Dryer Vent Repair in Pinecrest
A dryer vent can be perfectly clean and still fail: a hose crushed flat behind the machine, a joint pulled apart above the ceiling, a hood whose flap no longer moves. We find the break and fix it on the run you already have.
- Family-Owned & Operated
- Free Written Estimates
- Upfront Pricing
- Same-Day Service Available
Cleaning deals with lint. Repair deals with the parts of the run that have been bent, crushed, pulled loose or broken, and those problems come back no matter how often the duct is brushed. The usual ones are easy to list. The transition hose behind the dryer gets flattened when the machine is pushed against the wall. A joint above a ceiling slips apart, and hot, wet air full of lint starts pouring into the attic instead of outside. The hood on the outside wall cracks, rusts or loses its flap, and birds move in. On two-story homes, the roof cap takes years of weather and sometimes ends up with a screen that should never have been fitted.
Our repairs follow FBC-R 2023 Section M1502, the part of the Florida Building Code that governs clothes dryer exhaust. Reconnected joints go together with the insert end pointing in the direction of airflow and are sealed, never screwed, as the code requires. Screw tips inside a duct would also give lint something to snag on. A replacement transition hose is a single listed length of 8 feet or less. A new hood or roof cap has a backdraft damper and no screen at the outlet. Each job opens with a free written estimate at an upfront price, and ends with the dryer running while we confirm the air comes out where it should.
What's Included
Transition hose replacement
A crushed, torn or plastic hose behind the dryer is replaced with a single length of metal transition duct listed to UL 2158A, 8 feet or shorter, and reconnected without kinks.
Hood and flap repair
Cracked, rusted or crushed wall hoods are replaced, and flaps or louvers that stick are freed or swapped so they open under airflow and close when the dryer stops.
Joint and section repair
Separated or sagging duct sections are refitted with the insert end facing the airflow, sealed without screws, and supported at intervals of no more than 12 feet so they stay together.
Roof cap and bird-proofing
Roof caps and wall hoods get a working backdraft damper to keep birds and rodents out. Mesh added over an outlet is removed, since the code does not allow a screen there.
Signs You Need It
- The flap on the outside hood is stuck open, stuck shut, cracked or missing.
- Lint or damp patches appear in the attic, on the ceiling below the run, or on the wall around the laundry.
- The hose behind the dryer is flattened, torn, or pulled off its collar.
- Birds are nesting in the hood or roof cap, or a mesh screen over the outlet keeps clogging.
How It Works
Find the failure
We trace the run from the dryer to the outlet and look for the break: the flattened hose, the loose joint, the frozen flap, the cracked roof cap.
Quote it in writing
The repair and its price go into a free written estimate before any part is removed, so you decide with the full cost in front of you.
Repair and run the dryer
Parts are replaced or refitted to code, and the dryer runs while we confirm the flap opens fully, closes on its own, and nothing leaks along the way.
Ready for honest dryer vent repair help?
Free written estimates · Upfront pricing · Same-day service available
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a dryer vent be repaired, or does it have to be replaced?
Most problems are repairs. A crushed hose, a broken hood, a stuck flap or a single separated joint can be fixed on the existing run. Replacement makes sense when the duct itself is plastic or foil, when it ends somewhere the code does not allow, such as an attic or soffit, or when the route is so long and twisted that it keeps clogging.
Why is lint showing up in my attic or garage?
Usually a joint has come apart, or the duct has been cut or crushed somewhere along the way. Hot, damp air carrying lint is then going into the house instead of outside, and FBC-R 2023 Section M1501.1 does not allow exhaust into an attic, soffit or crawl space. It is worth fixing promptly, because lint collecting next to framing is fuel.
Should I put a screen over my dryer vent to keep birds out?
No. The Florida Building Code says screens shall not be installed at the duct termination. In practice, lint catches on the mesh and blocks the outlet. The right fix is a backdraft damper on the hood or roof cap that closes fully when the dryer stops. If the flap is broken or missing, that is usually how the birds got in.
Do you repair dryer vents that exit through the roof?
Yes. Roof caps on two-story homes and townhomes crack, lose their dampers, or get replaced with a screened cap that was never meant for dryer exhaust. We fit a cap with a damper and no screen, and make sure the duct underneath has not dropped away from it.
Related Services
Checking the outside hood while the dryer runs
The quickest test of a dryer vent takes a minute and needs no tools. Start a load on a heat setting, walk outside, and find where the vent leaves the house. On a working run, the flap or louvers lift well open and you can feel a steady stream of warm, damp air a hand's width from the hood. A flap that twitches, lifts a little and falls back, or stays still means air is not arriving. That points to a blockage, a disconnected joint, or a hose flattened behind the machine.
Now look at the hood with the dryer off. The flap should hang closed by itself. If it sits open, the hinge may be stiff with corrosion or packed with lint, or a piece has snapped off. Look for lint feathered on the wall below the hood, rust streaks running down the stucco, cracks in a plastic hood that has spent years in full sun, and any sign of nesting material. Each of those is a repair item, and none of them goes away when the duct is cleaned.
Where a run comes apart out of sight
The transition hose behind the dryer is the most abused part of the system. Every time the machine is pulled out or pushed back, the hose can fold, and a foil or vinyl hose that folds once tends to stay folded while the dryer keeps working against it. Checking it is simple: pull the dryer forward a foot and look along the whole hose. It should curve gently from the dryer outlet to the wall collar, with no flat spots, tears or loose ends.
Inside a ceiling or wall, sections of metal duct are only as good as their joints. A section installed with the insert end facing against the airflow presents a lip that catches lint. One joined with screws gives lint something to hang on inside the duct, and the code does not allow joining sections with screws or similar fasteners anyway. One without proper support sags until it pulls free. A separated joint shows itself as lint or damp spots where neither belongs: around the attic hatch, on the ceiling below the run, or in the garage.
Why a screen is the wrong answer to birds
When birds move into a dryer hood, the tempting fix is a piece of mesh over the opening. It keeps birds out for a while, and then lint starts catching on it. With regular use the mesh felts over, the dryer ends up pushing against a nearly closed outlet, and the run behind it starts to fill. Section M1502 rules out a screen at the point where the duct terminates, however well meant it is.
The code relies instead on the backdraft damper every termination must have. A flap or a set of louvers that shuts fully when the dryer stops leaves no opening for a bird, and it keeps humid outdoor air from drifting into the duct between loads. When birds have already moved in, the repair has three parts: clear the nest and debris out of the hood and the duct just behind it, clean out the lint that had collected there, and replace the hood or damper that let them in.
Roof caps on two-story homes
A dryer that vents through the roof pushes its air up a vertical run, sometimes a long one. Lint drops back into the lowest elbow and collects at the cap, and because the cap is out of sight, trouble there usually shows up indoors first as slow drying. Roof caps also take the full weather: summer sun, wind-driven rain in hurricane season, and salt air on homes near the bay. A cap whose damper has broken off lets rain and birds straight into the duct.
Repairing a roof termination starts with the right cap. It has to be one made for dryer exhaust, with a damper and no screen, because a screened roof vent built for some other kind of exhaust will clog on dryer lint. We also check from below that the duct is still attached to the cap, since a run that has dropped away from the roof deck is emptying into the attic. Where the cap sits on a tile or shingle roof, the flashing around it gets checked too, because a loose cap can let water in around its base.
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