Room vent: is this normal.

DIYyyyyyy

I decided to clean behind the room vents and found this one with no hole to the outside like the others.

Should I be worried/annoyed or is this normal?

Thanks

Edit. Photos attached now. The blue one is the ok bathroom one. The other is the brick wall bedroom one. There is a vent grill on the exterior for this one too.

Sleeper12

No photo attached

The room should have a vent to the outside in most homes over 15 years or so

zg3409

Do the room windows have the option to lock slightly open or do they have they vent strips at the top?

DIYyyyyyy

Photos attached now. The house is 20+ years old.

DIYyyyyyy

Yes. The windows have the option to open slightly. No extra vents.

Magilla Gorilla

Doesn’t look like they were done very well I’m afraid. This is one of mine (painter coming tomorrow 😁).

IMG_0946.jpeg

DIYyyyyyy

I did wonder if (on the one that does have a hole) there should be a pipe. When I started vacuuming the cobwebs out fiberglass insulation started coming out too.

DIYyyyyyy

Thank you for sharing.

Magilla Gorilla

Certainly, I thought a length of 4 inch pipe was commonly used to make the vent. All of mine are done like that. Hard to see how air could circulate freely in the pictures you shared. If you can free up the space there’s nothing to stop you putting a piece in now I think.

DIYyyyyyy

I'll do that on the bathroom on 👍.

The other there is no hole through to the other side.

the_amazing_raisin

There should definitely be a hole in the outer wall, otherwise you're just venting moisture from the room into the insulation

Incidentally, it looks like there might be some mould forming around the vent, those darker patches on the inner surface of the outside wall looks suspicious

My vents are more like the pipe style Magilla shared. The bit of filler around the pipe is good for reducing spider ingress

DIYyyyyyy

Thanks for your comment. I've zoomed in on the image, is this the part you mean?

I don't know what that is but as above, a four inch pipe cut to size and fill to smooth around the edges. You'll probably have to remove the vent panel on the outside and replace or clean, if you can.

astrofool

In older houses (at least anything up to 1990) the vent was just a hole in the plasterboard (with the insulation pushed aside if it was dry lined). There should of course be a pipe.

In this case either the outer hole doesn't exist, or it's misaligned to the inside, a quick look outside the house would confirm.

It's an issue if there is a gas appliance in the room or if the construction assumes air circulation to prevent moisture/mould buildup.

Nigzcurran

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122491403#Comment_122491403

That's the external vent cover in that pic. Just tidy up inside and your all good

Goldengirl

Thought bathroom vents should be connected to an extractor fan?

DublinDilbert

Clean out the inisde and cut some 4inch pipe to go between the inner and outer vents. Slope it outwards so water will run out. You can pack some attic insulation around it to hold it in place.

You should be able to pick up some 4inch pipe in a hardware store or even from a skip

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122491705#Comment_122491705

The second picture is of the bathroom vent, the first picture is the room they are asking about (and it seems to be concrete wall).

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122491777#Comment_122491777

Usually not if there is a window in the bathroom.

DIYyyyyyy

There's a seperate extra fan in the bathroom too.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122491705#Comment_122491705

Oh yeah, it does look like the vent cover

I thought it was the outer wall with a layer of dirt and mould on it

Yeah tidy it up, put in a bit of pipe through the gap in the insulation and close up the inner line with plaster or something and it should be grand

Nigzcurran

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122491994#Comment_122491994

Yep your right