Dryer Vent Repair and Rerouting in Fort Myers

Cleaning a vent that is kinked, disconnected in the attic or made of plastic is a temporary fix at best. Lee County homes vent the dryer one of three ways: straight out an exterior wall, up through the attic to a roof cap, or under the slab in 4-inch PVC, which the Florida code allows only for a horizontal run beneath the slab. The roof and under-slab runs are the long ones, and in this humidity the lint in them packs down and holds moisture instead of blowing out. When the run itself is the problem, it gets repaired or rebuilt.

Common problems we fix

• Disconnected joints in the attic that have been blowing lint onto the insulation for years. Reconnected with rigid duct and foil tape, never screws, which catch lint.
• Plastic or foil flex inside walls and attics, which melts and traps lint. Replaced with rigid metal duct.
• Crushed transition hose behind the dryer. Replaced with a semi-rigid connector and a periscope fitting where the dryer sits tight to the wall.
• Runs that exceed code length for the number of turns, which no amount of cleaning fixes. Rerouted to a shorter path or fitted with a listed dryer exhaust duct power ventilator.
• Failed or screened exterior caps that clog, let in birds, or will not close. Replaced with a proper damper cap.
• Roof terminations that have rusted through or were installed with a screened cap.

Power ventilators for long runs

Generic inline booster fans are not allowed in a dryer duct under the residential code. When a run cannot be shortened, the fix is a dryer exhaust duct power ventilator listed for that use, installed to its instructions with a pressure switch and an access point for cleaning the fan itself.

Code

Florida builds to one statewide code, and the Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th edition (2023), in force until the 9th edition takes effect on December 31, 2026, caps a dryer exhaust duct at 35 feet, deducting 5 feet for every tight mitered 90-degree elbow and under 2 feet for a smooth long-radius one. It requires metal duct of at least 28 gauge with joints that are not screwed together, a backdraft damper at the termination and no screen on it, and allows 4-inch Schedule 40 PVC only for a horizontal run beneath the slab. Every repair we do meets it, and we leave you a written description of what was changed.

Pricing

Most dryer vent repairs in Fort Myers run $150 to $400. Full reroutes and power ventilator installations are priced after the crew has seen the run.

A photo of the attic run or the exterior cap tells us most of what we need. Send it after you call (239) 946-4981 for repair in Fort Myers and across Lee County.