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Our dryer is on the 2nd floor, above a garage. It vents into the wall and downward, and comes out about twelve feet above ground at an exterior wall several feet away to the right. I think the duct goes above the ceiling of our garage, through what would be an attic.

Today when cleaning the dryer vent with a drill-mounted extendable brush, the brush came back with pink fluff stuck to it - it's either insulation or cotton candy. My money's on insulation.

My garage has no attic access at all, and I can't get to it from the attic above the rest of the house. Am I going to have to hire someone to tear out the garage ceiling to fix this? And how bad would it be if I run the dryer daily before this can be fixed? How does one address this kind of problem?

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  • 1
    how many red clothing items do you have?
    – ratchet freak
    Mar 12 '20 at 17:08
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    I would run a camera thru it first to make sure it in fact broken somewhere in the ceiling before tearing things apart. I would not operate the dryer just in case, there is lot of moister in the exhaust. If you have to run it, disconnect the duct and put some pantyhose over the exhaust port with a zip-tie to catch the lint and open the windows to vent the exhaust.
    – Alaska Man
    Mar 12 '20 at 17:40
  • @AlaskaMan, "run a camera" sounds easy enough; where does one obtain, rent, etc., such a camera?
    – royal
    Mar 12 '20 at 17:50
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    @royal There are "endoscope camera" now that plug into your smart phone or that have there own screen. A search for that term on amazon will give you many options. Or you could call a tool rental place.
    – Alaska Man
    Mar 12 '20 at 18:00
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    Yeah, a drill-mounted anything is probably too rough for most of the ducting that some contractors use. There's some chance it's actually flex vinyl. You probably did some damage.
    – isherwood
    Mar 12 '20 at 19:44

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