Dryer Vent Hose Replacement in La Jolla, CA

Does replacing the hose actually fix slow drying?

Sometimes. The flexible hose behind the dryer is only the transition duct. It is the last few feet. If the duct inside the wall or attic is packed, a new hose changes nothing. Both get checked before anything is swapped.

White vinyl and thin ribbed foil are the two most often pulled out. The ribs catch lint. Damp coastal lint mats rather than blows free, and it clings inside those ridges. Semi-rigid aluminum is the normal replacement. It holds its shape and resists crushing. Clamps hold it, not sheet metal screws. Screw tips inside a duct snag lint and start the next clog.

Garage-wall terminations in 1950s-70s slab tract homes are short and easy, but often crushed foil behind the dryer. The machine gets shoved back to the drywall and the hose folds flat. A periscope or close elbow buys back several inches. Interior stacked closets in condos and townhomes are tighter again. There is often no room for a slack accordion loop at all.

You can check this without tools. Pull the dryer out. Look for a kink, a tear, a hose pinched flat at the elbow, or loose lint on the floor behind it. Any of those, and the hose goes first.