Dryer Vent Cleaning Cost: Measure the Run Before You Book

What drives dryer vent cleaning cost

Dryer vent cleaning cost lands between $80 and $350 for most homes, and the published averages sit close together: Bob Vila reports $139 based on Angi and HomeAdvisor data, Fixr reports $150, HomeGuide reports $130 from 1,184 member projects. Almost all of that spread comes down to two things, and neither of them is the size of your house.

The first is where the duct ends. A vent that exits through a basement or first floor wall runs $80 to $150 at HomeGuide. A second floor vent is $110 to $185. A roof termination is $150 to $250, because the technician is working off a ladder or on the roof itself.

The second is how long the run is and how many bends it has. Cost To Renovate reports a flat rate for runs under ten feet, then roughly $10 to $15 for each additional ten feet, with $10 to $20 per elbow past the first. The mechanical code is the useful yardstick here: the 2021 International Mechanical Code caps a dryer exhaust duct at 35 feet, and every 90 degree elbow counts as five feet of that budget. A run with four bends has already spent 20 of its 35 feet. That duct both costs more to clean and clogs faster, because each turn traps lint.

Prices by vent type and service

Hourly pricing exists but is less common. Fixr reports $90 to $160 per hour, with a technician covering about 15 feet of duct in that hour, which works out to roughly $6 to $11 per foot. A standard job takes 30 to 60 minutes.

Why one quote says $120 and another says $300

This is the part that confuses homeowners, and it is worth understanding before you assume someone is overcharging. The cost guides above describe a straightforward annual cleaning. Thumbtack's marketplace data, which reflects jobs actually booked and paid, reports a national average of $283 with a range of $185 to $432. The gap is real and it has an explanation: the jobs people book through a marketplace skew toward problems, not maintenance. A vent that already has a compacted blockage, a bird nest or a 30 foot roof run is a different job from a clear ten foot line, even though both are called a dryer vent cleaning.

• Bird nests: add $120 to $250 including the cleaning, and cannot be diagnosed over the phone.
• Long or crushed ducts: if the run exceeds code length or a section is collapsed, cleaning buys a few weeks and the duct itself needs work.
• Camera inspection: often bundled into mid range quotes, sold separately at $30 to $60.
• Package pricing: combining with air duct cleaning is common, and HomeGuide puts the combined job at $340 to $800.
• Lint monitoring alarms: $170 to $250 installed, worth considering only on a long or inaccessible run.

The safety case for doing this at all is well documented. NFPA's 2020 analysis found failure to clean caused 32 percent of home dryer fires between 2014 and 2018, roughly 4,470 fires a year. Annual cleaning is the standard recommendation; every six months for heavy laundry households or homes with shedding pets.

Is your quote reasonable?

Price the job against your own duct, not against a national average. A first floor vent under 15 feet with one or two bends should come in at $80 to $150, and anything above $200 for that job needs a reason. A second floor or roof vent at $150 to $250 is fair. Above $300 you should be hearing about a specific complication: a roof exit, a run past 25 feet, a confirmed blockage or a nest.

Two practical checks before you book. First, walk outside and find where the vent terminates, then estimate the run back to the dryer and count the elbows; a company that asks you these questions is pricing the job, and one that quotes a flat number without asking is likely to revise it on arrival. Second, ask whether the price includes an airflow reading afterward. A crew that cleans and leaves cannot tell you whether the duct is actually clear or simply too long to work properly. Beware the very cheap advertised special, typically $69 to $99: those usually cap the vent length covered, and the overage is quoted once the technician is already at your door. Also ask what happens if a nest turns up, and get that number before the work starts rather than after. A $30 to $60 inspection is a reasonable purchase if you suspect a blockage and want a price before committing.