Another little job to accompany the installation of my pot-hanging rack on Saturday.
When I moved in to this flat almost a year ago, I noticed a (presumably) hammer-hewn hole in the wall just beyond the space reserved for a conventional washing machine. It provides some airflow to the ventilation brick on the external wall but not only does it look unsightly but I also wonder whether it’s the reason I’ve experienced an influx of flies over the summer months this year.
It’s a little job I’ve been meaning to tidy up for a while and, at no great expense, I attained a simple louver vent with a flyscreen on the reverse.
I used my own hammer to finish opening the hole (approximately 6in x 4in or 150mm x 100mm) and with a dust pan resting beneath, I was able to collect most of the debris as I swept it out (although, a vacuum would’ve been better for removing the fine dust).
Study the photo above and you’ll see there are ‘wires’ that disappear in to the wall just to the right of the opening… Except, I do not think they are wires. My cheap wire detector won’t react to them and they do appear to run directly in to the water heater beneath my sink, which suggests to me that they instead carry water.
Either way, I don’t want to risk drilling in to or through them!
Until the winds picked up the other night, I had the vent cover (minus the flyscreen) temporarily secured to the wall with two strips of masking tape, as I’m uncertain of how to proceed further. I could almost safely place two screws in the center (one top, one bottom) but I still feel it would need fixing to the sides and corners. There’s just no telling where those pipes are headed beyond the plaster.
Is it possible to bond this vent to the wall with some kind of adhesive?
Thanks for reading. Especially if you can offer some form of advice.
