Does your dryer need two cycles to dry a load, or does the laundry closet get hot and humid while it runs? The usual cause is a dryer duct packed with lint. Best Pro clears the duct in houses and condos all the way from the dryer to the outside vent.
Lint that slips past the dryer’s filter settles inside the duct and the vent hood. Over time it chokes the airflow: the dryer runs longer, uses more gas or electricity, overheats and wears out sooner. Packed lint is also a fire hazard.
Why Bay Area vents clog
- Long runs in San Francisco houses. With the laundry in a garage at street level, the duct often runs the full depth of the building to a vent at the back. Every elbow and every foot of duct collects lint.
- Rooftop vents in condos and apartments. In many multi-story buildings the dryer vents straight up to the roof. Lint falls back down the vertical run, and the cap on the roof is easy to forget.
- Flex duct behind stacked units. Stacked washer-dryers are pushed into tight closets, and the foil duct behind them gets crushed or kinked.
- Bird nests and screens. Vent hoods with screens clog quickly, and an unscreened hood is an open door for nesting birds.
Signs the duct needs cleaning
- Clothes take more than one cycle to dry
- The dryer or the clothes are very hot at the end of a cycle
- A burning smell while the dryer runs
- Lint around the dryer door, the filter slot or the outside vent
- The outside vent flap barely opens while the dryer runs
What we do
- Disconnect the dryer and clean the duct all the way to the outside or roof vent
- Clear the vent hood and make sure the flap opens freely
- Replace crushed or kinked flex duct behind the dryer if needed
- Run the dryer and check that it heats and vents correctly
What affects the price
The length of the duct and how hard the vent is to reach — a rooftop cap takes longer than a wall vent next to the dryer. Replacing damaged duct is priced as dryer duct installation; see below.
If the dryer still won’t heat after cleaning, we fix that too — see dryer repair.
What it costs
- Service call and diagnostic
- $85 — free if you go ahead with the repair
- Dryer air duct installation (parts included)
- $185
After the diagnostic you get a flat price for the whole repair, and you decide before any work starts. In 70–80% of cases the breakdown is minor and the repair costs about $180–$280. Parts and labor carry a 90-day warranty. All prices
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In a hurry? Call us: (650) 582-0258
