Debate: my bath fan replacement took 4 hours instead of 1.

I thought swapping an old bath fan would be a quick job, but the wiring was so cramped I spent half the time fishing new cable. Is it better to fight with old wiring or just cut new holes and start fresh?

2 comments

2 Comments

iris_jones8913d ago

@thomas.cameron I hear you on the drywall mess, but cutting new holes can actually be faster if the old wiring is a total rat's nest. Last time I did a fan swap, the previous guy had stapled the cable so tight I spent an hour pulling and cursing. Cutting a fresh hole in the ceiling gave me a clean path to run new wire straight to the junction box, and patching one small hole with some mesh tape and compound is maybe a 20 minute job if you let the mud dry. Sometimes fighting the old setup just isn't worth the headache when a little drywall work gives you a much cleaner result.

thomas.cameron13d ago

You mentioned "starting fresh" with new holes, but that's usually way more work than it sounds. Cutting new holes means patching drywall, matching texture, and repainting unless you're fine with a patch job that sticks out. I did a similar swap last year and ended up just rewiring through the attic access instead of fighting the cramped box. It took extra time to pull new cable but saved me from the drywall mess. For me, it's about measuring if the old wiring is actually safe or just annoying.