Dryer vent disaster

[Erik88]

Looking for some feedback on this. We bought our home in May of 2021. The inspector caught some issues we had addressed but missed a big one. Recently my dryer stopped producing heat. When troubleshooting that I went outside and looked into the cover where the dryer is supposed to be venting. I about fell over when I shined my flashlight inside. There is no duct. 

The laundry room is 10-12 feet from the nearest exterior wall. The flex vent dumps into a hole in the floor.... And that's it. Instead of duct running under the floor, there is nothing. They literally have it dumping into my floor which is also the basement ceiling. 

So for who knows how many years, laundry heat, condensation and lint has been going into the space between my first and second floor. Amazingly, it seems dry and I don't see any mold. I can't see that much obviously. 

To run a proper vent outside I would either have to rip out my hardwood floors upstairs or my finished ceiling in the basement. 

I do have attic access so I could run a duct up the wall into the attic and then do a 90 degree turn outside. I heard this is a bad idea. 

The last option I found is an indoor dryer vent. Basically an overpriced crude device that tramps lint and some moisture. Surprisingly they have good reviews. 

I'm leaning towards this but curious what others have to say. 

FUNMAS 3-in-1 Indoor Dryer Vent, Stainless Steel Screen Filter, Polyester Filter and Water Drawer System, Upgrade Safety Vent Flap, with 4 Pieces Polyester Filters, For Electric Clothes Dryers https://a.co/d/2qtfk1K

 

 

[Erik88]

Here is what it looks like from inside the house. A road to nowhere. That would be the backside of the sheetrock in my basement I assume. 

 

 

[Hozzie]

I would personally rip out enough of my basement ceiling to do it right which means venting to the outside.

Drywall is easy to repair.  It may not look like any mold, etc, but you really don't know until you can see better.  Best case, there is nothing.  Worst case, you can spray it while the ceiling is open and know it is good for long term.

[Luckyforward]

Agreed; venting to the outside would be best if your only task is repairing drywall.  

Sorry for all your aggravation!

[LSMurphy]

There's a 90% chance I could run that vent without doing any damage, assuming there is no obstruction such as blocking or other ductwork in that framing channel. 

Otherwise I'd have to cut a couple of holes in the ceiling. 

Cut to patch, IOWs cut clean and square, make it easy on yourself. 

 

But then, this is what I do for a living. 

 

Yes, vent to the exterior. 

[Erik88]

9 minutes ago, LSMurphy said:

There's a 90% chance I could run that vent without doing any damage,

How would that work? My plan was to feed in 5' sections of 4" diameter mental duct tubing from the outside but I had my wife stick a broom down the hole while I watched from outside. I can't even see it. I could barely see light when she shined a flashlight. It seems they didn't even cut the hole in the house in direct path of the dryer. It's on opposite side of the floor joists I think. 

[peejman]

That stinks.  I agree that dropping the ceiling is best. If the hole on the outside isn't between the right joists, you'll have to make another one. That stinks more, but that's what you'll have to do. 

Be thankful you found it without burning the house down. 

[Darrell]

I tried one of those ductless dryer things, and it sucked. It's supposed to trap the lint in water, but it probably catches less than half.

One possible alternative would be to run a duct beneath your existing basement ceiling. You could paint it to match, or box it in inside a fake beam. I think that cutting open the ceiling is the best choice, but there are always alternatives. Any heat and air outfit should be willing to go to your house and offer up a solution and an estimate. 

Be sure to look up the ducting requirements for your dryer. There's a maximum length of run, and turns have to be included in the calculation.

The original installer should be held responsible, but that's pie in the sky.

Good luck!

Edited January 8, 2023 by Darrell

[LSMurphy]

22 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

How would that work?

4" metal flex comes in 25" lengths. 

You say 10-12' out? Rip out a 1x1.5x13' and push it through to the hole in the floor and make certain you are in the same trough. 

If so, use that same stick to push the duct through. 

Edited January 8, 2023 by LSMurphy

[crc4]

I'd be taking a close look at that home inspector. He failed you miserably. He took the money and didn't give you what you were entitled to receive.

Call him. Tell him what you've discovered and you're wondering why that wasn't disclosed to you. Then shut-up. Don't say anything else. Just let him reply. Record the conversation.

If he doesn't give you satisfaction, contact a lawyer. This is serious on so many levels. This is negligence.

But only state what you've found and ask him what he intends to do. No more. Let him do the talking and squirming.

[LSMurphy]

Inspectors look, they don't take anything apart, if he can't see it he can't report it. 

 

Solve your problem and get on with life. 

 

No point in barking up a dead tree. 

[Johnny Rotten]

[Alleycat72]

I'm actually venting into a homemade heating apparatus this winter. I do keep a check on the humidity. It gets the house pretty hot though.  May give you some time to get an outside vintage put in.

