Hit 500 dryer vent cleanings last Tuesday and it got me weirdly emotional

I was wrapping up a job in an old triplex downtown and my partner texted me my count for the year. Turns out I crossed 500 dryer vent cleanings right there in that dusty basement. I just stood there for a second holding the brush kit and laughed at myself for keeping track that long. It felt like a real milestone since most of those were the tangled messes nobody else wanted to touch. Has anyone else ever counted up a random stat from their work and been surprised by the number?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul_morgan1mo ago

I saw a study from some fire safety group that said over 15 percent of house fires start from dryer vents that never get cleaned. That number stuck with me because it's easy to think it's just dust you know until you pull out a wad of lint that's been baking in the heat for years. I remember reading about a guy in Florida who had his whole garage go up because the dryer vent was packed so tight it actually caught fire while he was running a load. When you hit that 500 mark you've probably stopped hundreds of those fires from happening without even realizing it. That's the kind of quiet work that adds up in ways nobody talks about. So yeah I get why it got you emotional.

adam_anderson61mo ago

Flip it around and think about the people who install those vents too... a lot of them use cheap flexible foil tubing that traps lint way worse than the smooth metal stuff. So even if a homeowner cleans their vent, the design of the system itself might be setting them up for failure down the line. Makes you wonder how many of those fires could have been avoided with better building code standards.