[Thomas Kleaton]

Hi! I am installing a stackable LG washer and dryer in a modified closet in the second floor bathroom of our 1963 Split Level. I want to run an aluminum dryer vent pipe down and out (behind the bathtub, which I'm replacing) the exterior brick wall.

I have a Milwaukee M18 Fuel brushless cordless drill and wondering if this thing will be strong enough to cut a 4 1/4" hole through the brick on the exterior with a brick hole saw.

I'm asking if this will work, which hole saw bit to use, and should I cut from the interior (the bathroom is gutted to the studs) or from the exterior brick?

Thanks for any replies!

 

[Windows on Wash]

Prepare to have a bunch of batteries, but you could likely get through if you are patient.

 

[Thomas Kleaton]

Prepare to have a bunch of batteries, but you could likely get through if you are patient.

Thanks! I have a corded black and decker hand drill, but I'm afraid the bit might get jammed and slam my wrist into the floor.

 

[Windows on Wash]

Set the torque so it will have some break away and not twist your wrist off. Does it have the hammer function?

 

[Chris616]

Quite a few of us looked at your earlier post, but nobody responded to it.
https://www.diychatroom.com/f80/dryer-vent-run-681265/
I suspect that was because most of us weren’t keen on any of your three options. I see that you’ve decided on option #2, but that ducting that you’re planning on using isn’t intended for dryer venting (picture pasted again below). Is there a reason that you can’t use round duct all the way? This duct is going to collect lint and be difficult/impossible to clean.

Have you got a floorplan so we can understand your duct routing options?

Have you considered a heat pump clothes dryer, which eliminates the need for venting?

Chris

 

[LanterDan]

I drilled though a brick/CMU wall with a 4.5" core drill a couple years ago. Like you I was concerned about the bit jamming and started out with my M18 Fuel so the clutch would provide some safety. It overheated very quickly (and auto shutdown). I switched to a larger corded 1/2 drill and had no problem (might have still stopped halfway to let it cool).

 

[Thomas Kleaton]

Quite a few of us looked at your earlier post, but nobody responded to it.
https://www.diychatroom.com/f80/dryer-vent-run-681265/
I suspect that was because most of us weren’t keen on any of your three options. I see that you’ve decided on option #2, but that ducting that you’re planning on using isn’t intended for dryer venting (picture pasted again below). Is there a reason that you can’t use round duct all the way? This duct is going to collect lint and be difficult/impossible to clean.

Have you got a floorplan so we can understand your duct routing options?

Have you considered a heat pump clothes dryer, which eliminates the need for venting?

Chris

My wife and I already bought the washer and dryer units. I can put a 90 degree pipe on the dryer outlet, a straight pipe 43" down to another 90 degree pipe. The run will then go straight behind the bathtub to the outside vent. I just thought the periscope might help on space, but it's really not much slimmer than a 4" pipe.

I only have 32 1/2" from rear of closet to where door was, and dryer is 30" deep. I am eliminating the closet door, and reframing the front with a new header. I figure the washer and dryer will stick out beyond the opening about 4 inches with the vent pipe in place, which is why I was trying to save space behind the dryer.

I may be able to draw a floor plan, copy it to a file, and upload it. Exact closet measurements as it is now is 31" wide, 32 1/2" deep, and 8' tall.

 

[Thomas Kleaton]

I forgot to mention: there is a 3 1/2" gas water heater double wall pipe (no longer used; have electric water heater ) at the rear of the closet I want to put the washer & dryer in. It exits directly through the roof, but I'm not sure if removing this pipe and trying to install a dryer vent pipe is feasible.

The existing pipe exits the roof almost exactly 50" from where the 90 degree elbow would attach to the vent pipe at the rear of the dryer.

 

[Thomas Kleaton]

I don't think the roof option is a good solution either. I will draw a schematic tonight of the bathroom layout as it is now, with measurements, and upload it here.

 

[Chris616]

Can you explain why you think that the roof option isn’t feasible when you upload the drawing. If you mean that there is an existing, unused, almost the right size opening in your roof 50” above the duct elbow at the back of the planned dryer location, that sounds like a fairly promising option. Putting a dryer cap on a roof can be a problem in places that get snow, but judging by your location that wouldn’t be an issue.

Chris

 

[Thomas Kleaton]

Can you explain why you think that the roof option isn’t feasible when you upload the drawing. If you mean that there is an existing, unused, almost the right size opening in your roof 50” above the duct elbow at the back of the planned dryer location, that sounds like a fairly promising option. Putting a dryer cap on a roof can be a problem in places that get snow, but judging by your location that wouldn’t be an issue.

Chris

I'm no expert, Chris. I just read a lot of articles that say rooftop dryer vents like to collect lint. This vent is on the middle level (split level home), easily gotten to without being up two stories. And snow was one of the problems they mentioned; as the moisture creates snow dams. But not here.

I am drawing schematic now.

 

[Thomas Kleaton]

I hope I made this detailed enough. I am wanting to put the washer and drier in the closet. If I reframe the front, I will have 32 1/2" not counting the space used by the vent piping. The dryer is 30" deep from the vent pipe to the thickness of the glass door on front, so I'm thinking 35" or so with the pipe.

