Dryer Vent Problem

[mcp6453]

The laundry room that holds our dryer is only big enough to barely hold the washer and dryer. The dryer is backed up to back wall with the exhaust vent. There is literally no way to put a dryer vent between the two. The exhaust port on the dryer is no more than four inches from the outside wall.

Is anyone aware of a vent mechanism that we could use to vent to the outside? Apparently the vent was jury rigged as a straight pipe. I cannot get the pipe to securely attach to the dryer. Therefore, the exhaust is not safely installed.

I'm not sure what to do. It surprises me that the configuration passes inspection, unless there is a way to create a vent that I'm not aware of.

[Nate Nagel]

I've seen a telescoping periscope-like device that is very shallow and has a 4" round fitting on each end

(googles)

does this help any?

I'm thinking you could securely attach one end to the dryer, push it back against the wall, then secure the other end

nate

[mcp6453]

That would work if I cut another hole in the wall, which I may have to do. Thanks for the link. I'll keep looking for a straight-through-the-hole solution, if there is one. It would be nice to be able to pull out the dryer and be able to put it back into position.

[Red Green]

mcp6453 wrote in news:_u6dnXl0EMfTXGnXnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

Nates solution is the most common way to offset it several inches up/down,left/right. The only thing I don't like about those is that sharp and narrow 90 degree turn twice creates a lot of resistance.

But being that it's an outside wall the total run length is only a foot or two if I understand right. Those two sharp turns are probably not such a big deal.

I had such a situation once. I just cut the hole that would make it a straight-through hole, ran a regular dryer vent from the outside,

cut it to length for the inside and attached a short piece of vent hose from the dryer directly to the vent pipe. Probably comes with a ring that you can attach to the inside drywall.

Keep in mind:

Be sure to cut the 4" hole above all the bottom wall 2xX's plates. Be sure the hole will not hit a stud. Watch out for any wires in the wall where you're cutting the hole.

Suggest cutting from the inside first. Use like a hand rock saw and gently make a hole you can put your hand/light in and feel around. Cut to size if all is OK. Coffee can or it's plastic lid is perfect 4" size to draw circle.

[mm]

I gather this is a gas dryer, even though the stove was electric????

[hrhofmann]

I'm confused by the usage of the words exhaust vent vs the dryer vent. I think there are rectangular boxes that fit/screw on the back of the dryer at the vent output that have an output going up vertically to which you connect the hose going to the thru the wall pipe assembly. You haven't said if this is from a basement dryer, first floor dryer, etc... A better description would make it a lot easier to understand

[Van Chocstraw]

The rigid pipe on the end of the dryer outlet face is all you need. I installed one that way. Push the straight pipe through the wall into the dryer blower outlet. If you have it lined up it works fine.

[Tom G]

I would also agree with this method. But if you have a slight misalignment, the periscope devices mentioned earlier come in three configurations, allowing different offsets. One is like only an offset of o" to a couple of inches. Think of these as a type of collector box which you could even have manufactured by a sheet metal man if the periscope function wasn't desirable. I would guess the reason for your problem is that the home builder built the w/d area to accommadate what is called a flat back dryer rather then the larger dryers. About 5 cu ft versus 7+ cu ft. About a 2" difference in dryer depth. I sold dryers for about 27 years and this was a common problem...especially in the Phoenix area where a lot of condos and town houses were built. One of my customers couldn't figure out why his house wouldn't handle the bigger dryer when the identical house across the street would. He got a copy of the blueprints from his builder and found out the framer had put down the sill plate (and thus the wall) for the back of the laundry alcove on the wrong side of the line.

Tom G

[mm]

For sure. I lined up my dryer vent output with the wall, put lipstick on the edge to mark the location, and cut a hole in the cinderblock to match the output. When I got all the way through, I found a bunch of dirt. I dug for a while and then gave up. That's when I noticed my dryer was in the basement.

[Red Green]

mm wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Couldn't you vent it into the sewar main with like a big check valve?

:-)