Relocated the dryer vent

[EricU]

it's funny that the companies make breakers that are almost identical except for a few dimensions. I have two breaker panels that use breakers that look identical.  I wanted to add a circuit recently and realized the breaker I was thinking about using was the brand for the other panel.  It really hadn't occurred to me until then that they were so close.

My dryer vent goes through a hole that cripples the rim joist.  I guess it's no big deal, but it does bother me.  Pretty sure this is a homeowner mod.  When we first moved in, there was one of those vents in the plastic dryer vent line.  In the winter, the idea is that you should vent the dryer exhaust into your house.  It's amazing that the basement wasn't full of mold, our dehumidifier runs all the time except for a few really cold days in the winter.  Ok, so the way the vent line was full of lint, it's amazing the house was still standing.

[mikefm101]

My last house the previous owner vented the dryer into the basement. I think he was trying to use it as supplemental heat for the house. It was in Connecticut.

It wasn't until a few months after moving in i noticed anything steel in the basement started getting crazed with rust. It was my first house so had a lot to learn but eventually figured it out and moved to an exterior vent.

He had an old panty hose at the end of the duct to catch the lint. What a mess.

Mike

[Cooler]

I was watching one of those Mike Holmes shows and he said that flex hose was a no-no and only to use the galvanized pipe.  He claimed that the corrugations would trap lint and eventually enough lint would be in place to start a fire.  I thought that made sense.

But what surprised me was that he said to join the pipes with  aluminum tape and not to use screws.  He claimed the the screws sticking out on the inside of the pipe would capture lint in the same way.  

I re-did my dry vent recently using pipe and tape.  I was surprised how sturdy the assembly was using just the tape.  It will take 15 or 20 years to see if the extra effort was worth it.  (Flex hose is faster and cheaper--but not lots cheaper, but lots faster).  Using the pipe and tape, the re-installation took about one hour.  I imagine that the flex hose would have been much faster.

[KC]

I was watching one of those Mike Holmes shows and he said that flex hose was a no-no and only to use the galvanized pipe.  He claimed that the corrugations would trap lint and eventually enough lint would be in place to start a fire.  I thought that made sense.

But what surprised me was that he said to join the pipes with  aluminum tape and not to use screws.  He claimed the the screws sticking out on the inside of the pipe would capture lint in the same way.  

I re-did my dry vent recently using pipe and tape.  I was surprised how sturdy the assembly was using just the tape.  It will take 15 or 20 years to see if the extra effort was worth it.  (Flex hose is faster and cheaper--but not lots cheaper, but lots faster).  Using the pipe and tape, the re-installation took about one hour.  I imagine that the flex hose would have been much faster.

That foil tape is great stuff.  Sticks to almost anything, and stays there.  

[Mr_Mike]

My dryer vent story (and laundry fan story).

My laundry room was built with the dryer vent on the left hand wall relative to a front view of the washer/dryer. 7 feet or so from the corner resulting in the flex vent running along the floor then exiting 90 degrees out the wall to the foot of the first step on the raised front porch. (split level house). It terminated beside the sidewalk in a small garden area between the sidewalk and the garage sidewall. It had no flapper on it. When we moved in, a bull frog was using the vent as a home. Also in the room was an overhead fan that vented to an exhaust beside the front door.

When we remodeled the laundry to switch the washer/dryer left/right so the front loaders were properly oriented and also built a raised platform, we brought the dryer vent up the wall (wet wall and 2x6 construction) and hooked it to the exhaust fan duct abandoning the exhaust duct in the process.

We now have a truly functional dryer vent, but we do get lint around the front door. A good compromise, however. I can't believe that the previous owners lived with this for 25 years.