# Running a new dryer vent.



## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

Hello all. I have an electric dryer that has the standard flexible vent on it. That leads to one of those 'indoor vents". This is set up in my basement.

I'm sure you all have seen them before. They work ok until you actually run the dryer. Sure they trap the lint but it gets REALLY humid afterwards.

Sooooo my question is: Whats' the max length I can run a solid dryer vent? I probably wouldn't have to go any further than 30 -40 feet.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Sounds way to far to me.
How close is the dryer to an outside wall? Should be running the vent out through a rim joist.


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## AandPDan (Mar 27, 2011)

Check your dryer manual for venting information. There are boosters that can be used if the length is too long.


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

Yeah see that's what I thought.

Basically, my problem is the dryer is against the north wall. Can't run through that as there's a crawlspace and the rest of the house extends WAY over that. 

East wall is against the garage. Can't vent through there.

West already has too much along that wall. Water heater, old oil burner, a semi finished bathroom, etc. Basically no room.

South wall is furthest away. It's the front of the hose but there's really nothing else there. I don't want to move the dryer there but I don't mind running a vent that far... 

Hence my original question: How far can I run a vent?


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## AandPDan (Mar 27, 2011)

DeCaff2007 said:


> Hence my original question: How far can I run a vent?


It depends on the dryer. Check the manual.

There are deductions to make for each elbow too.

You'll probably need a booster from your description.


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

I've decided to move the dryer against the the south wall. I need to make a small repair there first before I move it.

Now, wonder if I can mount a dryer vent through plaster/chicken wire, or vinyl siding. Either way, it's got to be done.


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## AandPDan (Mar 27, 2011)

Yes you can go through any of those. Just find something solid to attach the vent grill/damper.


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

Excellent. Good to know. I think I might have to wait until tomorrow morning to get started on this.

I lifted a piece of the vinyl siding and there was asbestos siding underneath .

Not sure how to deal with that...


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

You might consider doing something like this.

Just before I had my house stuccoed I took a 4" PVC coupling, cleaned it up inside enough (took the lip off) so the 4" dryer vent would fit through it.









The beauty of this, I can seal around the penetration and still have a nice clean hole for the dryer vent. The fit is tight enough that with the cap on, there are no leaks.


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

Interesting. 

Is there a way to drill that 4" hole in asbestos w/out all the bull**** coming out of it?


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

DeCaff2007 said:


> Interesting.
> 
> Is there a way to drill that 4" hole in asbestos w/out all the bull**** coming out of it?


Have the wife hold the shop vac near the blade as you cut. That will suck all the dust into the vac


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## AandPDan (Mar 27, 2011)

A better method would be to keep it wet as you cut it. You don't want it getting airborne.

How about just removing the tile completely as opposed to cutting it. There must be some siding under it.


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## Hidyi (Sep 26, 2014)

As soon as you cut the asbestos siding, it becomes friable. I would think you would need a hepa vac. If you use your shop vac, it would become contaminated. 

Is it possible to remove the one piece of asbestos siding and replace with something else? Then cut the hole. Don't mind me I'm on the cautious side.


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

Hidyi said:


> As soon as you cut the asbestos siding, it becomes friable. I would think you would need a hepa vac. If you use your shop vac, it would become contaminated.
> 
> Is it possible to remove the one piece of asbestos siding and replace with something else? Then cut the hole. Don't mind me I'm on the cautious side.


Maybe so, but now I've got two of the same opinions. This is good. That's what I'll do. I'll see if I can just remove ONE asbestos tile. I've worked briefly with asbestos siding before so this isn't a huge deal.

Alright I will hopefully have time later today to tackle this.


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## AandPDan (Mar 27, 2011)

Wet the area! It will keep any dust down. Then double bag it.


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

Alright so I'm well into the planning process of this and I've already purchased some parts. Mainly the 4" (which is actually 4 1/4") vent that goes through the rim joist, a 90* elbow, and a couple 4" hose clamps. I bought the hole saw as well but luckily I already have the arbor.

Here's my current setup:



With the generic chinese lint trap.



This will be their new home so the dryer is within an acceptable distance to a rim joist I can drill through.



Yes I know I have a lot of work to do. 

Here's where I plan to drill through... however...



after removing the insulation up there, I see this:



Not sure if I want to drill a hole through where a seam is. The next partition over is a solid board. Not too hard to adjust to drill there instead, HOWEVER, I was outside earlier today, removing some vinyl siding so I could get to the asbestos underneath.

I removed 1 piece of asbestos in anticipation of drilling behind it, but this was before knowing that seam was there.

Is it a big deal to drill where that seam is or should I go over to the next partition?


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## Hidyi (Sep 26, 2014)

If it's just wood, I don't see a problem but I'll defer to the experts on this forum.


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

Hehe thanks for the reply. I'm going to wait until about noon tomorrow and see who chimes in. I have other things to take care of before that so we shall see.


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

I ended up going with the next partition over. It was a better fit according to how I want my dryer set up anyway.

