Around Portland, a dryer vent cleaning usually costs between $103 and $188, with most jobs close to $143 (labour only, November 2026 market data) . Four things push it up or down: the length of the run and how many elbows it has, where it exits, how hard the dryer is to reach, and whether the duct is too far gone to clean. A duct that's flattened or far too long is its own job at $250 to $900, typically $450, labour only as well.
Ready to book? Our dryer vent page covers how Slava handles cleaning and rerouting around the west side. This guide stays on the money and the warning signs.
What does a dryer vent cleaning cost in the Portland area?
Here are the lines from our price sheet, read in November 2026. They're Portland market numbers, not quotes Slava has confirmed yet.
| Job | Priced | Low | Typical | High | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dryer vent cleaning | per job | $103 | $143 | $188 | labour only |
| Replacing or rerouting a crushed or long vent duct | per job | $250 | $450 | $900 | labour only |
| For comparison: hooking up a washer and dryer to existing boxes | per job | $120 | $200 | $300 | labour only |
Each figure covers the whole job. National sites price this by the foot, by the vent or as a bundle, and they rarely agree with each other, so a cost calculator built on their numbers says little about a house here. We price the vent you actually have.
None of these figures include materials. On a replacement, the new duct, foil tape and outside cap get added on top . A visit for the vent alone may run into a minimum charge, and how a handyman's minimum and hourly billing work has its own guide. Plenty of people tack the vent onto a list of other small fixes so one trip handles everything .
What makes a dryer vent cleaning cost more?
A short straight run out the wall right behind the dryer is the cheap version. Each item below adds time.
| Factor | Why it adds time | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Long run, several elbows | Every bend slows the air and catches lint, and the brush has to fight its way around it | An interior laundry far from any outside wall |
| Exit point | A wall cap is quick; a crawl space, attic or roof exit means crawling, climbing or a ladder | Older ranches, two-story houses |
| Access | The dryer has to come out of a closet, a stacked unit or a tight nook first | Upstairs laundry, hall closets |
| Condition | Lint packed solid, a nest in the cap, or a snapped brush rod stuck inside | Vents nobody has touched in years |
| Duct past saving | Crushed foil, plastic hose, or a joint that has pulled apart | Behind the dryer, in the crawl space |
Roof exits cost more because they take a ladder and time up top. Whether we clean roof caps is still open , so ask when you get in touch.
Gas dryers are their own case. Pulling one out means unhooking the gas connector, and gas connections are something we leave alone, both taking them apart and putting them back. You'll find that on the jobs we pass on page. What we can still do on a gas dryer depends on the setup .
On many 1960s-80s houses around Cedar Mill and Beaverton, the dryer duct drops through the floor and travels under the house before it meets an outside wall. That stretch hides in the crawl space where nobody looks, and it's slower to clean .
What should a fair dryer vent cleaning include?
You should be able to see what you paid for. A proper cleaning usually means:
- the dryer moved out and the short hose behind it checked for kinks and tears;
- the run brushed from both ends wherever both ends can be reached;
- lint pulled out of the duct, not shoved farther down it;
- the outside flap swinging freely and any screen on the cap cleared;
- the lint trap housing inside the dryer vacuumed out;
- the dryer switched on for a minute while someone feels for strong air at the cap.
Ask to see the lint that came out, or photos of the inside of the run . Whether the lint and any old duct leave with us is something we'll settle on the job .
One thing that gets folded into a lot of quotes: furnace and air-duct cleaning. That's heating and cooling work, a different trade, and not something we offer. A dryer vent is one pipe serving one appliance.
How much does it cost to replace or reroute a dryer vent?
A replacement or reroute runs $250 to $900, typically $450 (labour only, November 2026 market data) . The low end looks like trading a squashed hose behind the dryer for rigid or semi-rigid metal along the same path. The high end is a new run under the house, cutting a fresh wall opening, or moving a long route to a shorter one.
