Bath Exhaust vs Joinsts

On Iowa!

I am putting a bathroom in a walk out basement of a 5 year old home. I think the only way to get to an exterior wall will be through joists in the ceiling. Is this OK? I wouldn't expect the exhaust to be larger then 4 inches. The joists are the newer compressed wood fiber "I" joists.

An alternative would be to run the exhaust to the water heater exhaust or the heater exhaust but I am pretty sure this would be against a code or two.

Any help would be greatly appreaciated.

bjbatlanta

I'm sure you'll get some more (and better informed) responses, but just as a guess, I'd say if there are cutouts in the joists now, you're probably ok. If not, they are likely not to be cut without some sort of reinforcement or just in certain places. I have seen them where there are squares or circles "stamped" in the plywood like that's the area to cut out if needed. They are an "engineered" product and you might compromise the integrity by cutting. If there is a manufacturer's stamp on them you may be able to go to their website and inquire as to the possibility of cutting....

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pyper

I was reading some literature for one manufacturer's joists and they had very specific instructions for making cuts -- where, how large, etc.

Ron6519

You need to contact the manufacturer of your joists to get the info you need.
Ron