I have two words — CLEAN IT.
I recently purchased a foreclosure that had two bathrooms with a fan/heater/light. One was brand new. One was an original antique from when the house was built in 1987 and had a non-functioning heater so I ordered a new unit from Amazon.
In preparation for the arrival of the new unit I started to disassemble the old one. This was after vacuuming the old unit out trying to see if I could get it working.
Once I got it apart the thing was beyond disgusting, beyond belief. I didn’t think dust could cake on that thick — doesn’t it fall off from its own weight?
I had to scrape to find the attaching screws because they were so buried in dust. I wear contact lenses and even with protective goggles I was drowning in crap. I was afraid to breathe so I went and got a face mask. The vent for air was so incredibly clogged with layers of dust I doubted that any air was actually pushed through.
I stopped with the disassembly until the new unit arrived and I could see just how much had to be removed. That evening I took a shower in the same bathroom and evidently the weight added from the humidity of my shower caused thick cakes of dust to fall down on the rug below it.
Gross.
If you have a bathroom fan take the cover off the light. Take the bulb out of the light. Find the screw attaching the unit to the ceiling and remove it. Vacuum the ever-loving crap out of the exposed fan and vent and everything you can get a crevasse tool to.
Your vent will work more efficiently getting the humidity out of your bathroom, the fan will last longer, and you won’t be breathing the disgusting caked dust that results from a failure to do these things every year or so.
