Does the hot, wet air just blow into the attic space? Or is there a visible vent on the outside of your house?

I'd call a handyman. Maybe a neighbor would have a recommendation, or look in your local newspaper's classifed ads. Or on a bulletin board at a local hardware store.

Good luck :-)

There is an outside vent visible but Im not sure if this is a dryer vent or stove hood vent. Because of the location I am almost certain it is the hood vent. I am concerned because the top of the dryer has a thick coat of lint and even the framing around the inside of the closet has cat hair from my excessively shedding cat. I guess I'll start with a handyman and go from there. Thanks.

The vent most likely terminates at the roof. Vent wizard is a good source for vent inspection and cleaning.

That's a franchise, brushworks. Hopefully people can find better alternatives.

In houses of friends and family, I have discovered dryer vents open to both attics and crawl spaces. I assume nothing.

That vent pipe needs cleaning from time to time.

Check around among friends and connections, groups that know you - possibly you can find a handyperson who will be able to diagnose your issues, maybe help with the necessaries, or know someone who can that doesn't charge more than an arm and half of a leg.

(The overseer doesn't like that "handyperson")!

ole joyful

Unfortunately most code violations are created by family and friends and quite often by so called “handymen”. Those usually end up in attic or crawl spaces or even basements.

Many local fire departments will inspect dryer vents and advise you accordingly.

Contact your local fire prevention officer. And while he’s there, have him inspect smoke detectors.

Satine, you most probably already know this but just in case you don’t, be leary of using a handyman, as they are not all created equal. If you don’t have someone that you use on a routine basis and trust I would use a lot of due diligence if you go that route. Your local “non big box” privately owned hardware store, may have a couple of people they can refer to you. Asking a source in the same or a similar trade for referrals is how I’ve found the best help for our projects.

As for assuming it’s going up to the attic, that option wouldn’t pass code because not only is it a fire hazard but the humidity from the vent can cause some serious mildew issues.

When we rented a condo in SoCal, our W/D wasn’t stacked but it was in a closet space like you say yours is. The dryer never worked well and when we tried to get it fixed, we discovered that the venting was ran under the slab. Not ideal because cleaning it was not an easy task. If your in a condo and the w/d unit is not near an ouside wall it’s very likely that your venting is underground as well. If you want to make sure, you could contact the association so see if someone on the board would know. (And who knows, they may even have someone they can recommend to clean it out)

"venting was ran under the slab"

I doubt venting was run (not ran) under a slab. Unless a duct was formed (with an appropriate exit point) when the slab was poured. A slab is multi-inch thick concrete pad, a construction alternative (a cheaper one) to perimeter foundations. Maybe you mean into a crawlspace?

My home is built on a slab. The washer/dryer closet backs to my master bath specifically the wall on which the tub front is located. I could certainly be wrong about the venting going to the attic and it could easily be vented to the roof. Because I am in a duplex there is no place for the vent to go to the outside at that part of the house. Guess this calls for some investigation I guess I will first try to get someone to just look in the attic to get an idea of where to start. My daughter and family are coming to visit tomorrow so I'll ask son in law to take a look. No matter what I need all the vents cleaned.

If you're in a duplex I would ask my attached neighbour if they have had a problem with their washer/dryer, or if they may have painted the "space" the combo was in, in which case they would have pulled the pair out in order to paint/clean.

satine, it must surely go up the wall. The question is where to from there. It could continue up to and through the roof, or sideways to a wall. Or stop. Easy to see what and easy to fix. Good luck

To see if the vent thing on the outside is the dryer, turn the dryer on and go outside to check for air coming out. If it's not, then turn on the stove vent and go back outside to feel for air.

My mother in law uses RotoRooter to clean out her dryer vent. They do that plus plumbing stuff.

I found my wonderful handyman through a referral from a small locally owned hardware store. He's been a true blessing to me. It's very hard to find anyone to do small jobs these days, and he is so good, honest, and reliable. I would be lost without him!

At my father-in-law's place in Maine several years back the dryer was taking hours to dry a load, so I checked the vent through the basement and found it was a white vinyl extendable vent hose (that should never be used for a dryer) that went across the ceiling of the basement and out through a boarded up basement window. I disconnected the hose and found that the 4" diameter hose was blocked almost completely except for a 1" diameter hole through the middle of the lint.

Most dryers are rated to work with a 25' long vent pipe but each 90 deg elbow subtract 5' from that measure. At our previous house the vent exited beneath the front deck, and was accessible, but not easily accessible. Because where the dryer was located there were 9 90 deg elbows, so the dryer we had never worked well at all. When it died I managed to find a special "long-vent" dryer that was rated to work with vent pipes up to 90' long (again with each elbow subtracting 5')

If the top of the dryer is coated with lint, that may be a sign that the vent doesn't go outside at all.