Another Small Home Improvement Project - The Duct

A couple weekends ago we finished up the last item to be completed after our kitchen updates.  That was to close off the hole on the side of the house where the old duct work was for the old vented range hood.  In the winter we always got a lot of cold air coming into our kitchen from that old range hood which led me to believe it wasn't well installed.  Since I had swapped out the vented range hood with a ductless one I no longer need it vented to the outside of the house.

Before

Patching up the holes from the duct work in the cabinet over the stove had already made a significant impact in the cold air issue as well as the number of bugs that seemed to come into our house.  At one time, a couple years ago, I could swear I heard birds in the duct work.  The girls heard it too so I knew I wasn't imagining it.

After

I waited until we got a couple of really good frosts and I was pretty certain there weren't any critters in there before I got busy and boarded it up.  Once up on the ladder I was able to see the duct that ran from the outside of the house to the vent had been installed in pieces and they used actual duct tape to hold it together.  Not the type you are supposed to use but the all purpose gray tape we all know and love.  Not a single screw to be found holding those joints together either.  Ugh! 

I pulled out as much as I could reach and left the rest inside.  When the hole was cut in the siding nothing had been done to secure the insulation and it had fallen down inside the wall.  Ugh again!  I pulled it up and back into place as best I could and then, thanks to a good friend of mine who had given me a bag of leftover insulation scraps in case I needed it on my motorhome projects, I filled in the gaps as well as the hole itself.

This is what it looked like originally

The duct had been shabbily concealed inside the cabinet with some scraps of siding of all things.  When I removed that I saved it in case I needed to patch something.  I used a piece of that and some screws to cover the hole.  A bead of caulk across the top of the patch seals it up against moisture.  Once painted it will be hardly noticeable.  If in the future someone wants to properly install a new duct and vented range hood they still can as nothing here is permanent.

I haven't decided yet if this will be the final product or not
But for now we are weather tight and that is most important right now

I feel better knowing my house is sealed up against weather, cold and critters.  And even better knowing this is the final step to our kitchen updates.  I get to check this one off the To Do list too!  Yay!