Our Clogged Up Drier, Part 2

Good News: Our Drier Works!

I have never been happier to do laundry than I have been today. Not only can I do laundry–but I can do it all in one day. All four loads in one day, instead of waiting one day for a single load to dry. Woohoo!

So what was wrong with it?

I talked to the apartment maintenance guys Monday, and they freaked out just enough to make me feel better. After all, none of us wanted to have plumbing problems. So they came over that afternoon and I told them all about the problem. They climbed into the cubbyhole attic above our bedroom–which was fairly amusing to watching. It was a very tiny door they squeezed through, and they were not small guys.

Anyway, an hour later I had my answer: more water in the pipes.

The drier vent goes from the drier, underneath the tub, up the wall, over our bedroom and out of the eves to vent outdoors. Now, back when this thing was being built, someone routed the vent to go under one of the joists. As in, down and then back up, creating a p-trap where no p-trap should ever be. This p-trap allowed water vapor to condense and collect in one spot. Over the years it filled up, completely blocking the pipe.

No wonder I couldn’t get my clothes dry. It’s awfully hard to dry clothes when the air just can’t get out. If it hadn’t been sopping wet, I would have worried about the lint catching on fire.

So the helpful maintenance guys rerouted the pipe to go over the joist instead of under. Now there is no place for water to condense, and our drier works better than it ever did! I don’t even have to run the load twice–it gets completely dry on the first run. Yeah!