Shower vent

JohnE222

Hello.
My builder has installed a shower in my house and has run a hose from the shower into the loft. He has installed a roof vent tile but he has not connected the hose directly to the roof vent. The hose is pushed up to the roof membrane in the loft immediately underneath the roof vent. In other words the membrane is a barrier to the roof vent. Is this OK or should the membrane be cut through and the hose attached directly to the roof vent?
Thanks.
JohnE

Norman_Castle

The hose should be attached to the vent. The vent tile should have a pipe entering the loft through the membrane which the vent pipe fits over. Have you checked closely or looked from a distance through the loft hatch?

JohnE222

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have checked. The pipe just sits in the 'warm roof' insulation. The membrane is in one piece that completely covers the roof vent tile above it. The builder has suggested that this is OK as the rising warm air will pass through the membrane, but I have my doubts. Also, I reckon it is possible that wind from outside will pass through the roof tile vents and just flap around in between the tiles and the membrane, possibly creating noise. But I am not a builder.

Owain_Moneysaver

You might not be a builder, but your builder is a cowboy.

The duct hose must be attached to the roof vent otherwise the damp air from the shower will be discharged into the loft, condense, and cause mould and rot.

Norman_Castle

Can you see the new vent tile from inside or outside?

JohnE222

i can see it from outside but not from inside because it is covered by the roof membrane.

Furts

JohnE222 wrote: »

i can see it from outside but not from inside because it is covered by the roof membrane.

If the builder has fitted an appropriate vent tile, and also fitted this in the correct location then connecting the outlet to the underside of the tile should be child's play. The fact that this simple procedure has not been done raises various questions. Two are ... is the vent tile in the correct position, and have you checked this? Second, if this simple procedure has been bodged then what else is likely to have been bodged during the shower fit out?

JohnE222

It appears my builder has used this membrane, Harcon Vapour Permeable Roofing Underlay Harcon VPU100DL. This membrane allows warm moist air to pass through from loft inner to outside atmosphere, according to its spec. The building work was done a few years ago now. I have inspected the timbers around the area and there is no sign of any water damage.

[Deleted User]

JohnE222 wrote: »

shower vent.

Shouldn't this be posted on the "Praise, vents and warnings"board?

JohnE222 wrote: »

should the membrane be cut through and the hose attached directly to the roof vent?

Seriously, the water vapour is not being correctly channeled away through the vent. Check your attic carefully for signs of condensation, mould, or even rot.

Norman_Castle

Roofers may have used it when fitting the roof but there is no reason for the builder not to cut through it to fit the roof vent. I've got similar in my loft, the roofers cut through it for the vents.

You could try asking the manufacturers if their product is suitable for being used in this way.

Email: [EMAIL="info@arielplastics.com"]info@arielplastics.com[/EMAIL]

Furts

JohnE222 wrote: »

It appears my builder has used this membrane, Harcon Vapour Permeable Roofing Underlay Harcon VPU100DL. This membrane allows warm moist air to pass through from loft inner to outside atmosphere, according to its spec. The building work was done a few years ago now. I have inspected the timbers around the area and there is no sign of any water damage.

This is an inappropriate way to use the roofing membrane. Three issues come to my mind. First, for all the wonders spoken about modern underlays there is a long term problem. That is dust and pollution gradually block the pores and reduce the effectiveness. Second areas which are overloaded with moisture such as shower vents will be storing up further issues. Third any general moisture areas such as the shower vent will get clogged sooner and more substantially because the pollution will be caught on the damp.

All round the notion of venting a shower extract into a roof membrane is absurd, lazy and incompetent.

Then engage common sense and get real. If the builder genuinely believed venting in this manner was acceptable then a roof tile ventilator would never have been fitted. The logic here is as obvious as the nose on my face, so why try to defend the situation?