I recently had a bathroom constructed in my basement. When they
installed the bath fan they tied into the existing dryer vent line,
which I wasn't exactly thrilled about. They assured me it would be
fine. Sure enough, when I ran the dryer, the exhaust went right into
the bath fan. The contractor said he thought he had tied the bath fan
in far enough down the run that this would not happen. His solution
is to use some type of T with a baffle built in to prevent the
backflow. Is this really a good idea? Or should I tell him NO DICE !!

"Finman" wrote in message
ups.com...
I recently had a bathroom constructed in my basement. When they
installed the bath fan they tied into the existing dryer vent line,
which I wasn't exactly thrilled about. They assured me it would be
fine. Sure enough, when I ran the dryer, the exhaust went right into
the bath fan. The contractor said he thought he had tied the bath fan
in far enough down the run that this would not happen. His solution
is to use some type of T with a baffle built in to prevent the
backflow. Is this really a good idea? Or should I tell him NO DICE !!


IMO, and it is only an opinion, The bath fan should be a completely
different run.

If it happens to be a gas dryer I know there is a code violation there.

In article . com, Finman wrote:
I recently had a bathroom constructed in my basement. When they
installed the bath fan they tied into the existing dryer vent line,
which I wasn't exactly thrilled about. They assured me it would be
fine. Sure enough, when I ran the dryer, the exhaust went right into
the bath fan. The contractor said he thought he had tied the bath fan
in far enough down the run that this would not happen. His solution
is to use some type of T with a baffle built in to prevent the
backflow. Is this really a good idea? Or should I tell him NO DICE !!

How far do the vents run? And what is the alternative?

I think I could live with the baffle approach, especially
if the layout makes sense in terms of minimizing the length
of the vent runs. Even more so if installing a second vent is
likely to be very messy (destructive, visible or whatever).
Maybe impossible, in which case, stop whining ;-)

Obviously, this is not ideal but these things always involve
a compromise and balancing of multiple variables. You've
already had one whoopsie so don't rush into another. Think
through all of the alternatives and factors as carefully as
you can.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Finman" wrote in message
ups.com...
I recently had a bathroom constructed in my basement. When they
installed the bath fan they tied into the existing dryer vent line,
which I wasn't exactly thrilled about. They assured me it would be
fine. Sure enough, when I ran the dryer, the exhaust went right into
the bath fan. The contractor said he thought he had tied the bath fan
in far enough down the run that this would not happen. His solution
is to use some type of T with a baffle built in to prevent the
backflow. Is this really a good idea? Or should I tell him NO DICE !!


Don't be conned into something that isn't right. More than likely it is a
code violation. Have a separated ,designated, run for the bathroom vent.
"NO DICE" is the proper reaction!!
MLD

The 2006 IRC says , and i quote:

M1502.1 General. Dryer exhaust systems shall be independent of all other
systems, and shall convey the moisture to the outdoors.


==============

I think that's pretty clear.


steve

"Finman" wrote in message
ups.com...
I recently had a bathroom constructed in my basement. When they
installed the bath fan they tied into the existing dryer vent line,
which I wasn't exactly thrilled about. They assured me it would be
fine. Sure enough, when I ran the dryer, the exhaust went right into
the bath fan. The contractor said he thought he had tied the bath fan
in far enough down the run that this would not happen. His solution
is to use some type of T with a baffle built in to prevent the
backflow. Is this really a good idea? Or should I tell him NO DICE !!

Colbyt wrote:
"Finman" wrote in message
ups.com...
I recently had a bathroom constructed in my basement. When they
installed the bath fan they tied into the existing dryer vent line,
which I wasn't exactly thrilled about. They assured me it would be
fine. Sure enough, when I ran the dryer, the exhaust went right into
the bath fan. The contractor said he thought he had tied the bath fan
in far enough down the run that this would not happen. His solution
is to use some type of T with a baffle built in to prevent the
backflow. Is this really a good idea? Or should I tell him NO DICE !!


IMO, and it is only an opinion, The bath fan should be a completely
different run.

If it happens to be a gas dryer I know there is a code violation there.

It's code violation either way. Even if it weren't, the moisture and
lint that gets through the bypass is a deal breaker.

