How To Vent A Basement Bathroom In 2022? Let’s Do Some Crazy!

Proper ventilation is a major concern when it comes to a basement bathroom. You see, as the bathroom is already situated below the house level, there’s a huge chance for a build-up of hazardous gases down there which are harmful to the human body. To save yourself from such a situation, you don’t need a professional today because you can vent a basement bathroom today yourself. Also, you won’t be needing any extra service charge to anyone for the whole process.

Now the question is how to vent a basement bathroom?

First, you need to drill a hole on the outside of the wall to mount the bathroom fan. And to pass it you need to attach and connect the hard & flex tubing together. Next, set up the electrical line and check if everything’s okay or not.

So, let’s start by having a look at the essentials you’ll need to get this ventilation project done-

Essentials You’ll Need

It’s obvious that you’ll need some tools to get your job done because you can’t just make a hole or screw using your bare hands.

However, here are the essentials that you’ll need to vent a basement bathroom-

Electric Drill

Electric drills are the most powerful drills driven by electric motors. We’ll use it here to make a hole on the siding of the house for the vent.

Holesaw

You need to place the holesaw at the front end of a drill to make a hole.We’ll use it when we’ll need to make a hole for the hard tubing.

Dryer Vent Kit

A dryer vent kit consists of the flex tubing, the hard tubing, and the exhaust vent cover. This kit will help you pass the air inside your bathroom to the outside.

How To Vent A Basement Bathroom Easily?

A basement bathroom is unlike the regular bathroom because it feels so much more confined than any other regular bathroom. It should feel like that because it is in the basement.

However, venting such a confined bathroom can be quite challenging. It is a different experience than the regular venting that you might deal with.

These sequential steps will help you achieve proper ventilation for the basement bathroom of yours-

Step 1: Drill a Hole on the Outside Wall

Grab the electric drill because we need to make a hole on the outside of the house for the vent. The hole should be about a four and a quarter inch on the outside.

So, you need a hole saw for such a big hole. To do so, hold your drill and place the hole saw of a four and a quarter inch at the end of the drill.

The ventilation hard tube of the vent is generally 4 inches. The extra quarter to the hole is added so that hole doesn’t get too tight for the hard tube.

If the hole is too narrow, the hard tube won’t fit in. And as the hard tube is the last attachment that carries the inside air out, we need it placed right and perfectly.

Also, make sure that you have an electric drill directly powered by electricity. A battery-powered drill might not give you enough support and might also get damaged in one shot.

Now, what you need to do is place the drill exactly at the place where you want the inside air to vent out from and start drilling. Drill all the way through the interior of the basement.

However, drilling will not be an option for you if you have a house siding made of bricks. In that case, you’ll need to chisel it out with a hammer drill.

Never even think about drilling from the inside to the outside. That will make the outside part of the cut look blown out.

Step 2: Mount the Bathroom Exhaust Fan

It’s time for you to take care of the inside parts of the vent. First, you need to decide where you’re going to mount the bathroom fan. It is ideal to attach the bathroom fan to the ceiling.

You see, most of the hazardous gases are lightweight and they float to the top of the ceiling of your basement bathroom.

So, if you have the fan set on the ceiling it’ll be more useful for you. Also, ventilation is going to be faster than ever.

Step 3: Set the Flex Tubing

After you are done setting up the fan in place, you need to set up the line that is going to take the air inside the bathroom to the outside.

This line is known as the flex tubing which will make a pathway from the bathroom fan to the four-inch hole that we’ve made on the outside.

The whole flex tubing will be on the ceiling, a bit behind the bathroom fan. In other words, position the flex tubing is such a way so that when you close the ceiling off you aren’t able to see it.

Step 4: Set the Hard Tubing

Hard tubing is the thing that’ll go through the rim joist to make the connection between the flex tubing and the exhaust hood.

So, send the hard tubing through the four and quarter hole that you’ve made before. Make sure that the tubing is set in place perfectly in order to get proper ventilation.

Step 5: Connect the Hard and Flex Tubes

Now you need to connect the hard tube with the flex tube in order to fulfill the mission of the ventilation system.

If the connection of these two is not secured, the air might get stuck in the basement bathroom which might result in a pile-up of toxic gases.

Step 6: Set Up the Electrical Line

Next up, you need to get the fan running right? Well, for that you need electricity or a source of power that’ll get that fan running right.

The electrical cables often come with the whole vent system. However, if you wish to extend the cable, you can just join the extra cable with the existing one.

So, you need to connect the cable to a switch which will allow you to turn on and off the bathroom fan whenever you wish to.

You should keep the wires behind the ceiling and connect it with an electricity output.

However, you can take the help of PVC pipes and keep the wires protected if you want to.

Step 7: Set the Exhaust Hood

It’s time for the final piece to set in place, the exhaust hood. The exhaust hood will be placed from the outside of the house where you made that big hole at.

The exhaust hood is basically the plastic cover that lets the air pass through to the outside environment. You’ll need an electric screwdriver that helps you to drive screws in places.

You might get four screws for the four sides of the plastic exhaust hood in the packaging. So, fit the exhaust hood with the hard tubing perfectly and drill the screws on the siding of the house.

Step 8: Check Everything

Now you’re done setting up with the whole ventilation system in your basement bathroom.

It’s important that you give one last check on the joints that are holding the whole system together. Also, you should check out if the whole mechanism is working perfectly or not.

Most of the time the bathroom fans don’t operate when the switch is pressed and the reason might be a problem in the mechanism. There might also be an issue related to electricity.

So, to avoid any kind of headache in the future just check it out now and see if there’s anything you can do about it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I purify the air in my basement?

You see, there are basement air purifiers to purify the air inside of a basement. If a basement air purifier starts with a high-quality HEPA filtration system, you know that it’s a good one. This will prevent mold spores and dust.

Does a basement bathroom need a window?

There’s no actual instruction on having a window in a basement bathroom. However, if you have a basement bedroom, it requires a legal egress window which can be used as an escape route in case of fire.

Is it OK to vent the bathroom fan into the attic?

No, it’s not okay to vent a bathroom fan directly into an attic. There’s excess moisture from a bathroom vent during cold weather which can build up frost on the underside of the roof sheathing. Eventually, this ice will melt and leak onto the insulation and drywall ceiling.

Wrapping Up

Now you know how to vent a basement bathroom without the help of any professionals. Hopefully, this project seems like an easy deal for you after being with us.

However, wear your safety kits and make sure that you’re properly getting fresh air while you’re in the process. At the end of the day, you’re the one that we care for the most.