Today I tackled the dryer exhaust
duct. I don’t remember what it looked
like when we moved in, but I am pretty sure that it always vented out of one of
the basement windows, or where there was a window at one time. Years ago, we had a problem with it and I
remember replacing it. I just cut a thin
piece of sheet metal and caulked/glued it into the frame where the glass would
normally go. Then I cut a hole for the
duct to fit thru and used some liquid nails to adhere it to the sheet
metal.
It was always cold around that window and I am sure the .060” thick piece of tin (or whatever metal I used) didn’t have many insulating properties, especially when the temperature dropped below freezing. After seeing what was happening last weekend, and wanting to keep from ripping the frame out of the foundation, I thought it was time to fix it. Amazingly, the old caulk just ripped/pulled out. Like I said, the insulating qualities couldn’t have been all that good. I managed to rig up a pretty sweet set up with some rooftop exhaust flashing and a piece of 1” rigid insulation. It took a bit of trimming and cutting, but I got it to fit perfectly in the frame, and caulked it into place. Then I rigged a couple of elbow joints to come up out of the window well rather nicely. I think I still need to finish it off a little better, but at least the exhaust is coming up away from the house so all the moisture isn’t collecting under the siding and around the window frame. I think I may ever be able to keep it from fogging up the window in the den. I need to be careful not to get too proud of myself, because as soon as I do, that usually means something is about to break and cost me a few hundred bucks to fix. So for now, I will just be happy I was able to modify the exhaust the way I wanted without having to make 15 trips to Menards or Home Depot.
It was always cold around that window and I am sure the .060” thick piece of tin (or whatever metal I used) didn’t have many insulating properties, especially when the temperature dropped below freezing. After seeing what was happening last weekend, and wanting to keep from ripping the frame out of the foundation, I thought it was time to fix it. Amazingly, the old caulk just ripped/pulled out. Like I said, the insulating qualities couldn’t have been all that good. I managed to rig up a pretty sweet set up with some rooftop exhaust flashing and a piece of 1” rigid insulation. It took a bit of trimming and cutting, but I got it to fit perfectly in the frame, and caulked it into place. Then I rigged a couple of elbow joints to come up out of the window well rather nicely. I think I still need to finish it off a little better, but at least the exhaust is coming up away from the house so all the moisture isn’t collecting under the siding and around the window frame. I think I may ever be able to keep it from fogging up the window in the den. I need to be careful not to get too proud of myself, because as soon as I do, that usually means something is about to break and cost me a few hundred bucks to fix. So for now, I will just be happy I was able to modify the exhaust the way I wanted without having to make 15 trips to Menards or Home Depot.
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