Need help figuring out dryer venting

[Monkeyman]

I own a 2 story (separated) house. I rent out the lower apartment and live in the upper. Both have washer/dryer hook ups and both are used. The contractor who renovated the house when I moved in ran both dryer vents to a single Y connector and vented them outside. There is no outside access to the vent as it's under a porch. About 6 months ago, my tenant hooked up her dryer and I noticed, every time she'd turn it on, it would partially vent through MY dryer. This is obviously unacceptable. I had a handyman in today to run an outside vent to the rear of the house.

Here's where it gets tricky. The lower 1/2 of the house is poured concrete finished in stone. The upper half is typical construction (all wood). I was planning on running the outside vent downstairs as it has a dropped ceiling thus easy access. Turns out nobody has anything that will drill a 4" hole through solid concrete and the only way to get to the little bit of wood above it (without going through my floor) is to cut a 4" hole through a floor joist. There's a pocket behind the joist that would allow the outside vent but I don't want anybody cutting 4" out of a 6" joist. Just doesn't seem like a good idea. My dryer is on an INSIDE wall so I can't vent it as most would.

I wish I had taken pics but hopefully you get the idea. Does anybody have any suggestions? I can probably hire a carpenter to go through the joist and shore it up however it needs to be done but I can see some serious $$$ going that route. I can have another vent run through the front of the house but I don't even know how the original contractor did that as it's probably 4' from the wall to whatever he drilled through. In hindsight, that probably isn't even the best idea as I don't see any way to secure/seal the pipe.

I'm hoping one of you knowledgable folks has some suggestions.

[plumber63]

You could possibly run your dryer vent up through the attic and out the roof. Or out the gable end of the house. You would want to run it in solid pipe 26 gauge steel(not aluminum or flex), no screws, tape all joints. Keep it as short and straight as possible. They make a roof jack just for this.
https://www.supplyhouse.com/Lambro-I...-Vent-w-Screen
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Roof-Ven...K346/306652677
If its very far they do make a vent booster kit.
https://www.supplyhouse.com/Tjernlun...IaAoCoEALw_wcB


Going thru the joist would mean heading off the joist which would be work. 6" isn't much of a floor joist. But still might be less work than you might think
You really need to find a more competent contractor than the first one. hooking dryer vents together is against the building code anywhere.

It just amazes me how many things get cobbled together. Bad enough when home owner do it. But to charge some one for it. When its cobble to start with it usually cost more to get it fixed properly.

[ponch]

Cutting a joist is a bad idea, especially for a dryer vent. My brother is a building inspector and he had one instance where a plumber cut through 3/4 of a LVL beam for a toilet. He stopped the project and they had to replace the LVL and do the toilet differently. I would do as plumber63 says. Go up.

[Chuck A.]

Originally Posted by Monkeyman

................Turns out nobody has anything that will drill a 4" hole through solid concrete......................

Concrete cutting companies have drills and bits for this. I have it done often. Only problem is they use water with the bit. Gets messy,,,, more so down below the cut area. About a hundred dollars for one 5 inch hole which is what you need for a 4 inch pipe.

[ringadingh]

I agree with Chuck, find somebody that can drill a hole for you through the concrete. I've done it many times and it's not that big a deal with the right equipment. You may be able to rent a drill from a tool rental company. Also try to keep the dryer venting short with his few bends as possible. I've seen lint plug dryer vents overtime and it can create a fire hazard.

[MAS Tequila]

http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B000DZDPPE



A one valve would be a whole lot easier.

[Chuck A.]

Better check it once a year for lent buildup. I have one similar mounted in the block on the outside of my home foundation and I have to clean it twice a year due to lent. We don’t dry much in the summer. Wife prefers a clothes line.

[miltonsain]

it is amazing that some contractors do the dumbest sh*t, and then charge you outrageous amounts of $, Good luck with it, but the draft flap should stop it, but as the others have said, keep it cleaned out, I saw too many homes burn, because of dryer vent fires.

[Monkeyman]

I ended up buying one of these https://adr-products.com/collections...es-dryers-only for now. I'm looking around for a plumber (or someone else) who can drill a hole in the concrete to plumb a proper dryer vent. I'm not going through the roof. Too much cost, especially since they'd probably have to rip out a bunch of sheetrock just to run the vent up to the attic.

[canuckrider]

Huh??? Looks like that just vents your dryer into the house. While it might catch all the lint what about all the extra humidity in your home? Unless you live in an extremely dry climate, that extra humidity in your house, especially if it is tightly sealed, may not be a good thing.

[plumber63]

Do you not have a attic access opening to get up there? Should only have to drill a 4" hole up thru the ceiling. Then another 4"either out the roof or thru the gable end.
Can't be any more work then drilling a 4" hole thru a 8" concrete wall.

And Canuckrider is right about all the extra moisture with what you bought. But hopefully it will just be a short temporary fix.

[Monkeyman]

Originally Posted by canuckrider

Huh??? Looks like that just vents your dryer into the house. While it might catch all the lint what about all the extra humidity in your home? Unless you live in an extremely dry climate, that extra humidity in your house, especially if it is tightly sealed, may not be a good thing.

Originally Posted by plumber63

Do you not have a attic access opening to get up there? Should only have to drill a 4" hole up thru the ceiling. Then another 4"either out the roof or thru the gable end.
Can't be any more work then drilling a 4" hole thru a 8" concrete wall.

And Canuckrider is right about all the extra moisture with what you bought. But hopefully it will just be a short temporary fix.

This isn't meant to be a permanent fix. It's just temporary, maybe for the winter when it's cooler and dryer anyway.


I can't get to the attic but it is accessible. (When the house was remodeled when I bought it a couple of years ago, the contractor had to cut a hole/door in the side of the attic. It's accessible from the outside but I don't do attics and I don't do heights so I can't get to it myself. I can see if an HVAC installer or plumber (not exactly sure who does this sort of thing) can give me a quote on the attic thing.


I know my HVAC tech has been in the attic (that's where my Z coil is) but not sure if he would be the one to add this. I'm still concerned that someone would have to rip out some drywall as the dryer is on an inside wall. Unless I ran a duct on the "outside" of the wall (visible to me, not insdie the wall), I don't know what would be involved in this.


Your thoughts on this, please? You guys are obviously smarter about this than I am.


Thanks.

[plumber63]

Yes HVAC guy should do this (at less I do). And you would run it on the out side of the wall which would be the simplest.
It could be run inside the wall, with little drywall removal if they know what they are doing. But a little more work. There would need enough room in the attic to slide the pipe down the wall. Then install a dryer box like this at the bottom.
https://www.menards.com/main/heating...6211655&ipos=2

[Monkeyman]

Thanks, plumber63. Interesting. Not sure if there are any 2x4 braces in the wall that would be a problem but if not, I think that's what I'll do. I'm using this new inside filter thing for the first time right now. It puts out a LOT of humidity so it's definitely NOT a permanent solution but the heat kind of feels good. :) Since it's "winter" and I only do about 2 loads of laundry per week, I think this will work until I can get my HVAC guy out to make some money.