Even though I was ecstatic to inherit an old house from my parents, it was a vacation rental that was rarely used.
In a sense it sort of fell into disrepair during its five years of unoccupancy.
A lot of drywall and insulation had to be torn out of the unit and replaced before I could even think about staying in that place overnight. Anyone who has bought and remodeled old homes knows exactly what I’m talking about when it comes to the environmental and health concerns associated with severe water damage. You have to remove the affected materials—be it merely wood, or a mixture of wood, drywall, and other porous surfaces. This is precisely why indoor spaces that are susceptible to moisture need to be accurately ventilated. This old house has two bathrooms and neither bathroom has a vent connected to the central HVAC system. Ideally, bathrooms need HVAC vents to account for the steam produced when taking showers. Although these bathrooms had exhaust fans on the ceiling, that didn’t seem like it was enough to me. That’s why I called a local HVAC dealer to get an estimate on the upgrades. I was assuming that it was going to cost a lot less than what it turned out to be. In fact, it required redesigning my ventilation system and getting a stronger air conditioner to handle the increased load. When I saw how much money it would cost, I decided to just buy fans that I can attach to the ceiling inside the doorway to each bathroom. It’s not the most elegant solution, but it avoids me having to spend close to eight thousand dollars on HVAC upgrades.