Tuesday, August 20, 2013

I guess you could say I'm a fan

Since we're preparing to install insulation and upgrading our electrical, and blah blah blah, I asked our contractor to sell me one of those super quiet super fans that Panasonic makes. He told me it would be cheaper to just have my electrician install it, BUT! I suspect he knew that the plaster would end up cracking and that's why he gave me this advice.

So yeah, the plaster cracked when we were cutting a bigger hole for the new fan. It wasn't even our fault; this was one of those weird places where there were short bits of lathe left and when we tried to cut through them everything crumbled.


So I watched some videos on YouTube about patching plaster and headed to Home Depot for supplies. There was a column of hot air coming down from the attic so I wanted to get it patched as soon as possible. I used the wrong kind of screws to connect the wire mesh to the ceiling but it seemed to work okay.



Oddly, my plaster job didn't look as smooth and beautiful as the guy's on YouTube. Of course, we have a weird sanded texture on the ceiling that I was never going to match. I'm thinking about having a pro skim coat the entire bathroom, since I did such a poor job patching when I first worked on it.


Shitty patch job aside, this fan is awesome. It's hard to tell that it's on, especially if air is blowing through the register. Our old fan sounded like a jet engine and we had it rigged up with drinking straws around the edges so it wouldn't rattle so badly. Really.

The bathroom mirror no longer fogs up when we shower, it pulls steam out so well. The window does fog up but it clears so much faster than before.


They have a whole line of super fancy fans, some of which have motion detectors incorporated (!!!) and I think there's even one that murmurs you look nice today when you turn it on. Highly recommended.

20 comments:

  1. You've done a good patch job there Heather! Our bathroom had loads of holes on the ceiling before which we had to patch up ourselves, so know that feeling. After living with it for years it will finally have a proper skim all over.

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  2. Meryl Rose PhillipsAugust 20, 2013 at 3:09 PM

    Doing a skim coat is really not too hard, you can do it! :) We have a super quiet Panasonic fan in our back bathroom and I can't ever tell if it's on or not when I'm showering, ha! Chris installed a fancy switch for it that's a 1, 5, 10, 20 or 30 minute timer. It's awesome.

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  3. It's disconcerting when you can't hear it, right? The first time I showered it felt like I was doing something wrong.

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  4. man you are too funny! I would love to see your hgtv episode but apparently they have taken it off...do you know where else i could watch it on a day when i don't have to install a ceiling fan too?

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  5. A bathroom fan is SO on my wishlist! You saw the mildew spots in our ceiling, right? Actually, I take that back, I want an entirely new bathroom...

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  6. Well, I know how to install them now . . .

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  7. Every once in a while it pops up on Hulu. I found this out when my coworker yelled across the library, "I saw you on Hulu last night!"

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  8. Damn I'm jealous. Our bathroom fan is so loud it's like a drill right between my eyes.

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  9. This one is worth the money and hassle. I wish I had bought it instead of the cheap one I got when I moved into the house.

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  10. I will have to put a quiet fan on my wish list. Ours sounds like a helicopter is landing! Good job!

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  11. It's pretty amazing the things a lazy person will put up with. I wish I could get a transplant of some of your gung-ho attitude.

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  12. It comes with so much neurosis, I'm not sure you'd want it!

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  13. Funny you should post this as we're in need of a new fan in our bathroom but haven't started looking yet. Your patch job looks great & I'm really impressed with how much you do yourselves!

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  14. I think my picture was overly flattering--the patch looks terrible in real life. But it works!

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  15. The house we are looking at doesn't have any bathroom fans currently and has plaster/lath walls/ceiling. I am concerned. I do think there is anyway I can add them myself without 1) hiring an electrician and 2) causing a ton of damage to the walls/ceiling. Thrilled.

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  16. If you can build a custom banquette in your dining room, you can cut a hole in your ceiling. :) If you can find someone with a Fein tool or a very sharp saw you'll be fine. My electrician had a drywall knife, which is like trying to open a bag of chips with a chainsaw. We were just being dumb.

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  17. I've hired John McNabb a few times. He's so fast, and clean. My plaster repair work means a big mess, and lots of effort. So if you struggle like me, and you're considering it, he gets my endorsement.

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  18. Nice! We don't have a fan in our bathroom AND because we are out of steam, have a contractor and Vince lined up to help us install one soon...can't wait!

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  19. Jenni @ RainyDayGardenerAugust 25, 2013 at 11:20 AM

    I need a fan that tells me I look nice today. Yes, I am looking for all the compliments I can get. Bravo on all your DIY can-do-it-ness. Impressive as always!

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  20. I just LOLed at the image of opening a bag of chips with a chainsaw. Now I want chips.

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