Venting a musty closet
Venting a musty
closet We have a small basement divided into a laundry room and a full bath.
Each space has a small finished closet; the closets share a common wall. The
basement is about halfway underground, with an exterior walkout and several
windows in the laundry room. An open stair services the basement from the
kitchen, and a portable dehumidifier keeps the relative coolness of the
basement from condensing moist Georgia summertime air. The laundry room and the
bathroom stay dry and pleasant, but the closets, being closed, get musty.
Leaving their doors open is inconvenient and unsightly. The solution I came up
with (drawing right) cost less than $100 and took just a couple of hours to
install.
As shown in the
drawing, I cut an approximately 11-in.-sq. hole through both sides of the
common wall between the two closets. The hole is between the studs, about 5 ft.
above the floor. I then inserted a couple of 141/2-in. 2x4 blocks and mounted
them horizontally top and bottom between the studs, screwing through the
drywall to create a closed passageway from closet to closet. Next, I mounted an
inexpensive bathroom exhaust fan into the framed opening, and I attached a
6-ft.-long electrical plug and cord to the fan through a hole drilled in the
grille.
Next, I installed a
receptacle to the side of the fan and plugged a common 24-hour vacation timer
into the outlet. The fan plugs into the timer, which I adjusted to turn its
circuit on two hours a day, late at night. Then I trimmed the bottoms of each
closet door to give a full inch of clearance from the floor.
In operation, the
fan turns on at midnight for two hours and draws air into closet #1, under the
door, from the laundry room. The air is exhausted into closet #2 and then flows
under its door to the bathroom, which has a door to the laundry room.
The effect could not
be more dramatic. Although closed, the closets are now so odor-free that my
wife can store linens and such with no worry about mildew or mustiness.
After a few months,
we replaced the mechanical vacation timer with a nifty digital one; we found
that our cheapie timer was often audible from the room above. I’ve also
installed similar systems for a couple of clients, and they are pleased as
well.
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Venting a musty closet
Venting a musty closet We have a small basement divided into a
laundry room and a full bath. Each space has a small finished closet;
the closets share a common wall. The basement is about halfway
underground, with an exterior walkout and several windows in the laundry
room. An open stair services the basement from the kitchen, and a
portable dehumidifier keeps the relative coolness of the basement from
condensing moist Georgia summertime air. The laundry room and the
bathroom stay dry and pleasant, but the closets, being closed, get
musty. Leaving their doors open is inconvenient and unsightly. The
solution I came up with (drawing right) cost less than $100 and took
just a couple of hours to install.
As shown in the drawing, I cut an approximately 11-in.-sq. hole through both sides of the common wall between the two closets. The hole is between the studs, about 5 ft. above the floor. I then inserted a couple of 141/2-in. 2x4 blocks and mounted them horizontally top and bottom between the studs, screwing through the drywall to create a closed passageway from closet to closet. Next, I mounted an inexpensive bathroom exhaust fan into the framed opening, and I attached a 6-ft.-long electrical plug and cord to the fan through a hole drilled in the grille.
Next, I installed a receptacle to the side of the fan and plugged a common 24-hour vacation timer into the outlet. The fan plugs into the timer, which I adjusted to turn its circuit on two hours a day, late at night. Then I trimmed the bottoms of each closet door to give a full inch of clearance from the floor.
In operation, the fan turns on at midnight for two hours and draws air into closet #1, under the door, from the laundry room. The air is exhausted into closet #2 and then flows under its door to the bathroom, which has a door to the laundry room.
The effect could not be more dramatic. Although closed, the closets are now so odor-free that my wife can store linens and such with no worry about mildew or mustiness.
After a few months, we replaced the mechanical vacation timer with a nifty digital one; we found that our cheapie timer was often audible from the room above. I’ve also installed similar systems for a couple of clients, and they are pleased as well.
Forrest McCanless, Oxford, GA
- See more at: http://www.finehomebuilding.com/how-to/tips/venting-musty-closet.aspx#sthash.88rqOnYe.dpufAs shown in the drawing, I cut an approximately 11-in.-sq. hole through both sides of the common wall between the two closets. The hole is between the studs, about 5 ft. above the floor. I then inserted a couple of 141/2-in. 2x4 blocks and mounted them horizontally top and bottom between the studs, screwing through the drywall to create a closed passageway from closet to closet. Next, I mounted an inexpensive bathroom exhaust fan into the framed opening, and I attached a 6-ft.-long electrical plug and cord to the fan through a hole drilled in the grille.
