Just saw a dryer vented straight into a crawl space at a house in Bakersfield

I was out there for an estimate on a kitchen job and went around back... saw the vent hose just dangling through a hole in the siding. No duct, no termination cap, nothing. The homeowner said it's been like that for 'a couple years' and he wondered why his laundry room was always so humid. I had to explain the whole mold and fire hazard thing... he just shrugged. Ever walked into a situation that was so obviously wrong it almost made you laugh?

4 comments

4 Comments

brooke_wells201mo ago

Read a case study about this exact thing causing major structural rot. @taylorshah is right about that hidden moisture source, it just never stops feeding the problem. Guy ended up replacing floor joists because he ignored a simple vent.

wells.zara1mo ago

My buddy had that same issue in his old house. The crawl space vent was blocked and the whole subfloor turned to mush. Cost him a fortune to fix.

susanb342d ago

Had a friend buy a house where the dryer vent just blew into the wall cavity behind the laundry room. They lived with a weird smell for months before a repairman found it. The insulation behind the dryer was completely black with mold and soaked through. The fix ended up being a lot more than just running a new vent hose. They had to tear out drywall and replace studs. It's scary how much damage a simple mistake can cause over time.

taylorshah1mo ago

Honestly, wonder if that's why some houses just have that weird, damp basement smell no matter what? Tbh, you can clean all day but a constant moisture source like that is just feeding mold you can't see. Ngl, some people just live with problems they don't understand.