Hot air blowing through vents into condo, including into dryer -- what to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please contact the fire inspector and insurance! I’ve been worrying about you- I’m the one who had a house fire that started with an errant overheated outlet by a wall full of lint. This isn’t like a saggy fence or a damp basement that can be put off for a couple of months- it’s literally a firetrap. I’m a Girl Scout leader and have my youngest Scouts use dryer lint for their first fires for a reason.

You're too sweet; genuinely thank you for your concern! I didn't know outlets would be the ones to do it; I'll definitely keep you posted on what I find out. Talk soon, hopefully with positive news. -OP

To the kind PP who followed up with me, I have an update: I deep-cleaned as much as I could of the dryer and the area under the lint trap itself, even though it was very clean already, and we have a suuuuuper strong laundry detergent smell in there now (?) that you can smell as soon as you enter the condo. The smell necessitated us closing the dryer door, and it's been surprisingly dry inside since Friday afternoon. I wonder if this is the wall wind blowing the detergent smell in. In any case, I'm going to keep an eye on things for a few days and see if the moisture inside the dryer returns or not.

[Anonymous]

Dont call your homeowners or they can drop you. Escalate it up to the board and demand it be fixed as its a fire hazard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dont call your homeowners or they can drop you. Escalate it up to the board and demand it be fixed as its a fire hazard.

That's what my spouse is worried about and hence is reticent to call. The board doesn't care; we brought it up, and so have several other residents before us. We were simultaneously told "never happened before" and that "when this happened in another unit, it was the downstairs neighbor's dryer acting up." -OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dont call your homeowners or they can drop you. Escalate it up to the board and demand it be fixed as its a fire hazard.

That's what my spouse is worried about and hence is reticent to call. The board doesn't care; we brought it up, and so have several other residents before us. We were simultaneously told "never happened before" and that "when this happened in another unit, it was the downstairs neighbor's dryer acting up." -OP

You have a few issues here:

1-you were sold a property with an issue that the seller might have been required to disclose. VA is a "buyer beware" state so the law is not in your favor, but my understanding is that the seller is required to disclose a defect if they are aware of it. I don't know how that works in a condo sale/situation vs. a SFH, but it's something to look into;

2-the condo board. The board is controlled by bylaws as well as state, and possibly county or city regulations. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodepopularnames/virginia-condominium-act/. I don't really know much about this except that there are rules. There are procedures. If they aren't followed, there should be remedies. You need to read the bylaws and also understand what actual laws govern the condo board. In your first post you say that a repairman won't be allowed on the roof - what do your bylaws or regulations say about repairs to a unit? And when is code enforcement coming out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dont call your homeowners or they can drop you. Escalate it up to the board and demand it be fixed as its a fire hazard.

That's what my spouse is worried about and hence is reticent to call. The board doesn't care; we brought it up, and so have several other residents before us. We were simultaneously told "never happened before" and that "when this happened in another unit, it was the downstairs neighbor's dryer acting up." -OP

You have a few issues here:

1-you were sold a property with an issue that the seller might have been required to disclose. VA is a "buyer beware" state so the law is not in your favor, but my understanding is that the seller is required to disclose a defect if they are aware of it. I don't know how that works in a condo sale/situation vs. a SFH, but it's something to look into;

2-the condo board. The board is controlled by bylaws as well as state, and possibly county or city regulations. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodepopularnames/virginia-condominium-act/. I don't really know much about this except that there are rules. There are procedures. If they aren't followed, there should be remedies. You need to read the bylaws and also understand what actual laws govern the condo board. In your first post you say that a repairman won't be allowed on the roof - what do your bylaws or regulations say about repairs to a unit? And when is code enforcement coming out?

Your first point is something I considered. The prior owner moved some stuff around to put the w/d in their current space (they were previously 2-3 feet away) and, based on other issues I've seen, hired very shoddy contractors. I don't think this would make an impact, but you're right, it's worth looking into.

As for the second point, I'll take a closer look into our board bylaws and condo docs (not that those are ever enforced; the board and staff run a little fiefdom and do as they wish). Typically what everyone is told is that anything that takes place inside your unit is your responsibility (e.g., your w/d breaks) and anything in the walls between units or in common areas is the building's. As for the roof, the building repairman will block access, even for a necessary repair, unless he's paid $$$ by the contractor. The board is aware and enables him.

Re: code enforcement, if this is a code issue, my concern is where my responsibility to repair the code issue ends and the building's begins. I'm concerned about being on the hook financially, even if it's a building issue, due to VA laws like the buyer beware one mentioned earlier. My spouse has expressed the same concern.
Lots of stuff to look into for sure, and a lot of headache for a first-time purchase. I appreciate you being helpful with this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

I bought a condo in Fairfax County recently and noticed that our dryer has been wet from the inside/constantly covered in condensation when not in use, clothes are coming out wet, etc. I thought it was a clog and decided to clean it. However, I quickly realized that our dryer vent itself is clean -- as soon as I disconnected the vent, a slew of hot air blew in my face and I saw that the dryer vent flapper connecting to the wall is covered in condensation. It turns out that none of the dryer vents are connected to anything on the roof to blow the dryer lint out; the lint lives in the walls and has for years/since the first W/Ds were installed in this building. It also turns out that NONE of the vents that are supposed to suck air out of the room (e.g., in the bathroom) are doing that; instead, they're actively blowing hot air INTO the condo, which explains why our bathrooms are constantly hot.

I can call a W/D repairman, but he won't be allowed on the roof to check for problems/clogs higher up unless he bribes one of the staff members. I'm also told that building staff are aware of the issue and will "maybe" look into it in 4-5 years, even though the problem has been happening for ages. DCUM, would you know how can I fix this issue? I'm worried about fire hazards and mold in the walls as well.

That's low-cost slow-install non-fiberglass insulation

[Anonymous]

OP here. To the kind PP who said to call code enforcement, I did, and I also called the health department a few times since we last spoke. Both said “tough titties” and won’t do anything since my building is older and up to its dinosaur age code. I emailed the property manager and spoke to them multiple times, including sending video. Nothing.

[Anonymous]

Also to the kind PP: the building managers says the dryer vents don’t connect to anything. The building repairman (that term is very loose) said the dryers are connected to the roof but don’t work. They contradict each other all the time, openly.

[Anonymous]

If they know of the problem and there is a fire it will void hour homeowners insurance and any other insurance the condo board buys.