How to seal up a broken extractor fan

[Shielding2020]

Hi All,

Quick question about sealing up a broken extractor fan.

I'll give a bit of background as it is relevant. Please bear with me.

I have recently moved into a flat in a 1970s red brick block of flats. I'm on the third out of four floors, in an 'end' flat. The extractor fan in the bathroom is not working, and there is no chance of it being fixed (the block of flats is going to be demolished in a couple of years - for regeneration, not because it is structurally unsound or anything - so they are not really doing any repair work at all).

The smell of cigarette smoke coming in through the fan vent is pretty overpowering. It spreads out from the bathroom into the rest of the flat. I cannot tell where it is coming from. It might be my upstairs / downstairs neighbour. The other side of the bathroom wall where the fan is is an external wall. There is no hole in that wall, level with the fan or otherwise, so the extractor fan hole must just give onto internal piping/ventilation, and the smell/air could be coming from anywhere, in fairness. When a neighbour flushes the toilet, it flows through the pipes in my bathroom, so the flats are all definitely pretty interconnected, piping wise.

So, here's the thing: I could live with the smell. It's not particularly pleasant, but I can always use air freshener / plug-ins / candles. But it's recently dawned on me that if I can smell someone else's cigarette smoke to that extent, and it's not coming from outside, then the air must be circulating to a significant amount in the building, and into my flat, through that hole.

The problem is, I am shielding. I'm really vulnerable to this virus. I've not been out much at all since March 2020 (other than to move flat, which was a real nightmare), and I have only had one family member (who is in a bubble with me) visit since that was allowed in July. It's been pretty tough. And I'm now a bit afraid that all those efforts might be pointless, and that my home itself might not be safe because of the ventilation issues. There is no prospect of me being able to move again.

So, all that to say, I was wondering about blocking up the fan, which is not working anyway. I understand that it may lead to condensation / mould / mildew, but I'd sooner take my chances with that, rather than with the virus. I can leave the bathroom door open always, so at least air will circulate from the rest of the flat.

I've attached a picture of what the vent looks like. The cover doesn't seem to easily come off for me to see inside.

I don't think just sellotaping plastic over the front of it would do the trick. A friend suggested filling it with builders' foam.

I'd be really grateful for any ideas.

I'll be living here until the place is ready to be regenerated, so there is no risk of ruining it for anyone else, or anything like that.

[Ken010]

There is a probability that the vent system is an interlinked type with a fan motor somewhere on the roof, your vent and possibly all flats on [say] one side of the block are all vented via one vertical rising duct.

As for a short term fix, your idea of Sellotape might work, but? how about you use a more robust form of tape? there are various 50.mm wide tapes on the market.

On a different front, it is all very well to have little or no maintenance undertaken but the lack of adequate venting in what I assume is an enclosed Bathroom with no window could be an eventual Bio hazard?

Depending on what type of fan terminal you have, the central circular section sometimes unscrews?

[Shielding2020]

Thanks very much for responding, Ken.

I've tried unscrewing the inside bit, but it won't budge for me at all.

I might give the tape idea a go, but I'm not sure it will do the trick, given the shape of the fan cover.

[dewaltdisney]

This can be sealed easily with some gaffer or parcel tape. Just cut small squares and work sequentially around the openings to make it easier to apply.

DWD

[Shielding2020]

Thanks for the responses guys. I went ahead and taped it up (tape, then a filter, then tape again).

But it didn't solve the problem, unfortunately. The cigarette smell is still just as bad. It's like there's someone smoking in the bathroom.

On further investigation, it turns out there is a gap of about two inches all along the bottom of the bath, between the bath panel and the "skirting" board on the bottom of the bath. I took the panel off to look behind, and basically it seems like the smell - and a gale - are coming in through a hole where the main bath draining pipe goes into the wall (and various other holes in that wall). Presumably all the flats are connected through the panel / wall cavity behind it, and that is where the air / smell are coming from.

Would it be ok to use expanding foam around those pipes? Obviously, I'm ordering a new bath panel that will hopefully be as airtight as possible, if sealed around the edges. But I'd like to actually stop the air coming into the flat, and into the bath cavity, at all if possible. I'm so nervous about this damned virus, given my vulnerabilities.

Thanks again.

[Ken010]

Expanding foam will be OK around the pipe access holes.

There is a possibility that there is a vertical duct behind the wall that the pipes disappear into? the duct may accommodate the mains water feed and the drainage.