Someone recently asked what I do to celebrate the Sabbath, and my answer is taken from the Bible: “Do no ordinary work.” Since my ordinary work is writing, sabbath activities tend to center around house work–things that just never seem to get done in the ordinary scheme of things.
So the other night I was flipping through Facebook reels and I saw an ad for a magnetic dryer vent. My heart went pitter patter. We have lived in this house for eight years, you see, and NEVER has our dryer vent functioned properly. The part of the vent that goes into the wall is all distorted, so the flexible vent hose never fits onto it very well. I have tried tightening it, taping it, even zip-tying it, and it barely holds. And it sits behind the washer, not the dryer (my laundry room is backwards) so if the washer shimmies even a bit too much during a heavy load, it will jostle the vent from the exhaust thing, and soon I have a laundry room filled with humidity, heat, and dryer dust. I’ve had so much humidity that the drywall has begun to bubble. So much heat that I always have to have a window open when I run the dryer, and so much dust that I sneeze every time I go into the laundry room.
So imagine my delight when I saw this magnet thing–it is a solid thingamajig with a magnet on the exhaust port and a tube that fits onto the dryer with a magnet at THAT end. Then you push the dryer back toward the wall and “click”–the dryer part seals with the vent part and it will not be dislodged.
I found it on Amazon and ordered it. Then I went to Home Depot and bought a reducer which would change the messed-up wall port from a four-inch opening to a three-inch opening (did I mention the rats that keep entering from the outside and also doing their part to dislodge the flexible hose? They can still fit through a 3″ hole, but they’ll have nowhere to go but in the dryer).
The gizmo recommended a SOLID vent pipe, and I had one in the garage about six feet long. I googled how to cut such a thing, and I was told to use a reciprocating saw or tin snips. So at Home Depot I also bought a reciprocating saw and blades for cutting metal.
So on Saturday, I pulled out the dryer (easy) and the washer (hard!) and squeezed back into that space. Swept up tons of dust and even rat droppings. Tossed away the old flexible hose (which was a waste, anyway). Then I installed the part of the gizmo that goes on the wall, shoved the reducer into the wall, and measured the distance between one opening and the other. I needed 27.5 inches of solid vent pipe.
Went outside to use the fancy new saw, but that thing kicked like a mule, and it was HEAVY. Hubby had to hold the dryer vent pipe steady while I tried to cut it, but I just couldn’t do it. So I got the hack saw, got a hole started, and cut the rest with tin snips. Not to worry–I had a tree fall over the other day, and I can use the fancy saw to cut what’s left of that down. I’m sure I’ll find lots of uses for it.
It took me a couple of hours, but finally I had all the pipes and gadgets tightened up and taped together. And Sunday morning, when I dried a load of clothes, for the first time in eight years the laundry room wasn’t hot, dusty, or humid. Ta da! It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.
I know I will have to take it apart about once a year to clean it out, but that’s okay. At least it is now fixed properly. 🙂
What home projects have you tackled lately? Isn’t it a glorious feeling when you’re DONE?
~~Angie
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