Tackling a relatively complicated do-it-yourself project can be very rewarding, once completed. You really feel like you accomplished something. Using your hands, you constructed something that actually works. And, every time you see your creation, it makes you feel good about yourself. That is, of course, assuming you successfully finish the project.
 
If you don’t, nothing will serve as a more prominent reminder of your incompetence. An unfinished, or poorly executed D-I-Y project can constantly remind you that you basically suck and should leave all projects that require manual labor to professionals. What’s worse is having to call a professional in after you realize you’ve bitten off more than you can chew.

A few months ago, the bathroom exhaust fan began making an awful shrieking sound. It was as if the fan was saying, “I’m dying and I don’t plan to go quietly.” So, we stopped using it. Then, one day, I turned it on and it let out its final death yelp. Then, it was silent.
 
For a brief period, I considered hiring someone to replace the fan. It’s easier for me to pay someone to replace the fan than it would be to replace it myself. But then I started to think that the only reason I would hire someone is because I would be too lazy to replace it myself. So, I started researching how to replace a bathroom fan.

It seemed easy enough. Most of the instructions consisted of a few steps: take out the old fan’s motor, take out the housing, disconnect the vent duct and wiring, connect wiring and vent duct to the new housing, install the new housing, insert the new motor, and you’re done.

“I can do that,” I thought. After all, I replaced a couple of light fixtures, some outlets, and have done countless other D-I-Y projects around the house. “Piece of cake,” I thought.

After doing some research as to what type of fan I needed, I purchased a Broan 70 CFM fan. That would allow for adequate ventilation of the bathroom. And, it would match the fan in the downstairs bathroom, making the styles consistent.

I took the fan home and began working right away. I figured one afternoon would be enough to get this job done. I removed the cover and the motor of the old fan, and then began removing the housing. This is where I hit snag number one.
 
The old fan, probably installed in 1976 when the house was built, was nailed, not screwed in, and the nails were hidden beneath sheet metal. In retrospect, tin snips probably could have made removing the housing much easier. But, I didn’t have them or think about them until after it was removed. Instead, I used a hammer, screwdriver, pry bar, and elbow grease to get the fan out.

The difficult part was bending the metal without damaging the drywall or the wooden support beam holding the fan in place. Notice I say beam. There was a single beam holding it in place. Had there been two, this job would have been much simpler. Anyway, I managed to get it out without doing any major damage. I pulled out the housing and disconnected the wiring and vent duct. I figured I was half-done and I was about 25 minutes into this project. Go Mike!

I, then, prepared the new fan for installation. I removed the motor from the housing and began connecting the wiring. Then, I hit snag number two with the vent duct. On the old unit, the duct connected to the right side of the unit. On the new fan, it connected to the left. After searching on the internet, I could not, for the life of me, find a fan that was small enough with the duct connector on the right side. So, I would need some sort of s-shaped tubing to connect the duct to the fan.

A trip to Home Depot produced a flexible duct, and I was back in business. I connected the vent duct using the flex duct and taped the duct in place. Despite those two snags, I considered things to be going pretty smoothly. The fan was wired and the duct was connected, all I needed to do was secure the housing to the support beam in the attic, and then I could install the motor and grille cover and call it a day.
 
When I slid the housing into place to anchor it, that’s when I hit perhaps the biggest snag of the project: the new fan was considerably smaller than the old one. The old one was also rectangle while the new one was square. Blimey!

Rather than try my hand at drywall work, I began feverishly looking for a fan with the same dimensions as the old one.* No dice. Lowe’s, Home Depot, even Broan’s website itself, none of them had a fan with the dimensions I needed. I could have purchased a bigger fan and cut a new hole in the drywall, but after visually inspecting the location, I wasn’t sure that a larger fan would fit because it didn’t look like there was much clearance.

* Yes, I know that I should have considered this before beginning work. But, I didn’t. Deal with it. I had to.
 
This meant I would need to get a new piece of drywall, cut it to the shape of the opening, use a wood cleat to anchor that into place, then use joint compound to seal it. Then I would need to sand it and paint it. It’s not entirely difficult to do, it’s just a lot of work to do just to install a friggin’ bathroom fan.
 
I made a list of everything I would need and headed to Lowe’s on my lunch break the next day. I’ve got to tell you, nothing makes you feel more manly than going to Lowe’s with a list and a plan. I felt empowered as I found each item. One time I said to myself quietly, “Countersink drill bit. Hell yeah, biotch.” Judging by the look on the sales associate’s face that was near me, I must have said it louder than I thought. I quickly moved on, embarrassed.

Once I got everything I needed, I had to wait four days before I could attempt to finish the project (due to a combination of work schedule and laziness). Every time I went to the bathroom or showered I was reminded of my inability to complete the project as easily as the guy in the Lowe’s video made it seem. But, I was determined to finish it. I was determined to prove I had skills beyond those of playing Xbox 360.

