vent we noticed every other house on the block had ventilation from that shaft except ours. So we concluded either most houses had it originally or most people added it at some point. What is really bizarre is that the shaft was originally used as a dumbwaiter shaft. We actually just knocked it out so we could make our bathroom larger and found the original dumbwaiter system. I don’t know why people would want light into their dumbwaiter shaft but *shrug*.