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Denver's housing stock splits our work into two jobs. The 1950s-70s ranch and bungalow stock across the metro puts the dryer in a basement, so the duct climbs to a rim joist and runs horizontally through the joist bay, often 15 to 30 ft with multiple elbows before it reaches a side-wall or window-well termination near grade. Those low terminations near ground level collect snow, mulch, window-well debris, and bird nesting, and a flap that won't open backs lint up the whole line. The newer three-story townhomes and infill duplexes are the opposite problem: a stacked washer/dryer closet on the second or third floor with no exterior wall available, forcing a vertical run to a roof cap. That run is long, hard to inspect, and lint piles up at the top where airflow slows. We work behind both, plus side-vented and rear-vented units, gas and electric, stacked closets, and the pedestal setups that make the transition hose behind the machine the tightest part of the run.

Front Range air is dry, so loads dry fast and people assume the vent stays clean. The dust load here says otherwise. Plains dust, construction dust from constant metro building, and spring cottonwood and grass pollen get pulled into the lint bed. Cold-season runs through unconditioned basements, crawlspaces, attics, and garages let moist exhaust condense on cold metal, and the damp lint packs into a hard mat instead of blowing out. That mat does not respond to a shop vac from the dryer end. We bring a rotary brush on a flexible vent line that we feed the full length of the duct, a vacuum sealed at the transition to catch what comes loose, and an anemometer. We read airflow at the hood before we start and again when we finish, so there is a number on the work instead of a before-and-after photo of a lint pile. Crushed or hail-damaged roof caps and dented exterior hoods show up often here, and we check those while we're at the termination. If a hood is beyond cleaning, we handle repair or a full replacement run.

Sometimes we open a vent and it does not need clearing. Short basement run, recent service, light use: we tell you that and we don't clean it. You get the airflow reading and a recommendation on when to look again. On cost, the things that actually move it on this job are run length and elbow count, whether the termination is at grade or on a roof, whether the roof cap or hood is damaged and needs work, and how packed the lint is after a winter of condensing in an unheated space. A 15 ft basement run to a side wall is not the same job as a third-floor closet venting to a roof cap. If you're not sure which you have or whether anything is wrong, start with an inspection and go from there.