We decided to add an exhaust fan to our historic home bathroom. Our bathroom is almost finished and we added a shower to a room originally designed to only have a bathtub. Will was concerned with the moisture build up and wanted to add an exhaust fan to the ceiling. Let’s just say the fan cover that came with it had me thinking I was living in some 80s designed scientific lab, in an episode of Stranger Things. I wanted something that would look original to the house and look ‘old’ but not draw too much attention to itself.

If you follow us on instagram, visit our profile page and look for ‘bathroom fan’ in the highlights for a video about this project.

The Exhaust Fan Cover

Originally, I was going to fashion a vintage cast iron vent cover, like they would have used for the first forced air heating systems. In theory, it’s perfect. Our bathrooms were built right around 1900 and old homes go through several renovation ‘periods’. I want to be historically sensitive when we add new items. Alas, my plan had a flaw: the weight of the cast iron was questionable as a ceiling mount.

We needed around 14 x 14 inches, and the weight of the cast iron grate that size, we thought might not hold. Our ceiling is a mix of plaster, foam board insulation and dry wall. We’d have no real idea if we would hit a stud when mounting the cast iron. I wanted to play it safe since ‘if’ the cast iron fell off, it would ruin our circa 1900 tile floor. If you could guarantee you’d hit a stud, the vintage vent cover might work. Or, even safer, I found this resin grate from House of Antique Hardware. I wanted a painted looks, so the grate would look ‘old’. My big question was: will the resin take paint. It did, and quite well.

Here’s an overview of what we did to install.

Project Details + Sources

This project was very worth it! This doesn’t feel out of place or attract attention – which is what I was looking for. If you have a historic or traditional home, I’d absolutely recommend this. Here’s the details:

Cost for Grate: $224
Source/Product Link: House of Antique Hardware
One thing I like about this product is it comes in so many sizes, you could use it for different applications.

I would consider this item a splurge. Items I splurge on are difficult to find or very specialized. This item is so specific and I looked for months before finding the right aesthetic and technical spec (size, weight, material, design).

Time: About 3 days, an hour each day. Most of the time was spent waiting for paint to dry.

Fan Source: As part of our larger renovation, we installed this fan and find it is really quiet!

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Thanks to House of Antique Hardware for gifting the resin grate product! We reached out to see if they would send the product for this content. It’s important to us to test products before posting. We reviewed weight and to see if the product was paintable. This post is not sponsored, we thought the product was great.