Dryer Vent Inspection in Manhattan Beach, CA

What a dryer vent inspection actually involves

The dryer gets pulled out first. That tells us a lot. Behind most units sits crushed flexible foil, folded flat by an appliance pushed tight to the wall. We check the transition piece, the wall connection, then the run itself. A camera goes in where the duct is straight enough. Then we go outside and find the termination. The hood gets opened. Damper flaps get moved by hand to see if they still swing.

Runs here fall into two camps. Postwar tracts have short exterior-wall runs off garage and service-porch dryers, often 4 to 10 feet, straight through to a side wall. Three-story rebuilds and townhomes are the opposite: 20 to 35 feet vertical with two or three elbows, ending at a roof jack or a high side wall. Screened caps on those trap lint against the mesh. Condo stacked laundry closets have no clearance behind the unit at all, so the inspection starts with unhooking.

Marine-layer air changes what we find. Lint here comes out damp and compacted, not fluffy. It packs into elbows and sticks. Birds nest in unscreened wall caps. If you are running two or three cycles, or the laundry room is hot, or lint is visible at the exterior hood, the answer is usually in the last few feet.