Dryer Vent Replacement in San Jose, CA

When replacing the dryer vent beats cleaning it again

Towels come out damp after two cycles. The dryer top is hot to the touch. The laundry closet door feels warm. Those point at restriction, but cleaning only helps if the duct itself is sound. Crushed foil flex, a sagging interior span, or white vinyl transition duct from a pre-1980 house will clog again within months. That is a replacement, not a cleaning.

Replacement means rigid metal duct, or UL-listed semi-rigid where a turn demands it. Joints face downstream so lint rides past them. Foil tape, no screws into the airstream. Screws catch fiber and build a plug.

San Jose run types change the work. A 3-8 ft garage sidewall run is a short job. Second-floor laundry venting up 20-35 ft to a roof jack is not, and roof jacks in foothill and orchard-edge neighborhoods often hold bird or rodent nesting. Eichlers and flat-roof mid-century homes have no attic, so the duct lives in a soffit or passes straight through a post-and-beam wall. 1920s-40s bungalows drop through the floor and exit a crawlspace rim.

Condo and townhome stacks with 2-4 elbows into a chase need the full run addressed from outside. Clearing the first six feet proves nothing.