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This community has been amazing in helping with my new washer/ dryer install. All the plumbing and electrical is done now for the last part... the dryer vent.

This install is on the 2nd floor with direct access to the attic. My plan now after talking with a friend is to go up to the attic, 90 elbow to the soffit and vent out there. Originally I was going to up straight up to the roof with a vent cap. I was advised against this idea since I guess the caps for this application are not great and spew lint all over the roof.

My question for this community is where should I terminate this dryer vent in the laundry room? Most vent i see sit roughly 12" off the floor, some are recessed boxes others are just pipes sticking out of the wall. The issue i see with my set up is Im putting in a stacked washer/ dryer (dryer is on top). So just looking at that it doesn't make sense to go from the dryer to a vent hook up on the floor, just to go right back up and out. I feel it would be best to just eliminate those bends and have the termination at around 40" or so up the wall where the dryer will be. I dont know if there is some science or code restricting the end to the floor which is why I'm here asking.

Edit for pics: enter image description here

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Edit 2: final results pictures

Gable exit Attic to the wall Final

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    I think releasing all that steam under the soffit is probably not the best idea. All that moisture is going to collect somewhere under the soffit.
    – gnicko
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 1:10
  • I would strap the vent to the inside ceiling and then have it drop down to where the dryer is. Going down and then back up is a recipe for a clogged vent that can't be cleaned.
    – Steve Wellens
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 16:22

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Here's a similar install I did, with a stacked washer/dryer. This was on the first floor of a rancher, to I had access to the attic space above the laundry. First picture shows the 6" wet wall where the washer and dryer will go (right side).

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The next picture shows the 4" dryer vent pipe coming down from the attic. Note the elbow at the bottom of the vent pipe, which is ~42" above the floor (where the dryer exhaust will be).

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Finally, this shows the 4" duct coming up from the laundry room and running (and this is key) out to the gable end of the attic (not the soffit).

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I don't think it's compliant with current codes to exhaust a dryer out a soffit.

Edit 1 - Added picture of finished wall

Here's what the finished wall looks like, with the washer in place but before stacking the dryer. The round hole above the washer if for the dryer vent. When this picture was taken, the dryer was temporarily located behind the wall.

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The finished installation-

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    well good to know about the soffit! To be honest its been tricky finding a vent to go there but that might be why haha. I can look at the gable end since its about the same distance there as to the soffit plan i had. Assuming you just fix a standard wall dryer vent there or is there a specific vent to use on the gable? So your doing what i was thinking then by terminating the vent higher then normal so be more inline with the stacked dryer. Do you have any picture of the finished wall before the appliances went in?
    – James D
    Commented Nov 29, 2020 at 4:42
  • Well back to the drawing board. Was thinking I could go down into the floor and out which is the most direct route out with only one bend. However as my luck would have it the floor cavity below is packed with copper and PVC pipe as well as a HVAC duct so thats out. The plan to go Up in the space I wanted is kinda sketchy since those three wall cavities are only 2x4 studs and back up to a tub on the opposite wall so a 4" dryer vent wont fit. Only options i see are: A) use one of those para scope ducts (or some other low profile duct) up the wall to the attic then 4" duct out the gable end.
    – James D
    Commented Nov 30, 2020 at 20:03
  • Option B) the back side of the tub wall is 2x6 studs which fits the dryer vent but it would take 2 bends (45 and a 90) from the termination end to get to that wall then up about 8' to the attic, another 90 bend followed by about a 12' run to the gable end. not sure how well that would work with all those bends and kind runs into my original question where the stacked dryer would vent down then back up.
    – James D
    Commented Nov 30, 2020 at 20:06
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    I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time a 4" diam round aluminum duct was squeezed down into an oval to fit into a 3-1/2" cavity wall <wink>. I have no idea what the codes have to say about this.
    – SteveSh
    Commented Nov 30, 2020 at 21:38
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    Thanks for the feedback & closure. Too many posters seem to just walk away from the discussion and we have no idea how things turned out.
    – SteveSh
    Commented Dec 1, 2020 at 22:59
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Dryers in basements always use an exhaust run of 7 or 8 feet before terminating outside. As for the height off the ground, are you sure this arrangement is permanent? It it's not, you will may have a heck of a time repairing the hole. If practical, I would defer on the side of caution, and mount the exhaust traditionally. It wouldn't cause either appliance to stick out any further from the wall, and it will be more aesthetically pleasing from the outside.

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  • This is for a stacking washer dryer (dryer on top) located in the middle of the 2nd floor. Based on the location the best run for the vent was up in the attic and out the gable end, approx 20-25ft total with two 90 elbows. Chose to terminate the vent at the height of the actual dryer as to avoid the exhaust from venting down just to go back up when it gets to the wall. If the unit was side by side with the washer then I would have ended it on the ground level.
    – James D
    Commented Dec 2, 2020 at 7:12
  • From the OP: "This install is on the 2nd floor with direct access to the attic." (emphasis added).
    – FreeMan
    Commented Dec 2, 2020 at 14:42

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