Next, I installed a receptacle to the side of the fan and plugged a common 24-hour vacation timer into the outlet. The fan plugs into the timer, which I adjusted to turn its circuit on two hours a day, late at night. Then I trimmed the bottoms of each closet door to give a full inch of clearance from the floor.
In operation, the fan turns on at midnight for two hours and draws air into closet #1, under the door, from the laundry room. The air is exhausted into closet #2 and then flows under its door to the bathroom, which has a door to the laundry room.
The effect could not be more dramatic. Although closed, the closets are now so odor-free that my wife can store linens and such with no worry about mildew or mustiness.
After a few months, we replaced the mechanical vacation timer with a nifty digital one; we found that our cheapie timer was often audible from the room above. I’ve also installed similar systems for a couple of clients, and they are pleased as well.
From Fine Homebuilding 206, pp. 22
September 17, 2009
Venting a musty closet
Venting a musty closet We have a small basement divided into a
laundry room and a full bath. Each space has a small finished closet;
the closets share a common wall. The basement is about halfway
underground, with an exterior walkout and several windows in the laundry
room. An open stair services the basement from the kitchen, and a
portable dehumidifier keeps the relative coolness of the basement from
condensing moist Georgia summertime air. The laundry room and the
bathroom stay dry and pleasant, but the closets, being closed, get
musty. Leaving their doors open is inconvenient and unsightly. The
solution I came up with (drawing right) cost less than $100 and took
just a couple of hours to install.
As shown in the drawing, I cut an approximately 11-in.-sq. hole through both sides of the common wall between the two closets. The hole is between the studs, about 5 ft. above the floor. I then inserted a couple of 141/2-in. 2x4 blocks and mounted them horizontally top and bottom between the studs, screwing through the drywall to create a closed passageway from closet to closet. Next, I mounted an inexpensive bathroom exhaust fan into the framed opening, and I attached a 6-ft.-long electrical plug and cord to the fan through a hole drilled in the grille.
Next, I installed a receptacle to the side of the fan and plugged a common 24-hour vacation timer into the outlet. The fan plugs into the timer, which I adjusted to turn its circuit on two hours a day, late at night. Then I trimmed the bottoms of each closet door to give a full inch of clearance from the floor.
In operation, the fan turns on at midnight for two hours and draws air into closet #1, under the door, from the laundry room. The air is exhausted into closet #2 and then flows under its door to the bathroom, which has a door to the laundry room.
The effect could not be more dramatic. Although closed, the closets are now so odor-free that my wife can store linens and such with no worry about mildew or mustiness.
After a few months, we replaced the mechanical vacation timer with a nifty digital one; we found that our cheapie timer was often audible from the room above. I’ve also installed similar systems for a couple of clients, and they are pleased as well.
Forrest McCanless, Oxford, GA
- See more at: http://www.finehomebuilding.com/how-to/tips/venting-musty-closet.aspx#sthash.88rqOnYe.dpufAs shown in the drawing, I cut an approximately 11-in.-sq. hole through both sides of the common wall between the two closets. The hole is between the studs, about 5 ft. above the floor. I then inserted a couple of 141/2-in. 2x4 blocks and mounted them horizontally top and bottom between the studs, screwing through the drywall to create a closed passageway from closet to closet. Next, I mounted an inexpensive bathroom exhaust fan into the framed opening, and I attached a 6-ft.-long electrical plug and cord to the fan through a hole drilled in the grille.
Next, I installed a receptacle to the side of the fan and plugged a common 24-hour vacation timer into the outlet. The fan plugs into the timer, which I adjusted to turn its circuit on two hours a day, late at night. Then I trimmed the bottoms of each closet door to give a full inch of clearance from the floor.
In operation, the fan turns on at midnight for two hours and draws air into closet #1, under the door, from the laundry room. The air is exhausted into closet #2 and then flows under its door to the bathroom, which has a door to the laundry room.
The effect could not be more dramatic. Although closed, the closets are now so odor-free that my wife can store linens and such with no worry about mildew or mustiness.
After a few months, we replaced the mechanical vacation timer with a nifty digital one; we found that our cheapie timer was often audible from the room above. I’ve also installed similar systems for a couple of clients, and they are pleased as well.
From Fine Homebuilding 206, pp. 22
September 17, 2009