I had a dryer vent cleaning on the schedule recently. The owner stated that they just purchased a new dryer, and it was not working properly. When I arrived at the location, I determined that the vent was out the side of the house, and was about two and half stories high. There was evidence of bird droppings on the siding and around the vent. I set up the equipment to take a look and as suspected there was a birds nest impacting the flow of air out of the vent. Not only was there a current nest being built, but behind it was years of previously used nests going back about three and half feet into the vent pipe. You would think that there would be too much pressure from the dryer for them to build a nest, but you’d be wrong. Birds are resourceful, and given time, they can build a nest structure that will reduce the air flow considerably, while giving them a great place to stay out of the elements and raise their young. While they are creating a nice safe space for themselves, they are wreaking havoc on your dryer. When your dryer can’t expel the warm moist air it causes back pressure, which causes your dryer to work harder to dry your clothes. This in turn leads to higher utility bills, unnecessary wear and tear on your dryer, and in the worst case scenario, a fire, due to an overheated dryer.

While birds do build nests in dryer vents, it is more common for them to build them inside your bathroom vents. Bathroom vents create less pressure allowing a more viable site and most homes nowadays have multiple bathrooms, giving the birds multiple nesting sites. This creates similar issues as with the dryer vent, but also creates others. Unlike dryer vents that use galvanized hard pipe, most bathroom vent use tubing made of wire and plastic. This plastic can be torn/breached allowing the birds to get access in between the levels for your house or into the attic. Also, many of the birds are infected with “mites,” these can multiply and can easily access your home through the bathroom vent or torn tubing.

If you have birds in your vents, it is crucial to get them out. If you don’t have them, its crucial to prevent them getting in. Just because you have a function single flap or multiple louver vent cover doesn’t mean you don’t or can’t get birds. You can, they just lift the flap or the louvers, and they’re inside,

and kept out of the elements by the vent cover they just circumvented. A bird cover needs to be installed to prevent access to the vents.

At MJL Services chimney/dryer vent we can take care of all of your nest removal and prevention needs. Call us today at 704-288-7316.