Shouldn't have allowed it to begin with and any reasonably competent
remodeler should have known better.

--

"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message

Obviously, this is not ideal but these things always involve
a compromise and balancing of multiple variables.

There is no negotiation or compromise on code violations. This setup is
blatantly wrong.

On Oct 18, 8:51 pm, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:
"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message

Obviously, this is not ideal but these things always involve
a compromise and balancing of multiple variables.

There is no negotiation or compromise on code violations. This setup is
blatantly wrong.

I hear reasons for people to mistrust contractors every day this job
is one of them. When hiring one ask to see his qualifacations if he
is hesitent go on to one who isn't. I do plumbing and some small
carpentry but i know my limits and will tell you when hired. This
person should learn his. When in doubt hire thru big box as they
usauly stand behind there jobs

In article , "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:

"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message

Obviously, this is not ideal but these things always involve
a compromise and balancing of multiple variables.

There is no negotiation or compromise on code violations. This setup is
blatantly wrong.

I agree. If this violates code (and apparently it does) a
a licensed contractor absolutely needs to fix it. Of course,
the result may not be pretty if it's really difficult to run
a new vent.

If the contractor is unlicensed, all bets are off, of course.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"dpb" wrote in message ...

IMO, and it is only an opinion, The bath fan should be a completely
different run.

If it happens to be a gas dryer I know there is a code violation there.

It's code violation either way. Even if it weren't, the moisture and lint
that gets through the bypass is a deal breaker.

Shouldn't have allowed it to begin with and any reasonably competent
remodeler should have known better.


I saw that post. Thanks to the person who took the time to look it up.

I suspected it was a violation but did not know for sure.

Colbyt wrote:
"dpb" wrote in message ...
IMO, and it is only an opinion, The bath fan should be a completely
different run.

If it happens to be a gas dryer I know there is a code violation there.
It's code violation either way. Even if it weren't, the moisture and lint
that gets through the bypass is a deal breaker.

Shouldn't have allowed it to begin with and any reasonably competent
remodeler should have known better.


I saw that post. Thanks to the person who took the time to look it up.

I suspected it was a violation but did not know for sure.

If something similar comes up again, call your city/county/whoever
building permitting authority and ask to talk to someone about local
codes...never had one refuse to answer such a question.

--

On Oct 19, 9:20 am, dpb wrote:
Colbyt wrote:
"dpb" wrote in ...
IMO, and it is only an opinion, The bath fan should be a completely
different run.

If it happens to be a gas dryer I know there is a code violation there.
It's code violation either way. Even if it weren't, the moisture and lint
that gets through the bypass is a deal breaker.

Shouldn't have allowed it to begin with and any reasonably competent
remodeler should have known better.

I saw that post. Thanks to the person who took the time to look it up.

I suspected it was a violation but did not know for sure.

If something similar comes up again, call your city/county/whoever
building permitting authority and ask to talk to someone about local
codes...never had one refuse to answer such a question.

--- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

A big THANK YOU to everyone that posted a reply. I live in Illinois
and the scary thing is (at least the way I understand it), you don't
have to obtain a license to be a contractor. I guess we are 1 of only
2 states that don't require this.

Anyway, I plan on telling my contractor NO DICE!!

Thanks again !!

In article . com, Finman wrote:

A big THANK YOU to everyone that posted a reply. I live in Illinois
and the scary thing is (at least the way I understand it), you don't
have to obtain a license to be a contractor. I guess we are 1 of only
2 states that don't require this.

Anyway, I plan on telling my contractor NO DICE!!

My earlier comments notwithstanding, that's a very reasonable
thing to do especially in light of the code information posted
here. HOWEVER, do think hard about alternatives. The contractor
will likely have to address the issue but he may do so in the
quickest/cheapest manner possible. It will presumably be code
compliant but it still might be very ugly!

If I was in your shoes, I'd try to formulate one or more
suggested remedies so that the extra vent is going to be
routed in a manner you find acceptable. I have certainly
seen situations where it is extremely difficult to route
a vent in an unobtrusive manner. Figure out some options
before the contractor comes back on site.


--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~