We are doing a master bathroom remodel. We have ripped everything out – we are down to studs and subfloor. The “before” version of the bathroom had a dropped ceiling over the shower and vanity area. We didn’t like the dropped ceiling and our plan for the renovation had the ceiling at the usual 8’ height. After tearing out everything, we found that the reason for the dropped ceiling was that the “vent stack” for the gas furnace and water heater (combined into one stack) runs up the side wall of the bathroom (shower area), then just before it hits the top of the wall, it “elbows” its way into the shower area, then continues vertically up through the roof. The reason for the diverting into the shower area is because there is the horizontal component of a roof truss right above the wall. This is the old-fashioned double wall vent pipe so it is like 8" in diameter or something.

I am devastated. We can’t think of anything to do to get this stack out of the way of the shower area, other than to rip out the old (21 years old) gas furnace and replace them with high-efficiency models that use PVC vent out through a side wall of the house. I just don't know if I want to spend that much more money.

Any ideas? I could send a picture of the problem.

Frustrated,
What happens if we elbow the other direction???? What is in that room? Perhaps a decorative soffit or tray ceiling could be created in that space to mask the bump out.