Bathroom extractor pipe mystery

60BOWENS

Hi

Recently we had some repair work to plasterboard of false ceiling of our bedroom.It is then we realised that bathroom extractor fan flexi pipe end in the void between our false ceiling and floor of the flat above.

I would like to connect it to external vent but cannot make out the position of the same.

There is a black structure on the external wall as shown in the picture-is this external vent for extractor pipe? There seems to be a boxy structure in the interior wall behind this supposedly external vent.

Any ideas?

many thanks

grumbler

60BOWENS said:

Recently we had some repair work to plasterboard of false ceiling of our bedroom.It is then we realised that bathroom extractor fan flexi pipe end in the void between our false ceiling and floor of the flat above.

...

Any ideas?

How typical for UK cowboys developers!

Not long time ago I saw exactly the same:  flat, false ceiling etc. The only difference was that it was a plastic pipe, not a flexible hose.

There was no any 'external vent' to locate.  The only solution was to drill a hole in the wall

60BOWENS

grumbler said:

60BOWENS said:

Recently we had some repair work to plasterboard of false ceiling of our bedroom.It is then we realised that bathroom extractor fan flexi pipe end in the void between our false ceiling and floor of the flat above.

...

Any ideas?

How typical for UK cowboys developers!

Not long time ago I saw exactly the same:  flat, false ceiling etc. The only difference was that it was a plastic pipe, not a flexible hose.

There was no any 'external vent' to locate.  The only solution was to drill a hole in the wall

what is that black vent thing I marked with green arrow in the picture?

grumbler

I don't know. Possibly, some disused ventilation. The only way to know is to open the boxing.

markin

The is no black mould so it must be venting ok.

Apodemus

markin said:

The is no black mould so it must be venting ok.

...no black mould, but the ceiling had been repaired, so perhaps a damp area on the plasterboard? The OP did say: 

Recently we had some repair work to plasterboard of false ceiling of our bedroom.

mi-key

Venting into a false ceiling or an attic from a bathroom is actually pretty common. It's an easy way for fitting it when it generally doesn't need to be vented straight outside ( although this is preferable ). The amount of water you actually get from the steam in a bathroom is very little, and easily evaporates in the space

The black pipe on the outside is quite odd though. Is the end capped off as it would be letting water in when it rained otherwise?Could it be part of the toilet stack that was added at some point? Do the other houses in the street have them as well?  

JohnB47

That large black pipe has a sort of vent grill, near it's top, all around the side. The very top is probably capped off to stop rain getting in.

I think it might have been an earlier vent pipe from the bathroom - maybe connected to an electric extractor fan that is now boxed in - see the shallow box area in the corner of the bottom picture.

Edit: Actually, looking again, I see a much larger boxed in area on that ceiling. Could it be that a vent pipe was run within that box, maybe with an extractor fitted to the ceiling, rather than the wall?

Personally, I would prefer the moist air was kept inside the bathroom, with perhaps a window open, rather than venting it into a void, where I couldn't see the progressive mould it might cause.

Also, it seems like a lot of ceiling height was lost there. Why was that done?

Gavin83

It's criminal that they boxed in that ceiling!

What's the hole with the cable on the back wall near the ducting?

plumb1_2

The cowl looks like an old asbestos one they used to use for gas water heaters, but the bend looks like plastic, strange. Most probably just left there to avoid bricking up.

Ganga

Gavin83 said:

It's criminal that they boxed in that ceiling!

What's the hole with the cable on the back wall near the ducting?

There are three of them ,i thought maybe security lights but maybe not.