Dryer vent access on multi-story properties
First and second floor from the exterior. Third floor and up from inside the unit, unless every vent runs to a roof we can reach. Knowing that before you count means the quote holds.
Calls answered 7am to 8pm · same-day service usually available
Tell us units and floors.
What we can reach, and what we cannot
Worth knowing before you count, because floors change how a property gets scheduled.
- ARoof vents we can reach. Lines that run up a chase to a roof cap get cleaned from above at the volume rate, whatever floor the unit is on.
- BThird floor and up, from inside. Upper units that vent out a high wall are done from inside the unit, scheduled with management. Stacked units we pull out are $99.
- CFirst and second floor, from outside. Wall hoods laddered from the exterior in most cases, so usually nobody has to be home.
- No lifts across your landscaping. Nobody wants one tracking through the irrigation, over the pavers, and past the pool fence.
First and second floor vents we ladder from the exterior in most cases. That is the bulk of the multifamily stock in this valley. When a particular vent is not safe to reach from outside, whether from its height or what sits beneath it, like a slope, pool, patio roof, or thick planting, it gets marked before pricing and cleaned from inside that unit.
Third floor and above needs interior access. The vent may be reachable in theory from a lift, and nobody wants a lift tracking across a complex's landscaping, through the irrigation, over the pavers and past the pool fence. On most properties it is not practical and on plenty it is not possible.
So third floor and up, we work from inside the unit. That means the resident is home, or maintenance lets us in, or the work happens at turnover. It is a scheduling problem rather than a technical one, and it is solvable when everybody knows about it in advance. Stacked units up there are $99 each, because pulling them out from inside is the slow part.
Roof-vented buildings are the exception. When every dryer duct terminates on the roof and the roof is safe to work, the floor a unit sits on stops mattering. We clean each line from the top, nobody has to let us into a unit, and every vent bills at the volume rate for your property size. Mention how your vents terminate when you send the count, because it can bring the quote down.
That is why floors are one of the numbers we ask for. What we will not do is quote a property as though it is all exterior work and then discover the third floor. That is how a job stalls and how a manager ends up explaining a change order.
The dryer still runs on interior work
The dryer runs while we clean from outside, so loosened lint leaves the duct instead of sitting in it. Where a dryer cannot be started, we agitate the line and then drive a reverse air ball through on our rods, at the same price. Why that matters.
Why access belongs in the quote, not the invoice
The failure mode is predictable. A contractor bids a property as though it is all exterior work, gets to the third floor, and comes back asking for more money or a change order.
That is your problem to explain, not theirs. So floors are one of the numbers we ask for, and the access assumptions are written into the quote. If the third floor needs coordinated interior access, that is on the page you hand your owner.
What we do not touch
Individual systems only, not large rooftop units, chillers or built-up air handlers. What we do and do not touch.
Questions
Why not just use a lift for the third floor?
Because it has to get there. Across the landscaping, over the irrigation, past the pool fence, around the parked cars. On most complexes it is impractical and on plenty it is impossible, and the damage bill is yours rather than ours.
So how do third floor units get done?
From inside the unit, unless the vents terminate on a roof we can safely work from, in which case they get done from above at the volume rate. Otherwise it is resident home, maintenance letting us in, or at turnover. It is a scheduling problem rather than a technical one and it is solvable when everybody knows in advance.
What if our dryer vents all go through the roof?
Usually the upper units price exactly like the ground floor. With a workable roof, every line gets cleaned from above at your property's volume rate, and no one has to open a unit for us.
What if a resident will not let us in?
It gets marked not accessed on the record and we come back, or it gets caught at turnover. What we will not do is mark it serviced.
Calls answered 7am to 8pm · same-day service usually available
Call or text your unit count, 7am to 8pm.