Residential dryer vent cleaning in New York City
In a house or apartment, most of the dryer vent is hidden in a wall or ceiling, and lint settles there load after load. We pull the dryer out, brush the full run to wherever it leaves the building, and send you photos of what was in it.
Residential dryer vent cleaning, explained
Residential dryer vent cleaning is for the dryer in your own home: a laundry room in a house, a stacked unit in a condo closet, a machine fitted into an apartment kitchen or bathroom. The job is the same in each. The dryer comes out, the duct behind it is brushed from one end to the other, and the lint is collected and removed.
What changes from home to home is the route. In a row house or brownstone the laundry is often down in the basement, with the vent carried along the ceiling to the front or rear wall. In a condo or apartment the duct usually disappears into a wall or a dropped ceiling and comes out somewhere you have never seen, sometimes on the roof.
Those concealed stretches are where lint settles, most of all at the bends. You cannot check them by looking behind the machine, which is why a home vent can be half blocked while the dryer still seems to work. If yours has stopped drying altogether, see dryer vent clogs.
What is included
- The dryer moved out and the hose behind it taken off
- The lint trap housing vacuumed out
- The concealed duct brushed through walls and ceilings to the outlet
- The outside hood, flap or roof outlet cleared
- The hose refitted without kinks and the dryer set back in place
- Photos of what was found and how the line was left
Signs you need it
- Loads that need a second cycle to finish
- Laundry that comes out hot but still damp
- A laundry closet that turns hot and humid when the dryer runs
- The outside flap barely moving while the dryer is on
- No record of a cleaning since you moved in
How the job goes
Clear the way
Before we arrive, empty the drum and clear the top of the dryer and the floor in front of it. If the machine is in a closet, move whatever is stored beside it so that it can slide out.
Trace the route
We find where the vent leaves the room and where it comes out of the building: a side wall, the rear yard or the roof.
Open the line
The dryer slides forward, the hose comes off and the lint trap housing is vacuumed.
Brush the hidden run
A rotary brush on flexible rods is fed through the duct and around its bends, while a vacuum collects what the brush knocks loose.
Finish and test
The outlet is cleared by hand or from a ladder, the hose is reconnected and the dryer runs while we check the air outside. If the hose is crushed or torn, we show you and quote the repair first.
From our own jobs
Our photos, not stock.
Why it matters
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, about 2,900 home clothes dryer fires are reported each year, and failure to clean is the leading cause. Lint dries out inside a warm duct and catches easily. In a home, that duct runs through the same walls and ceilings as the rooms you live in.
There is a quieter cost as well. A dryer working against a restricted vent runs longer for every load, which shows on the gas or electric bill and wears the machine sooner. In a small apartment the heat and damp that should have gone outdoors stay in the room.
Residential dryer vent cleaning: common questions
Is there anything else to arrange before the visit?
Two things, if they apply. If the outlet is on a roof or in a yard you do not control, tell us how to get to it. In a condo or co-op, ask whether your building wants notice before work on the vent.
The vent goes into the wall and I do not know where it ends. Is that a problem?
No. Finding the outlet is part of the visit. If your line turns out to join a shared shaft, we tell you, because cleaning that part is usually arranged through the building.
I have a ventless dryer. Does it need this?
No. A ventless dryer, common in New York apartments, condenses the moisture inside the machine and has no duct to the outdoors. If you are not sure which kind you have, look behind it for a hose going into the wall.
How do I get a quote for my home?
Text DRYER and your ZIP code to (917) 983-1283, or call. Say whether you are in a house or an apartment, which floor the dryer is on and whether it is stacked on a washer. You get the quote before any work starts.
Related dryer vent services
Tell us what is going on. We will tell you what it needs.
Call or text with your ZIP code and a line about the problem. For dryer vents, text DRYER and your ZIP.