[Erik88]

1 hour ago, LSMurphy said:

But then, this is what I do for a living. 

Is Knoxville too far for you to travel for a job? 

[LSMurphy]

2 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

Is Knoxville too far for you to travel for a job? 

Thanks man but I can't keep up with what I have, seriously. 

 

[Erik88]

Just now, LSMurphy said:

Thanks man but I can't keep up with what I have, seriously. 

 

No worries. That's a good problem to have. If you know anyone down this way you'd recommend let me know. I'll keep researching it for now. 

[crc4]

49 minutes ago, LSMurphy said:

Inspectors look, they don't take anything apart, if he can't see it he can't report it. 

 

Solve your problem and get on with life. 

 

No point in barking up a dead tree. 

That's a bad home inspector. Must have been working for the seller.

[Ronald_55]

In our house there was a circular hole in the wall between the laundry room and garage. I suspect at some point they wanted out it, but now there is a sloppy hole though the exterior wall. No idea how they did the garage vent.

We have found so many crappy things in our house. I sometimes wonder how builders even live with themselves. Then the 2 previous owners seemed to be redneck engineers fueled by a full 24 pack. 

From experience, take the pain to vent outside now and avoid lots of issues later. 

[Darrell]

9 hours ago, Ronald_55 said:

We have found so many crappy things in our house. I sometimes wonder how builders even live with themselves

When I bought my property here and started building several neighbors stopped by and asked if I was going to have the house inspected. The question surprised me, as I couldn't imagine NOT having it inspected. But since I've lived here a few years I've found out that there are a lot of houses in the rural areas of TN that were not subject to building codes and inspections, excepting plumbing, electrical, and septic, and I'm sure some people found a way around those things as well. 

I was not required to submit plans in order to get a building permit, and no permit at all was  required for my barn or a detached garage. I am one who prefers minimum government involvement in my personal life, but something like a house is going to be sold eventually, and the purchaser should be able to trust that it was originally built to meet certain standards.

[crc4]

During the rush to buy homes in the past three years, it was a seller's market. Homes were snapped up without the buyer performing a thorough home inspection from a qualified and certified inspector that they hired.

Too often they relied on the seller's promise that everything was fine and their home inspector (not certified) had given it high marks.

Now, two years later, some people are experiencing the fallout.

The biggest investment in people's lives, but they won't spring for a certified home inspector to give the house a complete top to bottom looksie.

So it costs $1000-1500? So what? Try fixing a bad problem like electrical, plumbing, mold, sewer, wood rot, etc for $1500.

Spend the money to save your money.

 

 

[Erik88]

We hired the inspector, not the seller. He did catch other issues like I mentioned. It's well known that a home inspector will never catch every issue. I lived here 1.5 years before figuring this out. It's a 32 year old house so if this is my worst problem I'll take it. I'll get it fixed and move on. 

I'm going to get a few estimates from Heat and Air companies before ripping out the ceiling. They may have a solution. 

[gary_boom]

I would recommend metal duct not flex due to the long distance. You may need to add a booster fan to vent that far.

[FUJIMO]

2 hours ago, Erik88 said:

We hired the inspector, not the seller. He did catch other issues like I mentioned. It's well known that a home inspector will never catch every issue. I lived here 1.5 years before figuring this out. It's a 32 year old house so if this is my worst problem I'll take it. I'll get it fixed and move on. 

I'm going to get a few estimates from Heat and Air companies before ripping out the ceiling. They may have a solution. 

I'm trying to visualize your situation. Based on your previous post, the area between the hole in your floor and the outside vent may have a floor joist in its path ? I was wondering if it would be possible to cut an area in the ceiling large enough to install an elbow for a couple pieces of duct, minimizing the damage 

[Erik88]

3 minutes ago, FUJIMO said:

Based on your previous post, the area between the hole in your floor and the outside vent may have a floor joist in its path ?

It seems that way yes. When I was outside, I couldn't see the broom handle sticking down the hole and I could barely see the light from her flashlight. It seems like it's to the right of the floor joists where as the hole in the side of the house is to the left. Total distance is probably is 10-12'. 

In this picture, the doors in the left are for the washer dryer. On the right is the pantry door which backs up to the exterior wall. The vent was supposed to run under that floor. 

 

 

 

[FUJIMO]

5 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

It seems that way yes. When I was outside, I couldn't see the broom handle sticking down the hole and I could barely see the light from her flashlight. It seems like it's to the right of the floor joists where as the hole in the side of the house is to the left. Total distance is probably is 10-12'. 

In this picture, the doors in the left are for the washer dryer. On the right is the pantry door which backs up to the exterior wall. The vent was supposed to run under that floor. 

 

 

 

I gotcha. So abandoning the existing outside hole and running parallel with the floor joists, the nearest place to make a new outside hole is still 10- 12' from the hole in the floor ?