Dryer Vent Installation

[shortguy]

I just bought a house that does not have a vent for the clothes dryer. Is this a do-it-yourself job that a rookie homeowner (very very limited home repair experience) can take care of? What would the cost be of either doing it myself?

The dryer hose will be going through the crawl space and out through the back yard side of the house.

 

[limblips]

I just bought a house that does not have a vent for the clothes dryer. Is this a do-it-yourself job that a rookie homeowner (very very limited home repair experience) can take care of? What would the cost be of either doing it myself?

The dryer hose will be going through the crawl space and out through the back yard side of the house.

A couple of questions. Is you dryer on the first floor or second? Is your dryer on an outside wall. I can walk you thru it but need that info.

 

[shortguy]

The house is only 1 level so yea on the first floor. It's against the wall seperating the kitchen and the living room...facing the outside wall.

 

[Bonehead]

Short

Why not just out the wall directly ? A long run of pipe could lead to condensation in the winter and water standing breeds all kinds of nasty stuff. A hole saw would allow you to go through the wall. Just watch out for any possible water or electric lines.

 

[limblips]

The house is only 1 level so yea on the first floor. It's against the wall seperating the kitchen and the living room...facing the outside wall.

Ok, looks like you have 2 options: Go up through ther ceiling and out of the roof or up the wall and out to the soffitt. I would go straight up and out the roof since hot air likes to rise and hates to make turns. If you want to pit it inside the wall, you will need to cut out your top sill (not recommended), if you run it outside the wall you need to cut a 4" hole in the ceiling directly above the outlet from the dryer. then cut a 4" hole in the roof directly above the ceiling hole. You will need a vent cap to put in the roof hole (a few bucks at Lowes) the vent cap has an flange that will slide under the upper shingles and over the lower shingles. Secure it under the upper shingle with a few roofing nails. Now, run a dryer vent flex line (again Lowes) a few feet out of the dryer. I use 4" PVS (schedule40) for a vent pipe painted to match the wall, running it all the wat through the ceiling hole to the attic. Then attach another length of flex from the PVC to the roof vent. Wrap all jointsd in Aluminum tape (NOT duct tape!) and you are done. For a reall finished look, buy a ceiling fan escutcheon (Yep, Lowes) and trim it to fit the 4" PVC (1/8 of an inch(sandpaper does it fairly quickly). You will have to trim the edge where it meets the wall too. Put it on the PVC and slide it up to the ceiling. Secure with hot glue or if you did it right, it will be tight enough to stay on its own.

 

[limblips]

Short

Why not just out the wall directly ? A long run of pipe could lead to condensation in the winter and water standing breeds all kinds of nasty stuff. A hole saw would allow you to go through the wall. Just watch out for any possible water or electric lines.

I read it as he had the dryer on an inside wall facing the outside wall. If it is on an outside wall then straight through is the answer. Many vent thru the roof with no condensation issues. It can be insulated if he desires.

 

[Baja28]

Do NOT go straight up thru the roof. Dryers put out a lot of lint that cannot be pushed all the way up to the roof. You'll be clogged up in no time. There are most likely wires in the wall you described. Not to mention all of the work to do this.

Sounds like you have an easy job. Just go down thru the crawl space as you described and out the exterior wall.

 

[Bonehead]

Good advice about the lint for sure.

 

[citizen_fear]

I just bought a house that does not have a vent for the clothes dryer. Is this a do-it-yourself job that a rookie homeowner (very very limited home repair experience) can take care of? What would the cost be of either doing it myself?

The dryer hose will be going through the crawl space and out through the back yard side of the house.

Do not go throught the roof or out the soffit. Either go directly out the wall to the outside or go down and out through your crawl space.

 

[shortguy]

Thanks everyone...I was thinking about doign to down and out through the crawl space thing. The retards before me just vented it directly into the crawl space...luckely there was no mold or moisture down there.

It will have to make a couple 90 degree turns but I think it would be easier for hot air to do that than lint going up.

 

[CREResident]

Get a Carpenter

No offense, but I live in a house where someone did a lot of do-it-yourself project and they really messed up the house and created a lot of dangers. First -- a carpenter isn't going to charge you much to do this. Second -- bad dryer ventilation is a common cause of house fires.

A good carpenter can create a dryer vent that is (1) a direct path to outside with minimal or no turns (which can trap dryer lint and start fires), (2) made with material that will not trap lint, (3) provide an access point so you can easily clean lint out of the vent, (4) be easily accessed so you can replace it periodically, and (5) be tightly sealed on your outside wall so water from rain does not get into the vent.

 

[limblips]

Clothes Dryer Vents

I rest my case. Thru the roof is perfectly acceptable and recommended by many pros since it is normally a straight run up!

 

[Bann]

Clothes Dryer Vents

I rest my case. Thru the roof is perfectly acceptable and recommended by many pros since it is normally a straight run up!

When I lived in Florida (outside of Jacksonville) our dryer vent went straight up. Our house was a rambler. (family of 4) Our vent got clogged and we would have to snake it and clear it out. I think we did this about once a year.

 

[citizen_fear]

Thanks everyone...I was thinking about doign to down and out through the crawl space thing. The retards before me just vented it directly into the crawl space...luckely there was no mold or moisture down there.

It will have to make a couple 90 degree turns but I think it would be easier for hot air to do that than lint going up.

Dont put screws in it if you must attach it(or use very short ones) as the lint will catch on it and build up in no time.

 

[czygvtwkr]

My mom's drier is in the basement and has a vent that goes straight up about 8 feet and then out the exterior wall and in 30 years its been cleaned out about 3 times.

 

[DoWhat]

You should clean or replace (depending the type of vent) the dryer vent every 6 months.


And while you are doing that, pull the back panel of the dryer off and give it a good vacuum.