It is hard to know what to look for when having a service performed at your home. What should you expect a service professional to address during your next dryer vent cleaning? You want to ensure that you are paying for a job well-done, so should be included in an effective and professional residential dryer vent cleaning? When researching companies make sure that you choose a dryer vent technician that addresses the following areas.
A proper dryer vent cleaning will thoroughly clean out the debris built up around the flexible duct behind the dryer (transition duct), the ductwork traveling through the house (main duct), the flapper area on the exterior (termination cover) and pest guard (if applicable). Pest screens are against code, so make sure you don't have a screen installed as this is a major fire hazard.
Depending upon the cleaning method used by the technician, sometimes the dryer will need to be pulled and sometimes it won't need to (or be able to). This depends on the cleaning, but typically it is best to make sure the dryer is pulled out to ensure as thorough cleaning as possible.
Many companies also clean the dryer duct (the portion of duct sticking out from the back of the dryer), the lint screen and the lint trap as part of their cleaning process. These are all technically parts of the dryer--not the dryer vent--but due to the overlap in the function of venting, it is great to have these cleaned out as well.
Occasionally, a dryer vent technician will also offer the additional service of opening the dryer to clean out the inside the appliance. Many dryer vent technicians leave this as a service to be performed by an appliance repair technician due to the complexity and liability of opening up a dryer. If you do have this performed by a dryer vent technician, be sure that they are experienced, licensed and insured for appliance work in addition to the vent work.
