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I am selling a brick, pier and beam home that has a Dryer in the garage that currently vents into the crawlspace. I had run flex tubing through the crawls space to the crawlspace vent. The inspector indicated I could not run the tubing to the crawlspace vent because it had a screen on it.

What is the correct way to vent this dryer? Do I need to drill a hole in the brick exterior for the ventilation?

Jared Knipp
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The "proper" way to vent the dryer, is to go out the wall. This could be the wall of the garage, or the wall of the crawlspace. Though if you're venting through the wall of the crawlspace, you'll want to make sure the vent is the proper distance away from any crawlspace vents.

You're also supposed to use rigid metal duct, not the flexible crap. There are also limits on the vent length, which is reduced by bends in the duct. Check manufacturer installation instructions for vent requirements, and restrictions.

In the best case, venting into the crawlspace is blowing moisture and lint into the crawlspace. Worst case, you're pumping combustion byproducts into the space as well.

Tester101
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  • I'm planning to use rigid metal duct and vent through the exterior, the vent is ~ 18-20 ft long and should only have at most 1-2 bends. Will this need to be insulated? I'm not sure what you mean by checking manufacturer instructions, if it is for the dryer, that will change as soon as we move in 2 weeks as the dryer is not staying. – Jared Knipp Apr 02 '15 at 16:57
  • Didn't realize the dryer manufacturer had venting instructions. Also found http://bradyinspects.com/dryer-duct.html that gives me an idea of where to place the vent. – Jared Knipp Apr 02 '15 at 17:54
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    [This answer](http://diy.stackexchange.com/a/33520/33) might also be helpful, or [this one](http://diy.stackexchange.com/a/26425/33), or [this one](http://diy.stackexchange.com/a/28687/33). – Tester101 Apr 02 '15 at 18:08
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If you have more than enough crawlspace venting, you could simply cut away the screen from one of the existing foundation vents and install a dryer vent in its place. As long as the dryer duct pipe is not excessively long (allowing moisture to condense or lint to settle), that should suffice.

Otherwise, cut another hole in the crawlspace perimeter for a proper dryer vent, one without a screen, and run the duct pipe to it.

Either choice should meet with the inspectors approval. But if you have doubts, ask him/her to confirm that your plan is OK.

I think you won't want to vent through the roof since lint and humidity don't travel well uphill. The water vapor will probably condense as it encounters unheated pipe, and as the condensate mixes with the lint, the resulting slurry will flow backward and deposit itself messily along the bottom of the pipe.

Randy
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  • You may hear it is bad to seal crawl spaces as they were thought to reduce humidity in the summer, but this has since been debunked. So would recommend sealing the vent that you cut through completely so that moisture doesn't come back into the vent under the house. https://www.thisoldhouse.com/heating-cooling/21173202/should-crawl-space-vents-be-open-or-closed – crizCraig Sep 16 '22 at 21:38