LESLIE: Wally in Texas is on the line with a question about an exhaust fan. What’s going on?
WALLY: I’ve got a metal roof. It’s a pretty low roof, probably about 6 or 8 foot from my ceiling. And I have an exhaust fan over the kitchen stove. When they put it in, they installed it but they didn’t hook it up. And as I crawled up in the attic, I see where there’s a hole that was drilled up to the plywood, where it exhausted out before. But now it’s just kind of hooked up there and exhaust blows into the attic. Yeah, I disconnected because I said, “This can’t be good.” But I’m not sure if there’s another option to vent it out of the attic or do I have to cut a hole in the metal roof?
TOM: Yeah, you’re going to have to cut a hole in the metal roof and that’s exactly what it’s intended for. So, you can cut you the hole and you can install a proper flange that’s going to be permanently attached to that roof and be assured that it’ll be watertight. But you absolutely have to get that out of the house. Because if not, you’re going to be carrying all that greasy air into the attic space and that’s going to cause a fire, not to mention render any insulation up there pretty much ineffective.
WALLY: Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of. When I moved in, it was disconnected but I thought, “Hmm, I wonder why they disconnected it.” And then when I got up in the attic, I said, “That’s why.”
TOM: Yeah. And the answer became very apparent. Yeah. I mean I guess you could probably turn it sideways and vent it out to a gable wall but it’s really designed to go straight up and out. So, I think that’s the best way to handle it. If it’s not something that you can do comfortably, get a roofing company in there that works on metal roofs. There are special flanges that are designed to go through those roofs and remain leak-free. And then you could install it with confidence.
WALLY: Super. Thank you so much. I’ve been wanting to get up and put that thing up pretty bad, so …
TOM: Alright. Well, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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