Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Help, no bathroom/exhaust fan.

I have a cape cod style home, built in the early 50s (this is my first home) I have an issue with my bathroom. The paint is peeling/cracking/bubbling in certain areas (especially inside the shower area). This could be due to poor prep by the guy who owned the house before me (he flipped the house). The paint is not even 4 years old..and is already in terrible shape.

I am leaning towards this being a moisture problem. There is no exhaust fan in the bathroom. Normally one could easily install one, but there is a room right above the bathroom, I cant think of anyway to install/vent the fan or even run electric without tearing apart the walls/cieling to have the proper access.

I do have a small window that I open during showers, but this doesnt provide enough ventilation, since there is nothing pulling the air out. I have even tried running the furnace fan (there is a HVAC vent in the bathroom) while showering to help provide fresh/non humid air.

What are my alternatives? Is there any sort of fan that can be placed in the window? Any other ideas?

After I get the moisture/ventilation problem resolved..I need to repaint. Is there a special bathroom specific paint that I can use that resists mildew/cracking/peeling and handles moisture well? I know prep is very key in getting paint to adhere..I know I have to sand/scrap all the areas that have cracking/peeling paint prior to painting.

Thanks for your help!

Rick

Proper paint prep is an absolute in a bathroom. Scrape/sand any loose paint. A skim coat of drywall compound might be in order, the prime and paint with an oil based mildew inhibiting paint. A fan will certainly help. If you need to paint, this might be a good time to tear out what you must for a fan. But there are thru-the-wall fans that might work here.