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jandt_gw

Disconnected dryer vent in wall - can't access

jandt
17 years ago

Hey folks,

We have a finished basement where we watch movies and play video games etc.

For quite some time I was noticing the smell of fabric softener sheets when the dryer ran up on the main floor (the vent runs along the ceiling in unfinished part of basement). I figured there might be a hole somewhere and was being lazy about fixing it. I wasn't aware it can be quite a problem.

Lately it was getting really humid down there too, so I decided to investigate further.

Up inside our drop ceiling, I used my flashlight and discovered that where the dryer vent enters the ceiling from upstairs, it was TOTALLY DISCONNECTED from the rigid pipe! It was ventind directly into the ceiling (floorspace) and lint was everywhere.

Oiy.

So I'd love to simply re-attach it and use a hose clamp to secure it. Problem is, it's beyond the point of the drop ceiling and basically inaccessible. The space is too small to crawl into and too far to reach with my arm.

To make matters worse, the actual venting is about 25 feet long and has at least 3 corners to it, AND has sections of plastic hose which I know is no longer considered safe and is against code.

What a mess.

So - my solution is to cut a new hole in the floor upstairs, and move the entry point of the venting to a spot where I can reach it from below using the drop ceiling. From that point, I would re-install proper venting all the way to the exterior wall. My wife's complaint: she doesn't want me cutting holes in the floor and says "what about the first hole?".

I guess another option would be to cut a hole into the next door garage, and then to the outside from the garage, which is a MUCH shorter run for the venting but introduces ugly vent pipe into my garage.

Any other ideas on what to do about this?

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