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I moved into a new (literally, brand new) apartment a couple weeks ago. A few days ago, when the winds were very gusty for most of the day, I noticed a knocking in my bathroom fan. It even woke me at night since my bedroom is kiddy corner to the bathroom.
I didn't really know what was going on, so I had maintenance come over and take a look. In an effort to eliminate that knocking noise, he removed the interior flapper/damper in the bathroom fan. It didn't solve the knocking issue (only the wind dying down did that) but when I had maintenance try to put that internal flapper back in the fan, a hinge broke and he couldn't do it.
Specifically, his note read "The plastic pin that hinges to the flap broke off when I tried to put the flap back in, sorry. I would replace the part but it would require tearing out drywall and replacing the ventilation in the wall."
There's an external flapper/damper too, towards the side of the apartment building (my fan is on the wall, not the ceiling). But it seems like the fan had two flappers installed for a reason.
Without that interior damper/flapper, it is easier for cold air to leak into my bathroom and easier for warm air to leak out. I can sense a difference in temperature in that part of my apartment. I never should have agreed to have him remove it, nor should he have suggested that as a good idea. Lets say I understand more about bathroom fans than I did then.
How would you proceed, would you have maintenance come back, tear out drywall and replace the ventilation system so it can go back to having two flappers/dampers?
Assume you don't OWN this apartment, you rent it? You'll probably get more useful feedback if you re-post this in the Real Estate forum under Renting. More folks there could weigh in on LL/property management's response to the problem. This forum is focused on home owner issues. In the mean time, you could hang something over the vent opening on the inside when the fan isn't actually running. It would serve somewhat like that missing damper.
Last edited by Parnassia; 01-17-2021 at 03:25 PM..
This clearly boils down to- there’s a problem- fix it!
Maintenance is just being lazy- they don’t want to start tearing into something unless they absolutely have too. You’re the renter, it’s an issue that’s annoying, and you need it fixed.
Granted, it may be an inconvenience to you, but what’s worse- an annoying knocking/tapping noise, or a couple of days of repair work?
This clearly boils down to- there’s a problem- fix it!
Maintenance is just being lazy- they don’t want to start tearing into something unless they absolutely have too. You’re the renter, it’s an issue that’s annoying, and you need it fixed.
Granted, it may be an inconvenience to you, but what’s worse- an annoying knocking/tapping noise, or a couple of days of repair work?
A couple days, is that long how it would take? I only have one bathroom, so if that's not available...
A couple days, is that long how it would take? I only have one bathroom, so if that's not available...
I would hope it could be fixed without messing up the toilet or completely blocking it so you can't use it. And they won't be working non-stop on it - they have to wait for stuff to set in patching the drywall, sanding, blah blah blah.
I would hope it could be fixed without messing up the toilet or completely blocking it so you can't use it. And they won't be working non-stop on it - they have to wait for stuff to set in patching the drywall, sanding, blah blah blah.
You don’t know apt maintenance- they completely understand the “inconvenience”, they get in, get out- there is one exception, it’s called COVID. But that can be a non-issue with a little pre-planning. Besides, they’re not there all day, all night; and there would still be a working toilet and bath.
Drywall repairs can be sanded and painted within 2-3hrs (it’s a fast setting mud).
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