Replace instead of cleaning when you find:
- white plastic hose or thin foil accordion duct;
- duct flattened behind the dryer where it got pushed against the wall;
- joints that have come apart, often in the crawl space, blowing lint under the house;
- a run so long it plugs up again within a few months of a cleaning.
That's simple airflow. Smooth metal with fewer bends carries air better than ribbed hose with three turns, and air that keeps moving carries lint out instead of dropping it.
A new wall opening on a pre-1978 house is a separate question, because cutting through old painted siding or trim can disturb lead paint, and lead-paint work isn't something we take on . Shopping for a new dryer anyway? Ventless dryers, the condensing and heat-pump kinds, mostly skip the outside duct entirely.
What are the lint signs that a dryer vent is a fire risk?
Lint is fine, dry and quick to catch. Figures from the USFA, the federal fire agency, show failure to clean was the leading factor in home clothes dryer fires from 2018 to 2020, at 31 % of them. A clogging vent usually warns you first:
- Towels need a second cycle. Wet air has nowhere to go, so the load stays damp.
- The dryer top or the clothes feel hotter than usual. Heat is building up inside instead of leaving.
- A hot or scorched smell in the laundry room. Lint near the heater is getting too warm.
- Lint gathering around the trap opening or on the floor behind the dryer. It's escaping because the duct is full.
- Weak or no air at the outside cap, or a flap that stays shut while the dryer runs.
- Lint stuck to the cap or the siding below it.
- The dryer quits partway through a load. Plenty of dryers have a heat cutoff that trips when they run too hot.
Leaving it forever means longer drying, extra wear on the heating parts, and the fire risk above. On gas models, a plugged vent may also send combustion fumes indoors, one more reason to keep a carbon monoxide alarm working. We install smoke and CO alarms as well; the market range is $120 to $350, typically $200 (labour only, November 2026 market data) .
If it smells hot, stop running it until someone checks the vent. Clear the lint filter after each load and glance at the outside cap now and then.
How often does a dryer vent need cleaning?
Most dryer makers and cleaners suggest about once a year. Go sooner with a big household, pets that shed, a roof exit or a long run, or a vent that has clogged before .
Timing matters too. Around here, hardly anyone hangs laundry outside through the wet months, so the dryer handles every load for a long stretch of the year. Getting the vent done before that stretch starts means it's clear when it works hardest. Our home maintenance checklist shows where it sits alongside the gutters and the other yearly chores.
Spring gives you another reason to look at the cap: birds sometimes build in it .
Is DIY vent cleaning enough, or is a pro worth paying?
Often DIY is enough. If the dryer sits against an outside wall, the run is short and straight, and you can reach both ends, a kit handles it. You need a spinning brush on bendable rod sections driven by a drill, a shop vac, and a screwdriver for the cap. Feed the brush in slowly and keep it turning one direction so the rod sections don't unscrew inside the duct.
Get help when:
- the run goes through a crawl space, an attic or the roof;
- the dryer is stacked or squeezed into a closet;
- a rod broke off inside ;
- it's a gas dryer, since you'd be moving the gas connector;
- drying is still slow after a cleaning, which usually points to a crushed section and a replacement.
A leaf blower pointed into the duct is a popular shortcut. On a long run it can pack lint tighter at a bend instead of clearing it .
So when does paying make sense? For a short wall run, a kit and half an hour usually do it, and that's fine. A paid visit earns its price on long, hidden or awkward runs, and when the duct needs replacing.
Is a $69 dryer vent cleaning a good deal?
A coupon that low sits under the bottom of the Portland range. Often the visit is a way in the door, and the real sale is air-duct cleaning, "sanitizing" or a new duct. Before you book, ask what the price covers step by step: dryer pulled out, both ends brushed, cap cleared, airflow checked. Ask if the outside cap is included, and what would trigger extra charges, like the roof, the length, a nest or new duct.
At the other end, a $400 quote for a short wall run is well above the local range. The same number for a roof exit or a duct replacement is normal. Compare two quotes that cover identical work.