It's a LONG story why...but there was an air duct for the A/C here that was never put in.
Short version:
Previous owner knocks out wall out to make room for washer/dryer.
Built new wall about 8 or 9 inches further back.
A/C duct that went to the bathroom on the other side of that knocked out wall was higher up, and not messed with.
End result is the hole in the old wall for the vent just went into the closet with washer/dryer.
Another hole WAS cut in the new wall and the plastic vent cover put on.
When the A/C runs the W/D unit gets really cold.
Genius, pure genius.
Uh oh, something needs fixing! I sense a House-of-Hacks opportunity!
What a waste. So all I need to do is put about 9" of duct work between the two vent holes (old & new wall) right?
Yeah right! If it were that simple, this page would not exist.
So what's the catch? The holes aren't lined up, nor are they the same size!
Okay, time for fancy 3D modelling of the system. No CAD this time, just pencil, paper, and a ruler. A protractor
might have helped, but I don't think I have one anymore. Measurements of all the edges of the parallelapiped (love that
word) formed by connecting the two holes together, I'm really glad I got a minor in Math!
Now to find some material...
Sheet metal? Nah...1) don't have any 2) hard to work with, especially in a small cramped area like this.
Plastic? Nah...1) dont have any 2) irregular shape
Paper? Nah...1) too thin 2) won't last or hold shape
I got it...cardboard!
It's more sturdy than paper, easier to cut & shape than plastic, and I can put nails thru it much easier than sheet
metal. And as a bonus, I have some too.
I took a couple of "Xerox inkjet photo paper" boxes and started slicin' and dicin'. Luckily I had 1 empty box (1 top, 1 bottom), but still needed more. I robbed the top of the 2nd box...oh well at least the remaining paper has a box-bottom to sit in.
Measure once, cut twice.
I did a lot of test-fitting into the wall-gap & making minor cutting adjustments along the way. Got some nails and
hammered this stuff in. I think I used my fingers more than the hammer.
Oh, ignore all that torn up wallpaper 1) vent cover hides it 2) it's going to be replaced one of these days.
Did i mention the genius GLUED the vent cover to that wallpaper?
[shaking head]
I might go back and seal it up the edges with some duct tape. Wow, using my roll of duct tape for an air duct--that'll be a first!
Go back to Dr. Cheap's House of Hacks!
