Walk around many newer Ankeny homes and you won’t find a dryer vent on the side of the house. Builders often run the vent straight up and out through the roof, especially when the laundry room sits in the middle of the house or on the second floor. It works, but it creates a vent most homeowners never see and have no easy way to clean.
Top Notch Chimney Sweep & Services has been working across Central Iowa since 2002. We’re family owned, and our certified dryer vent technicians handle roof-vented dryers all the time.
The Trouble With Roof Vents
A dryer vent that runs upward has to push lint against gravity. Some of it falls back down the line and collects near the dryer. The rest travels to the roof cap, where lint tends to pile up at the screen or flap. Many roof caps are designed for bathroom fans and kitchen exhaust, not dryers, and they clog with lint over time. Out of sight, that buildup can go unnoticed for years.
Roof vents also attract birds. A vent opening up high is a tempting place to build a nest, and a nest can block the line completely. Birds look for sheltered openings like that when they nest.
Why It Matters
When lint narrows a vent, the dryer runs hotter and longer to finish a load. That wastes energy and shortens the life of the appliance. It also raises your fire risk: according to the National Fire Protection Association, clothes dryers are a leading cause of home laundry fires, and not cleaning them is a leading factor. If you have a gas dryer, a blocked vent can let carbon monoxide back into the house instead of sending it outside.
How We Clean a Roof-Vented Line
We start with a look at the full system, from the dryer connection to the termination, checking for damage and the cause of any airflow problem. Next we set up a powerful HEPA vacuum to contain the lint. Then we run specialized brushes through the length of the vent, and the vacuum carries the lint away. We check the roof end for nesting material and blockages too.
New construction notes
- Even a vent that’s only a few years old can be partly clogged, particularly on a long upward run
- Crushed transition hoses behind the dryer are common once the dryer gets pushed back against the wall
- If we find a damaged section or a poor connection, we’ll show you
Find out more on our main dryer vent cleaning page.
Pair It With Duct Cleaning
New construction often leaves drywall dust in the heating and cooling ducts as well. Since the vacuum is already set up, our Ankeny air duct cleaning can be done on the same visit. Many Ankeny homes have a gas fireplace too, and our gas log service covers that.
Check our Ankeny service area page for more of what we offer locally.
Can’t remember the last time anyone looked at that roof vent? Call (515) 249-6337 or schedule online.
