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Patrick, Matt, and a newcomer to the podcast, Fine Homebuilding design editor Kiley Jacques, talk about their own kitchen and bathroom remodeling plans before digging into listener questions about unvented bath fans, custom-milled interior trim, whole-house designs, and strange dormer layouts.

Editor Projects

Design editor Kiley Jacques tells us about here cramped little bathroom and laundry closet, which she plans to gut and remodel after challenging three designers to come up with the perfect plan

Matt Millham talks about his wish list for a future remodel of his awkward old kitchen

Related links:

• HOUSES by Design: Kiley’s weekly Fine Homebuilding design blog
• Kitchens & Baths Design Issue 2018
• Kitchen Design 101

Question 1: Is there such thing as a recirculating ventilation fan for a bathroom?

Jack writes: Hi FHB. Love the Podcast. Thank you so much for all your insight. Quick question. I am doing a dry wall repair in a tiny half bath. When we pulled down the ceiling we realized that the ventilation fan isn’t actually connected to anything. Obviously a working fan is a good idea when the bath is right off the living room and sees a lot of use.  But the bath is in middle of the house so there’s really is nowhere to vent it without making holes or a soffit. There is a boiler room below with flue pipes that I doubt vent anywhere since they look like a mess and it smells terrible. But I told him to look into that and its above me. My question, I don’t want to pull out the vent altogether, can I vent it to the boiler room? How hack/illegal would that be. There is no fresh air vent or any vent into the boiler room. Or do they make some sort of filtered recirculation fan for the bathroom? Like a range hood type maybe? Thank guys!

Related links:

• NuTone 682NT BROAN Duct-Free Bathroom Ventilation Fan on Amazon
• Panasonic-WhisperFitEZ-Fan on Amazon

Question 2: How can I make beautiful beaded baseboard and casing on a budget?

Austin from South Dakota writes: Hey FHB,  My wife and I are about to start remodeling our new house. I’m looking into trim details and wanting a different look than the big boxes offer, but don’t want to pay for it. I’m thinking about buying a bunch of clear pine (about $9.50 for a 12 footer) and a beaded router bit to make my own beaded base and casing.

I could go with 3/4″ material on for both base and casing, which would allow me to “wrap” the bead from the baseboard to the casing, which I think would be really cool. The other option is pay the premium for 5/4 clear pine and do the normal look, where casing is proud of the base. What do you guys think?

For context, we’ll have a somewhat rustic laminate flooring, 3 panel doors, as well as shaker cabinets. All millwork will be painted white.

Also, the lumberyards in our city cater to builders and pretty much tell everyone else to go away.

Thanks in advance, love the show.

Related links:

• Casing a Door
• Build This Simple Router Jig and Mill Your Own Molding On-Site
• DISCUSSION FORUM: Mill versus buy trim

Question 3: Can you help me design the perfect house?

Joseph writes: Hello, Thank you for the informative and entertaining podcast.  A couple weeks ago, one of the hosts said they wish y’all had more design questions.  I’ll be starting a home on 50 acres in Texas within the next year.  Climate zone 2 almost 3.  Electric and water already run to the site.

Requirements:

• Engineered SOG – land has expansive soil
• Steel roof
• As maintenance free exterior as possible
• I’ll be the GC and will sub out everything up to the exterior being finished, then I will finish a lot of the interior work.
• Home plans attached
• Video of land attached as well
• So, design away.

Thanks!

Question 4: How would you describe this unusual dormer?

Kurtis from Massachusetts writes: I thought this was relative to podcast 170. Is this a double dormer or a quad dormer? This house is for sale nearby. You can pick this architectural marvel for a mere a $475k in Westminster, Ma. Keep up the good podcasts.

Related links:

• Designing shed dormers
• Designing gable dormers

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This episode of the podcast is brought to you by MiTek, ZipSystems, and Danner boots

This episode of the Fine Homebuilding Podcast is brought to you by Danner boots. We’re not fortune tellers, but when you lace up our new Stronghold work boots, it’s easy to see that the future looks strong. We’re Danner, and after 85 years of making boots for the unforgiving Pacific Northwest… well, that means our boots come with deep roots. And the new Stronghold work boot is no exception. This is what happens when iconic quality runs into modern technology. You get tomorrow’s classic today. Get into the Stronghold for strength that starts right from where you stand. Find your local store at Danner.com. 

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The Fine Homebuilding Podcast embodies Fine Homebuilding magazine’s commitment to the preservation of craftsmanship and the advancement of home performance in residential construction. The show is an informal but vigorous conversation about the techniques and principles that allow listeners to master their design and building challenges.

Other related links

• All FHB podcast show notes: FineHomebuilding.com/podcast.
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