Sometimes taking care of seemingly small home maintenance jobs goes a long way to preventing bigger issues later on. In this article we are going to look at, what may seem like such a small part of the house, the bathroom extraction fan, however, if it is not installed correctly or in not working as it should, it could create bigger problems.

Because the bathroom is one of the most humid rooms of the home, it is necessary to extract moisture out of it which is usually done with an extraction fan. This type of fan must be properly installed in order to work as it should but, it needs to connect to duct work that leads all the way to the exterior of the home. We find this is not always the case in every home and its not uncommon to see duct work only reaching as far as the attic space. This means that moisture from the bathroom is being extracted into the attic. Is this a problem? Perhaps you may not observe much of a problem in the bathroom itself, but it is the attic that will be affected as constant excess moisture will damage attic materials and promote mold growth.

If you are wondering how to tell if your bathroom fan is working correctly, there are a few signs to look out for that would indicate it is not. For example, if the fan is not extracting moisture, you will see a lot of condensation on tiles and ceilings, metal bathroom fixtures may be showing signs of corrosion and paint will start to bubble up and peel.

Cleaning the fan regularly may be all that is needed to keep it working properly as dirt and dust can quickly accumulate. If, after cleaning, the fan is still not working, you may want to consider having it inspected so that you can find out the source of the problem and fix it promptly.