Found buildup in a dryer vent that was 10 years old and barely visible

I pulled a dryer vent apart last Tuesday for a client in Portland. The outside cap looked clean but the pipe inside had this thin layer of lint and grease that took me 15 minutes to scrape off. The customer said she never cleaned it because she thought the dryer was running fine. That buildup was restricting airflow by maybe 40% and could have caught fire easy. Has anyone else found hidden buildup that looked harmless on the surface?

3 comments

3 Comments

emmaclark21d ago

Oh man, this is so real. I found the exact same thing at a buddy's place last year. He swore the vent looked fine from the outside, but when I pulled the pipe loose, there was this nasty gooey layer that was basically a fire waiting to happen. Took me a good 20 minutes with a brush and a shop vac to get it all out. I couldn't believe how much lint and grease had stuck together in there, even though the cap was clean. It's scary how something that looks totally harmless can be hiding so much danger. Glad you caught that one.

robin59121d ago

100 bucks says that goo layer was holding the house together more than the actual ductwork. It's ALWAYS the hidden gunk that tries to kill you while the shiny cap just sits there looking innocent. My uncle lost a garage to a dryer fire and that thing was a SPOTLESS showroom model on the outside.

jennifer83321d ago

Wait, your uncle's garage actually burned down from that? @robin591, that's terrifying.