We had a new washer and gas dryer delivered on Friday. But… there was a problem with our vent, and because we couldn’t use the washer and dryer in the placement we wanted, we needed longer hoses than ordered.
The appliance sales manager at Home Depot put us down for free door position swapping if needed, which would have been great, if our washer and dryer had reversible doors. They don’t. *Shrug* we’re used to top-loading washers, not front-loading ones.
The sales guy seemed convinced that we could put the dryer on the left and washer on the right, and while we technically can, the doors would both open in the wrong directions. So, the washer will go on the left, and dryer on the right, with doors opening opposite each other for easy clothes transfer from washer to dryer.
As for the hoses, we returned the 4-foot GE coated stainless hose set for separate 8 foot stainless hoses in what seemed to be a Home Depot house brand.
Okay, as for the dryer vent, this is what it looks like:
I kind of panicked a little bit at seeing this, especially when we thought we would get installation scheduled for Saturday.
I have yet to make any headway baby-proofing the place, let alone doing anything else. A lot of doors don’t latch, and I still need to put a lock and secondary safety latch on the basement door. Baby gates are still in boxes, and one needs to go back.
Did you know that top-of-stairs baby gates need to be attached to studs and/or solid banisters? An angled gate mount is the only way I can hit the stud and the banister, but luckily I found a single brand that offers something suitable.
Back to the point…
Umm… what the heck do I do with this? Spackle over several drywall anchors and more smaller holes than there should be?
Oh, and here’s what used to be in the wall, which I found in the garage. It was removed for easier wallpaper removal and painting.
So I went to Home Depot. I found dryer duct vents, but none of which had the collars that this piece had. This older piece had a plastic collar AND a sheet metal one. I guess that’s why there were so many holes in the wall?
Is that… is that a nail? For fastening something to drywall?
I picked up a duct and vent kit, and an associate in the ducting aisle found me a huge piece of 4″ duct ceiling collar I could use in place for interior trim. But I don’t really like that idea. After coming back home, I realized that the hole is too close to the molding.
I found something similar to the removed duct in a kit at Lowes, with pre-assembled snap-together ducting, and a little piece of interior trim to make the hole look a little nicer.
So here’s my current plan:
- Remove the outdoors vent. There doesn’t look to be much (any) caulk, which should make it easier. Cut away any visible caulk with a rigid scraper.
- Use Nashua 322 foil tape over the seam of whichever duct I end up using. The snap-together seam looks pretty secure, but since we have a gas dryer, I want to 100% sure it’s leak-free.
- Install new vent and use outdoor silicone to seal the edges.
- [Quickly] fill in the holes around the interior hole with some spackle and flexible putty knife.
- Leave the interior trim piece (a small white square with 4 mounting holes) in place, for potential installation later on.
- Maybe mount the interior collar if I can find place for a fresh drywall anchor, and use foil tape to cover any potential gap between duct and collar.
- Buy a hanger to help keep semi-rigid dryer-to-vent ducting from drooping.
Sounds about right?
Step 2 is the part I’m having most difficulty looking into, aside from maybe 5 and 6. I believe the older piece was taped along its seam with foil tape, but there’s not a lot of info online as to whether this is recommended or required. I figured it might be a if-you-want-to step.
Nashua 322 tape seems to be suitable. It’s a multi-purpose HVAC foil tape.
Any ideas on how to seal up the perimeter of the duct a little better on the inside? I’m not sure if the duct tape was put on by the previous owners, and why they might have done that.
Sigh. I would have an easier time cutting a new hole and installing a new dryer vent kit. With my luck, the existing dryer vent is liquid-nailed to the siding, and it wont be compatible for the separate 4″ duct kits I bought from Home Depot and Lowes.
It’s a little embarrassing for me to talk about things like this, and to admit uncertainty about something so seemingly minor. But I figure that maybe the discussion might help others too. I can tell you how to cut a duct, seam a duct, or crimp a duct, and which tools to use. But DIY home repair is pretty much completely new to me. I look at the wall with its random around-the-duct-hole holes, and my mind goes completely blank.
Well, hopefully my plan is sound. And if not, I’m trusting in your knowledge and experiences to steer me, and others with similar projects, in the right direction. (Thanks!)