05/14/2026
Some vent fans aren't obvious how they are mounted, which probably means they are a style designed to be installed before sheet rock is. In order to remove the old fan without disturbing the sheet rock, I had to break the spot welds between the bracket and housing by wedging a screw driver in between and working back and forth until the bracket broke free.
Got the new fan installed, always check to make sure the fan is pulling air vs blowing air, a piece of tissue held near the fan will indicate where the air is going. In this case, the fan wasn't pulling air which meant going up into the attic. Apparently someone or something had completely flattened the vent pipe not just to the fan I was working on, but the other bathroom vent as well.
For today, I cut the flattened parts away and directed the remaining pipe up towards the roof vents. It's not the ideal solution but at least a temporary one until the pipe gets replaced.