When I was able to get back to the project, I only had a few steps left. I had to secure the fan housing to the support beam, install the motor and connect the wiring. Then, I would be done.
 
The original plan was to use screws to secure the housing so I could remove it easily in the future if needed. I anchored the fan in place with screws. Securing it wasn’t as easy as it should have been because there wasn’t enough clearance to get a screwdriver into the screw because the hole was so small. (That’s what she said!) 
 
Once it was secured, I got the motor and tried to put it in. But, the hole was not wide enough. I had to cut some of the drywall to get it in. While cutting, I was annoyed, and not paying attention so I accidentally nicked the vent duct, which made me feel pretty stupid. It’s silver, not exactly hard to see. I just wasn’t paying enough attention. Anyway, it wasn’t a big deal; nothing a little duct tape couldn’t fix.

I slid the motor in place, and I heard a click. I connected the wiring, and turned the electricity back on, it was time to check the fan. I flipped the switch and everything worked as it should. No smoke, no fire, no burning smell, no death yelp. Just 70 CFM of exhausting goodness. Success!

Now it was time to plug the 2” by 8” gap in the drywall. I cut a piece of drywall from the piece I picked up from Lowe’s. I used a wood shim to anchor the new piece of drywall to the existing drywall with drywall screws. That part was surprisingly easy. Then, I used caulk to fill in the seams.
 
Despite advertising a 15 minute dry-time online, the easy caulk from a tube (no gun required) took 2 hours to dry and I had to wait 24 hours before exposing it to moisture. 15 minutes my rear end. Once the caulk dried, I applied some joint compound to cover the new wallboard.

I sanded the joint compound until it was smooth. But, the corner of new wallboard was jutting out just a little bit. With the right amount of joint compund, you wouldn’t be able to see it, which meant I had to apply more.

I added joint compound and sanded it again. This time it looked significantly better. So, it was time to paint.

By my estimation, and eyeball, I figured the tan-ish paint we used in the bedrooms matched the tan-ish paint in the bathroom. So, I got the leftover paint and stirred it up. Even after the paint was in the tray, I held it up next to the paint already on the wall and they looked the same.

So, I started painting, and guess what. The new paint was about a shade or two lighter than the old paint. You know how they say to test out the paint on an inconspicuous area. Well, I should have. But, I like to cut corners — ironically enough to save time.

Well, this resulted in having to repaint the entire ceiling. By moving the edge between the new paint and the old paint into the corners, it creates the illusion that they are the same color. When it dried, you could hardly tell that the wall and ceiling weren’t the same color.

As I was about to install the cover onto the fan (the final step), I noticed that only one corner of the fan motor clicked into place. The other did not. It was close to the point where it would click, but it wasn’t quite there. So, I pushed and pushed until I heard “pop.” In all of my pushing, the casing popped away from the screws, leaving the fan unsecured. And, the motor was only halfway in. The fan worked, but it was not secure, nor was the motor completely secure.

I tried getting the motor to click in place, but with the fan unsecured, the casing would lift up, instead of holding in place so the motor could click. I had an idea… Nadia could go into the attic (I couldn’t fit in the space above the fan) and could apply the pressure needed to hold the fan in place while I pushed the motor into position from below. So, I told her of the plan. And we put it off, and put it off. Months had passed. We were growing used to the hole in the ceiling.

Then, one day Nadia said we should do it that day. So, we did. And we ran into one small problem: Nadia couldn’t fit in the space either. So, I had to devise another plan.

Another week passes. At this point, it had been nearly four months since the start of this project. I couldn’t figure out how to install the motor without completely removing the casing. Then, I figured I could lift the fan up, get a good grip on it, and then push the motor in place with one hand while holding the casing in the other. This, too, did not work.

But, as I moved the casing around, I felt the roof behind the casing. So, I rested it against the roof, and pushed. Both sides clicked in. Finally, something went right! Then, I secured the casing using nails on an angle. I figured they would hold it in place enough, and putting them on an angle would give me clearance enough to swing the hammer. It worked. The fan was secure and the motor was completely in place.

Now, all I had to do was install the cover. It uses two thin metal clips to hold it in place. The clips aren’t very long, meaning you either need small hands, or pliers to get them in place. I chose pliers.

As I was working the cover in place, one of the clips locked unexpectedly. I didn’t notice, so when I went to pull the fan into position, one of the plastic lips that held onto the clip broke. This rendered the cover useless… unless…

I decided that I would drill screw holes into the cover, and use screws to hold it in place. Surprisingly enough, this worked. The cover was in place, and the fan was working. Finally! All it took was four and a half months and like 16 workarounds.

I compeleted the project, snags and all, because I’m smart, resourceful, and generally good with my hands. Sure, you could argue that some of the snags were stupidity and laziness on my part, but I still over came them. I’ve got skills!