A few years ago a customer asked us to come and clean their dryer vent. When we arrived, we found that the dryer vent was constructed of PVC plastic pipe. We informed the customer that this did not meet code since it was not fire proof and that due to the "static" nature of PVC, that even if cleaned, the vent would clog again very quickly. We offered to upgrade the vent to metal but the customer declined and said they were going to contact the builder and see what he thought.
Today the customer had us back out to upgrade the vent to rigid metal. She told us that the builder had told her that PVC was fine and met building code and he cleaned it for her. Later she asked a building inspector about it and he agreed that the PVC was not to code. This led to her calling us back out to upgrade the vent which we just completed. We cut out and removed the old PVC duct and as you can see in the first picture, it does indeed collect lint very quickly due to the static cling nature of the plastic. All of that lint inside a plastic duct was a fire hazard as well as causing her dryer to perform poorly due to greatly restricted air flow. Now she is safe with a new metal vent that maximizes air flow and passes most of the lint safely through to the outside - as shown in the second picture.
If you have concerns about your dryer vent or find your dryer is taking longer than 30-40 minutes to dryer a load, give us a call and see what we can do for you!
Webb Dickson - Owner
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