Through the wall bath exhaust vent-thin wall?

Great message board, lots of good info here!

I'm looking to install a through the wall exhaust fan/vent on my bathroom. I found many options, but here is my problem...

My house is a WW2 home, 1940. Basically developers bought a plot of land & slapped as many identical houses up as fast & cheap as they could from what I see. Its not traditional stick built, the walls are built with 1"x3" glued together. No exterior wall insulation, there's no room for it! Many issues with that but the current one is the bathroom.

The bathroom is 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, shower located at the end. There used to be a window in the shower but it was bad & rotted the outside wall. Years ago I replaced the inside & outside walls & damaged studs, added a tub surround, deleted the window & added a ceiling vent fan. The vent fan never worked correct due to garage additions that made vent piping a nightmare.

I want to just stuff an exhaust vent right through the wall of the shower as close to the ceiling as I can get (away from shower spray). Problem is the 3" wall thickness. Every "through the wall" exhaust fan seems to need at least a 4 1/2" wall thickness. Question is, can I modify the outside somehow to accept these type of vents? If needed, I can make a "box" outside to house the exhaust venting. Its not visible so looks are not a concern.I just dont want to make a bigger mess than I'm trying to cure!

Is this the right direction to go? Mounting on the ceiling would be easier but the piping is a issue. I do not want to vent it through the roof. The old system I put in vented through the gable vents but it was too long of a run & froze in the winter.

Thanks for any replies!

FYI, this is the fan that I have been looking at from Broan-

http://www.broan.com/products/product/62a9ea5a-31b2-4e50-b5c6-1b43bf6f5629

Welcome Luke (I like the username!) Boxing the outside sounds fine and makes sense. Make it big enough to insulate on the inside.

Thanks Slow! I'm thinking some kind of 2x4 frame on the outside may buy me enough room to get it done.
Insulation, didn't even think of that! Thank you!

You might look at covers made for vents on campers and trailer for the outside.
If your house as soffet vents for the attic , and your vent is under that you will want to close those vents for 3 ft on each side of the new fan vent.
http://www.campingworld.com/category/fans-vents/16

nealtw said:

If your house as soffet vents for the attic , and your vent is under that you will want to close those vents for 3 ft on each side of the new fan vent.

Click to expand...

Now that is good advice! The moist exhaust air (wall or soffit vent) would be drawn into the attic. Never thought of that...

Also, if the fan is placed within the shower area, wouldn't it have to be on a GFCI circuit and the ON/OFF switch located out of reach?

KULTULZ said:

Now that is good advice! The moist exhaust air (wall or soffit vent) would be drawn into the attic. Never thought of that...

Also, if the fan is placed within the shower area, wouldn't it have to be on a GFCI circuit and the ON/OFF switch located out of reach?

Click to expand...

Yes, I would think it will likely be hooked up to come on with the light and in this case it would be a good idea for the light and the fan to be hooked into a gfi outlet in the bathroom.

And blocking the soffet vent above the bathroom vent , I beleive is code in most places.

nealtw said:

And blocking the soffet vent above the bathroom vent , I beleive is code in most places.

Click to expand...

...hmmpf...

Did not know that but makes perfect sense...