Anyone on the board know of a quality service provider to clean out the vent duct? This is the duct that runs inside the walls and exhausts outside. We've cleaned the dryer and it is heating properly....and cleaned the duct as far as we can get up, roughly 6 feet. Need the help of a pro now.

Thanks for the help.

Tried a leaf blower yet?

Just buy you one of the brush kits to attach to end of a power drill. It's about as easy a DYI as there is.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Tried a leaf blower yet?

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This is the most fun method.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Tried a leaf blower yet?

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It dry vac

Already did that. The duct runs more than 30 feet.

chilimuybueno said:

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Already did that. The duct runs more than 30 feet.

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Mine is around 24 ft as I recall and I had to buy a set of extra rods. If you do that and go at it from both ends, should be able to get it all. Just an idea.

Ag83 said:

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chilimuybueno said:

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Already did that. The duct runs more than 30 feet.

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Mine is around 24 ft as I recall and I had to buy a set of extra rods. If you do that and go at it from both ends, should be able to get it all. Just an idea.

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Go at it from both ends.

We used West Houston Dryer Vent. Ours is a very long run also and has a booster fan on it that went bad. I don't remember what it cost but they were professional and the price seemed reasonable.

Am I the only one that thinks the threat of a dryer vent fire is vastly overstated?

yes

Thank you for the recommendation.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Am I the only one that thinks the threat of a dryer vent fire is vastly overstated?

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Agree, but a lot of the reason for cleaning has to do with efficiency, not fire risk IMO.

Also would recommend West Houston as I've used them on some rentals that have long runs from utilities rooms located centrally in the house on the 2nd level.

AgCPA95 said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Am I the only one that thinks the threat of a dryer vent fire is vastly overstated?

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Agree, but a lot of the reason for cleaning has to do with efficiency, not fire risk IMO.

Also would recommend West Houston as I've used them on some rentals that have long runs from utilities rooms located centrally in the house on the 2nd level.

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This. It makes your dryer have to work harder, which can burn out your heating element. I was able to get mine repaired, but I have an older unit (over 10 years). The repair guy said newer dryers are more difficult/expensive to repair, and in some cases, can't be repaired at all.

chilimuybueno said:

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Already did that. The duct runs more than 30 feet.

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Why do house builders do this? Mine is like this, it's like they chose the longest route they could find.

But the leaf blower usually succeeds at blowing everything out of it.

I've also used that company with good success.

But I have also watched what they do a few times and determined that my Toro leaf blower can do the job about 90% as well.

So I basically alternate. I'll call them for a full cleaning, and the next time I'll maintain it myself to save a little.

This is exactly what happened with us. Heating element failed; that's been replaced and works. Ran the dryer with full load and with the duct disconnected from the wall to see how efficient drying was. The load dried as it should. Problem therefore with the ductwork within the walls and exhaust from house.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Am I the only one that thinks the threat of a dryer vent fire is vastly overstated?

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Having put out several dryer fires I can tell you they're not overstated.

And yes, also a clogged vent won't dry clothes worth a darn.

We had ours cleaned years ago when I lived in a condo. Guy couldn't figure out which exhaust vent was mine. He ran his long shop vac up the inlet and got a bunch of water that had condensed in the duct. Dude pulled the old Bombay bait and switch and tried to charge me an extra $50 for removing the water. Told him he gets the earlier agreed upon price or he gets nothing. Not sure what he called me, as it was in some foreign language, but I am sure it wasn't really nice.

Doesn't really matter how long of a duct you have, a powerful leaf blower will do the trick in about a minute. It will also get any condensation in the line that has been built up. No other better method and not worth wasting time on a contractor to do.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Am I the only one that thinks the threat of a dryer vent fire is vastly overstated?

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Having put out several dryer fires I can tell you they're not overstated.

And yes, also a clogged vent won't dry clothes worth a darn.

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Fair enough.

IDaggie06 said:

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Doesn't really matter how long of a duct you have, a powerful leaf blower will do the trick in about a minute. It will also get any condensation in the line that has been built up. No other better method and not worth wasting time on a contractor to do.

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Are you sure? Maybe if you've been cleaning regularly but it seems that even a blower can't clean layers of lint that's caked on the duct walls over the years.

30' is a long run. Any practical way to run a shorter line?

I have a 30+ foot run too. Sucks. Have used leaf blower and rods. It's always a pain in the arse because I've got limited space in my laundry room to move my dryer and get behind it.

My other problem is that it runs out of the roof, so there is a cap on top of the vent. Lots of lint gets caught in that cap, and I don't like to / flat won't get up on that part of the roof to clear that out.

Sorry, this thread triggered my rage at the idiot architect or builder who devised this.

Recently did a duct clean and had to get up on the roof to take the cap off. Fortunately, it wasn't tough to get to, but if it was that would have sucked.

That being said, once that thing was off the actual cleaning is simple as can be with a drill and those flexible extension cleaners.