Build Bath & Shower

Older homes often lack bathroom exhaust fans . In the old days, if the bathroom was smelly or steamy, you were supposed to open a window to air it out. This isn’t a very logical ventilation method , especially when temperatures are below zero, or when the weather is 90°F and humid. Yet this time-honored method of bathroom ventilation is still enshrined in our building codes. According to the 2009 International Residential Code (sections R303.3 and M1507.3), a bathroom with an operable window does not need to have a bath exhaust fan . Why do we need exhaust fans? In spite of the code’s archaic loophole, builders should install an exhaust fan in every bathroom or toilet room — even when the bathroom has a window. A bath exhaust fan can perform several functions: It can exhaust smelly air , allowing fresher air to enter the bathroom. It can exhaust humid air , allowing dryer air to enter the bathroom. When operated for 24 hours per day or when controlled by a timer, it can act (in so...

Free solo mountaineering puts the climber at constant risk of death. Alex Honnold, pictured here in Kenya, doesn’t seem to care. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NORTH FACE/TED HESSER Advertisement Alex Honnold was scrambling. This was five years ago, five years before the 31-year-old from Carmichael accomplished the greatest feat in rock- climbing history . It was mid-summer, 2012, and Honnold was on North Palisade in the eastern Sierra Nevada , in trouble. The fourth-highest summit among the 15 peaks in California with 14,000-plus-feet of elevation, North Palisade isn ’t considered particularly technical. But it’s challenging—especially when something goes wrong. Honnold’s plan had been to negotiate all the California 14ers in a two-week span. But he got sidetracked when he pulled off a big chunk of rock, and it was heading his way fast. He recalls the occasion over breakfast at the recent Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City . He’s done thousands of climbs, but his issue on the So...