Tubme Dryer Vent Through Brick Wall

Hello, wondered if you could give me some advice.

I have a tumble dryer which currently vents out of the cat flap in the utility room door, however, we don't have a cat and want to replace the door, so we need an alternative method of venting the dryer.

I plan on venting it through the wall. As far as I know, the wall is 2 bricks deep, with no cavity.

My understanding is that I can hire a hole cutter which would do the job, however, I had 3 questions:

1. Does it matter if the hole is above/below the DPC? I had some work done in that room last year and a chemical DPC was added as the wall was stripped back - I wasn't there when it was done so don't know the height of the DPC.

2. Does the vent have to be level with the outlet of the dryer? I would have thought that if the vent was higher than the outlet, then condensation would run back down the pipe and into the dryer/out the inlet (they are not watertight) and cause a possible damp issue.

3. Does it matter how the hole is cut in the brickwork? Does doing it one way do more damage to the structural strength of the wall, or will the wall be fine?

Thanks

chuckaliscious said:

1. Does it matter if the hole is above/below the DPC? I had some work done in that room last year and a chemical DPC was added as the wall was stripped back - I wasn't there when it was done so don't know the height of the DPC.

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It is likely you will be cutting just above the skirting board, in which case will be just above the chemical dpc.

2. Does the vent have to be level with the outlet of the dryer? I would have thought that if the vent was higher than the outlet, then condensation would run back down the pipe and into the dryer/out the inlet (they are not watertight) and cause a possible damp issue.

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I would imagine a tumble dryer will be able to deal with this problem. Maybe?

3. Does it matter how the hole is cut in the brickwork? Does doing it one way do more damage to the structural strength of the wall, or will the wall be fine?

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Cut from the outside in to save spalling the facing bricks. A small bore pilot hole from the inside is all you need for a guide.

Perfect, thanks Noseall.

I assume the reason for the pilot hole is because I'll need to cut from the outside and the inside due to the thickness of the wall/drill cutter thing?

Hi Just like to add a few comments -

1. the vent pipe generally takes the shortest route out of the building which is level with the output vent on the tumble dryer, otherwise the vent pipe running up or down the wall will cause the tumble dryer to be pushed forward, and you could end up with the tumble dryer being proud of the worktop!

2. There should be no problem with condensation as the temperature/relative humidity of the air leaving the tumble dryer is such that condensation will only occur where the warm moisture laden air from the tumble dryer meets the colder external air.

3. The location of the ventilation duct to the tumble dryer should be such that it will naturally be above the dpc level of the building, if you have a chemical injection dpc which goes above this level, it still will not be a problem as the ductwork being plastic does not provide a path for rising damp.

4. As noseall rightly mentions drill a pilot hole through the wall from the inside to the outside (this need be a minimal size say no more than 6-9mm) any spalling of the external brickwork as the drill bit exits should be minimal and will form in the area of brickwork that is to be cut out. With the hole cutter the spalling could be a lot worse and this is why it is necessary to drill from the outside to the inside of the building - one its hidden if you cannot face the making good, and two if the making good is not that good its still hidden behind the tumble dryer.

Regards

Could try something like this after you have done your hole clik here

chuckalicious said:

Perfect, thanks Noseall.

I assume the reason for the pilot hole is because I'll need to cut from the outside and the inside due to the thickness of the wall/drill cutter thing?

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yes partly but also too guide the core drill when you first start cutting
remember that core drilling is done without hammer action. your pilot hole should be the size required for the guide bar of your core bit

double post

ideal , thanks all