It took all of 2 minutes to drill through the rim joist, however, I had to switch drills, as my 18V cordless DeWalt wasn't up for the task. I have a corded drill and that worked perfectly.

Obviously these pics don't show the final installation but I'm sure everyone here gets the point.









For now, today, until I get everything else straightened out, I shoved a piece of insulation right inside the vent. It will come out before I connect everything else, obviously.

I feel MUCH better now that that's done! Should help immensely with keeping the humidity from the dryer out of my basement.


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## Hidyi (Sep 26, 2014)

Thanks for posting those photos, looks good. All you have left is the caulking. You might want to ask the experts opinions on notching the vinyl siding so the vent flange lays flat.


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

i used to live in a modern condo. the drier run was nearly 40'. only issue was that it needed to be cleaned more often than normal. 

and those flap vents are crap. if you are worried about an air seal when its closed,


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

Fix'n it said:


> i used to live in a modern condo. the drier run was nearly 40'. only issue was that it needed to be cleaned more often than normal.
> 
> and those flap vents are crap. if you are worried about an air seal when its closed,


I understand, however, that's all that was available at Lowes when I went to purchase all the necessities to complete this project.


Hidyi, I've already caulked around the outside. I'm using 1/4 weather stripping to take care of any gaps.

Thank you to all for your replies.


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## AandPDan (Mar 27, 2011)

Glad you got the hole drilled.

There are siding blocks that can give you a nice, clean, finish if you choose.

http://www.amazon.com/Arlington-Industries-DV1-1-Exhaust-Mounting/sim/B008BFZGUU/2


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

LoL I did I little more than drill a hole today.

I got the vent finished and sealed.





Ran my 220V line for the dryer. Took frikkin forever. I had the original 220V line and 25 extra feet I bought from Lowes. It was JUST enough. Had to reroute the wire like 5 times to make it work.




Moved the dryer over, plugged everything in, and tested. 



Works great.

If you'll notice, in the second pic, there is plumbing where a sink used to be. Well, I converted that and the drain over for use with a washing machine.



Ok so then I moved the washing machine over and LOL I realized I had nowhere to plug it in!

So here's the nearest wire mess (oh, I have a HUGE electrical project ahead of me!):



I threw everything into a J-box and I'll continue this project tomorrow.

Oh btw, I have a small dilemma. Electrical code states that GFCI must be used if the outlet is within 6' of a sink (this one won't be) OR in an unfinished basement. Well, my basement is semi-finished.

GFCI or not. That's my dilemma.


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## AandPDan (Mar 27, 2011)

"Semi-finished" is unfinished - you haven't completed the job.

Use the GFCI anyways. It's always an extra means of protection.


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

AandPDan said:


> "Semi-finished" is unfinished - you haven't completed the job.
> 
> Use the GFCI anyways. It's always an extra means of protection.



Bought the house with a semi-finished basement. Not sure of what direction I want to take with it, however, I will use a GFCI as per suggested. 

I just hate wiring them up because they don't like to share a ground.


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## AandPDan (Mar 27, 2011)

DeCaff2007 said:


> I just hate wiring them up because they don't like to share a ground.


They don't mind sharing a ground and will even work without one but they won't share a neutral.

On the dryer vent, the foil based flex hose you have is OK but it will collect more lint than the solid vent pipe. If you can make the entire connection out of the solid, you'd have less resistance to airflow.


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## Hidyi (Sep 26, 2014)

You may want to view this discussion on a different forum on washer drain line size per international plumbing code, 2" p-trap. IRC if the washer drains to a laundry sink, the drain line can be smaller as the sink acts as a retention basin, but you should check it out.

http://www.plbg.com/forum/read.php?1,497491


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

That makes no sense. Sounds to me like it's saying the 2" p-trap from the washer drains into a 3" pipe. 

I'd have to see a picture of this for it to make sense to me.

Nevermind, I had to re read that a few times. Looks like I will have to rethink my drain options. For now, as long as it doesn't overflow, I really don't care. 

Problem is... it's a 2" drain going into the floor. Can't really change that in 5 mins.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

Nothing to add, but just to reiterate...
I would definitely eliminate the flex, finish with rigid, seal all joints with the tape that you used at the top, and no screws.
You will probably find them in the siding section, rather than appliances, but am quite sure that you will find the siding blocks that Dan mentioned at any of the big boxes. These are easy to use and virtually maintenance free in the sense that you do not need caulk, so nothing to have to keep an eye on in the future. Also in the siding section, you will find a small tool for unhooking one course of vinyl from the next, which makes it go a whole lot easier.


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## DeCaff2007 (Sep 28, 2014)

Well thanks. I'll keep all that in mind.


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## Hands-on (Apr 24, 2010)

*Dryer vent length*

According to the latest edition of the mechanical code, dryer vents are limited to 35' maximum of straight pipe and every 90 degree elbow counts for 5'. Do not use PVC - code requires dryer venting to be metal and standard PVC pipe and fittings do not have the temperature rating to use for a vent.


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