I recently remodeled my home and moved the laundry room upstairs. The builder directed the dryer vent through the attic and out of the roof, but after five years of use, I noticed that drying times are way too long—over an hour! I bought a duct cleaning kit and got rid of a lot of lint, plus I even used a leaf blower for good measure. But my dryer still takes more than an hour to dry clothes. Recently, I had a friend check the roof with me and we discovered that the vent used is meant for bathroom fans, not dryers. The vent run is about 15 feet with a 90-degree angle straight up to the roof. If I hire a professional vent cleaning company, what else can they do that I haven't already? Any suggestions on how to fix this?
2 Answers
It sounds like the vent cover is the main issue here. The holes in the installed cover are probably too small for a dryer exhaust, which could lead to lint buildup. You should consider replacing it with a proper dryer vent cover that has larger openings. Something like the Duraflo or the InOvate DryerJack should work much better!
Definitely check the exhaust cap on the roof to make sure nothing's blocking it. Sometimes builders leave behind screens that can trap lint, but if you’ve already checked and the vent is clearly not meant for dryers, you've got to replace it. Make sure you get one that's specifically for a laundry dryer!
I tried checking it, but I found it’s a bathroom vent with no mesh screen. This is so frustrating!
Thanks for the tip! Will replacing the vent cover require hiring a roofer, or can I do it myself?