I didn't measure washer, but exact measurements on dryer are 27" wide, 39" tall, and 30" from back to glass front door. Ceilings in bathroom are 8' tall.

I thought about removing the closet (doesn't look like load-bearing walls) and placing the tub where the closet was. Then I'd put the washer/dryer unit at the end of the tub, close to the outside wall. I'd have to build a partition wall behind tub/shower if I did this, because I'm tiling tub walls.

I will also have to remove existing door into bathroom, modify frame for wider entry, and replace with barn door.

 

[Chris616]

In the laundry room reno of our current house we put the dryer vent on the roof with a 12 foot vertical run to get to it. I don’t notice any difference in lint buildup between it and our last house where the dryer outlet was on a wall.

The important thing, regardless of the dryer duct routing, is that you have a painless way to clean the duct, or it is less likely to get done. For a stacked dryer, where moving the dryer to get at the duct opening would be difficult, that might mean building in an access port in the ducting. I wanted to make it easy to clean the duct without extracting our built-in dryer, so I installed a tee in a place where the duct is accessible. I can remove the cap on the tee and run a cleaning tool in both directions, one way down to the dryer and the other way up to the roof vent. I’ve checked, but after three years it doesn’t have enough lint buildup to warrant the trouble of cleaning, so at least for our dryer the roof vent is working fine.

Chris

 

[Thomas Kleaton]

In the laundry room reno of our current house we put the dryer vent on the roof with a 12 foot vertical run to get to it. I don’t notice any difference in lint buildup between it and our last house where the dryer outlet was on a wall.

The important thing, regardless of the dryer duct routing, is that you have a painless way to clean the duct, or it is less likely to get done. For a stacked dryer, where moving the dryer to get at the duct opening would be difficult, that might mean building in an access port in the ducting. I wanted to make it easy to clean the duct without extracting our built-in dryer, so I installed a tee in a place where the duct is accessible. I can remove the cap on the tee and run a cleaning tool in both directions, one way down to the dryer and the other way up to the roof vent. I’ve checked, but after three years it doesn’t have enough lint buildup to warrant the trouble of cleaning, so at least for our dryer the roof vent is working fine.

Chris

That's good enough for me, Chris. Can you tell me which cap to use on the roof? The roof boards were cut to make the hole for the existing pipe and it moves around in some kind of rubber membrane. The roof is shingles, still under Sears warranty.

Instead of bolting the dryer to the washer, I'm planning to make a 3/4" plywood shelf for the dryer to sit on, with the washer slightly underneath. I'll cut a notch at the rear of the shelf so the exhaust elbow can accessed and foil-taped to the dryer exhaust.

I figure you're a hard-working technician like me, and you didn't have to give me advice, but you did and I thank you for it.

I've attached a revised schematic showing location of the pipe.

 

[Chris616]

You’re welcome.

When I went looking for dryer roof vents at the local big and hardware stores I was disappointed with the quality. I ended up buying one of the following from down near where you live. I’m glad that I did. The quality is a lot better. The installation was relatively easy in an asphalt shingle roof.
https://dryerjack.com/roof-vent.html

Good luck with your project.

Chris

 

[Thomas Kleaton]

You’re welcome.

When I went looking for dryer roof vents at the local big and hardware stores I was disappointed with the quality. I ended up buying one of the following from down near where you live. I’m glad that I did. The quality is a lot better. The installation was relatively easy in an asphalt shingle roof.
https://dryerjack.com/roof-vent.html

Good luck with your project.

Chris

Chris: do you think the DryerJack Model 466 will be sufficient?

 

[Chris616]

Chris: do you think the DryerJack Model 466 will be sufficient?

Yes, assuming that your roof meets the pitch restrictions. I installed the taller model 486 only because we get snow.

Chris

 

[Thomas Kleaton]

I'm wondering if installing a dryer box between the wall studs will give more room for the vent pipe, or if I could just use that space between the studs somehow to give a little more room for the 90 degree elbow. It shows the box in the wall, but I wonder how they get a 4" aluminum pipe in a 3 1/2" stud wall. By shimming the studs, I suppose. These also show a flexible metal hose connecting the pipe and dryer.

I was going to hvac foil-tape a 4" 90-degree elbow to the dryer outlet. The 90-degree elbow would be attached to a straight aluminum pipe going up to a 45-degree elbow which is attached to the straight pipe going into the new vent in the roof. Heh1 I will have to see how this works out once the roof vent is installed, especially since it sits at around a 40-degree angle itself.

I just love (yes, I'm being a little sarcastic) watching videos where they are installing a dryer box within the wall studs and then using a flammable flexible plastic dryer vent hose to attach it to the dryer. This makes me see red flags.

 

[Thomas Kleaton]

I mean installing something similar to this.

 

[Chris616]

Those dryer boxes seem like a good idea to make use of the space between the studs so that the dryer can be pushed further towards the wall. I was looking into them before we relocated the dryer to a wall where it wasn’t required. I don’t want to appear as a shill for this company, but that same one that I pointed you towards earlier sells those units. Their website gives all the details on their units that fit into either a 2X4 or 2X6 wall so at least you can see how they work. I'd imagine that the units from other manufacturers are similar. The 4" duct needs to be "ovalized" to fit a 2X4 wall.
https://dryerbox.com/choose.htm

Chris