Dryer Vent Cleaning
If your clothes need two cycles to dry, the dryer is usually fine. The vent behind it isn't. We clear the full run, check where it exits, and tell you what we found.
- The whole duct run, not just the first few feet
- Outside vent and flap checked
- Stacked and closet units included
- All 19 of our service areas
Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm
Why it matters
A dryer can only work as well as its vent
A dryer doesn't dry clothes by heating them. It dries them by moving hot air through them and pushing the moisture outside. Every load leaves a little lint behind in the duct, and as that layer builds up, less air gets through. The heat still arrives. The moisture stops leaving.
That's why the first symptom is almost never "it stopped working" — it's "it takes two cycles now". People replace a perfectly good dryer over it.
There's a safety side too, and it doesn't need exaggerating. Lint is extremely flammable, and a blocked vent traps heat in exactly the place the lint is collecting. That's the whole mechanism, and it's why a genuinely blocked vent is worth dealing with promptly rather than when you get round to it.
Signs
When it's worth calling
Any one of these on its own is worth a look. Two or more and the vent is almost certainly the problem.
Clothes need two cycles to dry
The single most common sign. The dryer is working properly; the hot, wet air just has nowhere to go.
The dryer or the laundry room gets very hot
Heat that should be leaving through the duct is staying in the room instead.
Clothes come out hot but still damp
Classic restricted airflow. Plenty of heat, no moisture removal.
A burning or musty smell during a cycle
Stop using it and call. Scorched lint has a smell of its own.
Lint around the outside vent flap, or a flap that never opens
If the flap is not being pushed open, almost nothing is getting out.
It has been years, or you have never had it done
Lint accumulates every single load. There is no version of this where it stays clear on its own.
What we do
The whole run, and then a check that it worked
- 1Look at the actual run first
Where the duct goes, how long it is, how many bends, and what it's made of. A crushed foil duct behind the machine is a different job from a forty-foot run into a roof.
- 2Clear the full length
Not just the accessible end. Lint collects worst at bends and at the far end, which is exactly where a short brush doesn't reach.
- 3Check where it exits
The outside flap has to open under airflow. A flap painted shut, blocked by a nest, or buried behind a shrub undoes the rest of the work.
- 4Test it and tell you what we found
Including anything we can't fix by cleaning — disconnected duct inside a wall, crushed sections, or a run that was installed badly in the first place.
Related
If the dryer itself is the problem
A restricted vent causes several of the faults people call us about for the dryer. It's worth ruling out first.
Questions
Dryer vent questions
How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?
It depends far more on the run than the calendar. A short duct straight through an exterior wall in a two-person household goes a long time. A long run from an interior closet, with bends, in a house doing laundry every day, fills up much faster. If your clothes have started needing a second cycle, that is the real signal — it beats any schedule.
Is this actually a fire risk, or is that sales talk?
It is real, and it is simple physics rather than scare tactics. Lint is extremely flammable, and a blocked vent traps heat in the same place the lint is collecting. That is the whole mechanism. It is also why a vent that is genuinely blocked is worth dealing with promptly rather than at your convenience.
Can I not just do it myself with a kit from the hardware store?
For a short, straight run to an outside wall, often yes, and we would rather tell you that than take the money. The ones worth calling about are long runs, ducts with several bends, stacked units in a closet, and anything going up through a roof — those are where a brush kit tends to push the blockage further in rather than pull it out.
Do you fix the duct as well, or only clean it?
We will tell you what we find. Crushed flexible duct behind the machine, disconnected sections inside a wall, or a vent flap that has stopped opening are all common, and none of them are solved by cleaning alone. What that takes to put right depends entirely on what is back there, which is why we look first.
Do you do this on stacked or closet units?
Yes, and they are some of the most worthwhile. A stacked unit in an interior closet usually means a longer duct run with more bends, and it is harder for a homeowner to inspect, so problems go unnoticed for longer.
Do you clean the vent while you are out for a dryer repair?
Ask when you book. A restricted vent causes several of the faults people call us about for the dryer itself, so it is often worth looking at both while a technician is already there. Call 470-549-1459 and we will sort it out on the phone.
Taking two cycles to dry?
Tell us where the dryer is and roughly where the vent comes out, and we'll tell you what's involved.