Dryer Vent Cleaning in Lindon, Utah

The retrofitted run

When a dryer goes into a house that never planned for one, the duct takes whatever route was available at the time. That usually means down through the floor into a crawl space, along under the joists, and out through the rim board on whichever side was convenient. Sometimes it means up into an attic instead. Either way it is long, it has several turns, and a good part of it runs through unheated space.

That combination is hard on airflow. Every elbow costs the equivalent of several extra feet of straight pipe, and warm damp air cooling as it travels through a cold crawl space condenses on the duct wall. Damp lint sticks. Once a layer has formed, the duct is narrower, the velocity drops further, and it accumulates faster from then on. It is a process that accelerates, which is why a vent that was fine for years can become a problem in one season.

What we find under the floor

Flexible foil duct sagging between joists, with a low point holding water and packed lint. Joints taped rather than clamped, which come apart and vent hot moist air straight into the crawl space, where it turns into a mildew problem instead of a laundry one. Sections crushed where somebody worked around them. And terminations at ground level where snow, plants or a rodent nest have blocked the flap.

The visit

Rotary brushing of the whole run with vacuum extraction, so what comes loose leaves the building. The transition hose behind the machine checked and replaced if it has been crushed against the wall, which it usually has. The exterior hood cleared, and its damper flap checked or replaced. Then an airflow measurement, so the result is a number rather than a reassurance.

Where the duct itself is the problem, we will say so. A sagging foil run under a floor cannot be made to work well by cleaning it, and replacing it with smooth rigid pipe properly supported is a one-time job that fixes the cause rather than the symptom.