Bathroom fan not venting to outside

Hoping i can get a little guidance from the group here. I own a condo unit on the 2nd floor of a 4 story brownstone (with brick exterior). I recently decided to replace the light/fan in my bathroom to update to a more aesthetically pleasing design. When i removed the old light/fan, i discovered it was never vented to the outside. Instead it was simply venting into the ceiling space between the 2nd and 3rd floor. Clearly the original installer shortcut the process in not venting to the outside. The exterior wall is about 5 feet from the fan location, but again it's a brick building, so not sure how to accomplish. (see attached picture)

I'd like to fix the situation, but need advice in a few areas:

1. How to best do this given the situation?
2. Who would be the best resource to contact for the job?
3. How much should i reasonably expect to pay for this job?

Thanks in advance for your help with this!

 

It probably is a brick veneer wall not a brick wall. A mason would be one professional who might do the job. There are are also companies that specialize in cutting holes in masonry and concrete walls. Or you could do it yourself with a circular saw and a cheap diamond blade or ultra cheap carbide masonry blade. However the fact this is a condo is a big red flag.

Do you own the condo? If not you can't do anything. If you do own the condo first you need to talk to the Condo Board.

If you can do it first you need to determine which direction the ceiling joists run and if they are solid or open trusses.

 

I agree with Ray, start by talking to the condo board. Frequently, anything to do with the exterior of the building falls within their oversight. My personal opinion is, this is a building code violation and the association needs to get involved in correcting it. Walk around your building/s and see how many exhaust vents you can count. Did they forget just yours or did they forget them all?

Dumping that moisture into a ceiling space between floors is a building structure issue as well as a potential mold issue.

Once you determine who is authorized to do the install, you or a pro, then we can get into the how-to questions.

Bud

 

It looks like the joists run in your favor. The blocking would need to get moved. It also looks like the ceiling may have been lowered from original.