TL;DW: The new bathroom fan I bought was never intended to be installed in 1" thick plaster/gypsum board ceilings with 4" furring strips every 16" on center!
I had a 1956 house in Indiana and you could still see concrete residue on some of the roofing lumber, so apparently that was a widespread thing. Makes sense, I'd have no problem with a builder doing that if the wood was fine.
fantech makes some good retro looking units. That is what I did for my mid century modern house it was an a frame type so I had to mount the fan actually on the roof since no attic. The panasonic ones are also good just too modern/plasticky but solid units like the Broans.
It does unplug and drop. Unscrew the side screw and the plate will drop enough to unclip. Take it to your local HVAC supply house and they can replace the motor. You may have to take parts from the old assembly to fit the new motor. Treat the rust with converter, then spot prime. Reinstall. Job done.
really interesting to watch your videos on your house I love older houses (80s and older ) and I'm hoping to buy a fixer upper in a few years when I get money saved up although I have full intention of getting it fully inspected. Don't want to deal with asbestos or lead or a huge disaster waiting to happen
I would install a particle borard or mdf floor on the attic so you could safely walk there. Or just put 1 inch thick wooden planks as they are easier to carry up there. Then insulate the roof from the inside with polyurethane foam between the beams and cover it with drywall. That would give you an extra useful storage space over and much better thermal insulation to the house.
Yeah, I kind of gave up on the exhaust fan in my bathroom a few years ago. It never had one there before, and cutting the hole turned into a fustercluck because the ceiling is some weird tiles naled onto wood, and it is about 2" thick in total. Then above it there is the attic floor which has very little space between the ceiling and that (about enough to squeeze an NM cable through), so I would also have to remove a good section of the attic floor, which isn't an option as the attic is used and not just for storage. Of course I just cut the hole first and planned later, so now I have a hole in the ceiling with a cheap broan fan cover over it with no fan above it. I guess it at least looks like I have an exhaust fan now... At some point the whole bathroom needs to be redone. The toilet is in good shape and has a proper full flush, but everything else is junk. The tub is pretty rusted and chipped up, and the floor is sinking under it, the walls are peeling and the ceiling has mold... while typing this I am starting to realize how bad it looks, but hey... I am 21 and I have a paid off house, so that is good i guess.
I like this one.. I am looking to replace on of ours.. I do not like that it's so quiet. I like my noisy one I have now... as it covers up some of the noises I make. LOL!
What's also really sad is that even when someone has a 50 year old bathroom fan that's meant to be serviced, they're to lazy or dumb to actually do so. I'm talking about the average young homeowner of today's day and age.
