Dryer Vent Cleaning in Kemp Mill, MD

There is no one good answer for everyone. While most companies and websites will say that the dryer vent should be cleaned every 6 months or every year, we find that you can usually go longer than that. We typically recommend having your dryer vent professionally cleaned at least every two years. This is only a general rule from what we have seen. Every house is different. The following factors affect how frequently the vent should be cleaned:

• Geometry and length of the dryer vent: Longer dryer vents and those with multiple 90 degree turns will get clogged faster and require more frequent maintenance.
• The dryer itself: Some dryers have efficient lint screens and some don't. All the lint in your vent had to get past the screen at some point. Some dryers are just better than others at keeping the vent clean.
• Workload of the dryer: If you have a large family and lots of pets, your dryer vent will need to be cleaned more frequently than someone who does less laundry.

When we service your dryer vent we will give you our professional recommendation on the frequency that you should have your dryer vent cleaned.

Read our artice Dryer Vent Warning Signs: What to Look For

We go over all the warning signs in detail.

• Lint fires in dryers are a leading cause of home fires
• Dryer repairs are the most common result of not having your dryer vent cleaned regularly. Clogged vents restrict airflow. Reduced airflow across the heater element allows it to get hotter than normal, which causes thermal fuses to blow and heater elements to break. Many people end up replacing the dryer only to end up having to repair the new dryer because the vent was never cleaned and is the actual cause of the problem.
• Water damage and mold/mildew growth are a common result of a clogged dryer vent. The dryer is blowing water vapor. If this water vapor can't get through the vent because it is clogged with lint, that water vapor will condense back into water and collect in the vent or drip through seams in the vent into ceilings an walls. If a vent exits through the roof, the water can soak into the wood sheathing of the roof and cause it to rot. This is a common problem.
• Reduced efficiency of your dryer. A dryer that has a clogged vent will take longer to blow the water vapor outside, which means it runs longer and wastes a lot of electricity.

A dryers job is simply to heat and evaporate the water in wet clothes and then blow that water vapor outside the home. If the dryer vent is clogged with lint, the water vapor cannot efficiently be blown outside and so the dryer runs longer to do its job and therefore uses a lot of extra electricity or natural gas. Regular dryer vent cleaning also extends the life of your dryer because it will not run as long or as hard when the dryer vent is clean.

We offer many other related services:

• Dryer Internal Cleaning: We can disassemble and clean out the inside of your dryer. When lint collects inside your dryer around the heater element a fire can start. We clean out the heater, fan blades, motor, lint trap and other internal parts to ensure that your dryer runs safely and smoothly for a long time.
• Dryer Repairs: We can fix all kinds of bad noises, burnt out heater elements and fuses, door switches, broken belts and belt tensioners and other common dryer problems.
• Dryer reconfiguration: We can reconfigure some dryer to exhaust out the side of the machine or out the bottom of the machine. This is sometimes necessary to get the dryer all the way to the wall in a tight space.
• Dryer Door Reversal: We can flip your dryer door to open in the other direction. This can make it easier to move clothes from the washer to the dryer.
• Laundry Room Reconfiguration: Do you want to move your washer and dryer? Do you want to stack the dryer on top of the washer? Are you getting new machines and would like our professional opinion to plan your laundry room before you buy new machines? We can help you transform your laundry room into a space that you love. We've seen all the things that can go wrong or be annoying and we would love to advise you on how to get what you want the right way.
• Dryer Vent Installation and Re-routing: We can install a new dryer vent for you and we can re-route an existing dryer vent. We can do this through brick, concrete, siding and roofs. We have the expertise and tools to do it all. We will improve the efficiency of your dryer venting configuration and ensure that it meets all of the applicable building codes.
• Dryer Vent Repair: We can repair any dryer vent and ensure it meets all applicable building code requirements. Whether your duct is disconnected in a wall or ceiling, crushed, rusted out, or made of non code-compliant materials, we can repair it.
• Dryer Box Installation: We install space saving recessed boxes in the wall behind the dryer so that the dryer can be pushed all the way to the wall. If you have a very cramped laundry room, a dryer box can make more space.
• Bird Nest Removal: We can remove bird nests from dryer vents and from bathroom and kitchen and furnace vents as well!
• Vent Cover Replacements: We can replace any vent cover on your home whether it is for a dryer vent, bathroom fan, range fan, microwave, furnace etc.
• Bird Guard Installation: We can install screens or cages on any vent on your house to keep birds and squirrels and other pests out.
• Water Hose Replacement: We can replace water hoses on your washing machine and steam dryer. These are recommended to be replaced every 5 years.

Our express dryer vent cleaning typically takes about an hour. Full service dryer vent cleaning (where we disassemble and clean the dryer) typically takes about two hours. 

There are many advantages of hiring a professional dryer vent cleaning service over doing it yourself:

• Knowledge of Potential Problems: A professional dryer vent cleaner will find efficiency problems and construction problems that the average homeowner will not. This is because they have seen these problems before and know what to look for.
• Quality of the Cleaning: How do you know you cleaned the vent thoroughly? A professional dryer vent cleaner has the experience to know that the vent is actually clean. It is common for homeowners to do the cleaning themselves and end up pushing lint into one chunk in the duct and actually make things worse.
• It's Easy to Make Mistakes: The dryer vent cleaning tools that you can get at the big box stores can be tricky to use if you aren't experienced. It is common for homeowners to break or disconnect the cleaning rods so that they become stuck in the vent. This is very easy to do if you are doing it for the first time.
• Hooking the dryer back up properly: This may be the most important step because dryer fires are caused by leaking transition ducts (from the dryer to the wall) that leak lint behind the dryer. This lint gets sucked into the dryer's intake vents and collects around the heater element over time, where it can eventually ignite. A professional dryer vent cleaner will ensure a proper airtight connection from the dryer to the wall.