Or so we thought.
After a minute or two of turning the dryer on, we both smelled a burning smell coming from the laundry closet. We turned it off - burning smell stopped. Tried it again, and burning ensued. The husband surmised that the vent going outside was clogged and so he called the maintenance people to come out and clean it.
7 days, 5 phone calls, and 2 personal visits to the office later, the maintenance men came out to clean the vent. Kace had tried to clean it himself, hooking two wire hangers together and shoving it up the vent but with no luck. The apartment workers weren't successful as well. They came back and forth, sending different guys each time on 3 separate days, all trying to figure out why they couldn't get the dryer vent cleaned.
Seriously. These guys were quite muffled and puzzled about it all. They got up on the roof of the building, seeing if they could locate the opening to the vent ... and COULDN'T FIND IT!!! They shoved things down all these different openings (I'm sure the other residents were thrilled with that!) seeing where in the world our dryer vent went. Kc even got online to see if he could find the blueprints for our complex in hopes to be of assistance to these guys.
So. Seeing how brilliant these guys were, they decided that the best solution was to start cutting large holes in the ceiling to locate the route of the dryer vent. Yes. You heard me right. Cut holes in the ceiling. Brilliant. I honestly felt like I was back in China and watching the little fix-it-guys there putz around doing random jobs in my apartment, only this time, I understood what these guys were saying.
They cut one hole about a foot long and 6" deep over the dryer. Dust is everywhere. That didn't help them so they move into the kitchen and cut another just as larger if not larger. Still no answer. They move to the other side of the nook, this time cutting a hole in the ceiling, right next to the exterior wall, hoping that this final cut would confirm their growing suspicions.
And it did. Our dryer vent vented to the brick wall and then stopped. No joke. The builders never allowed for an opening and all these years, people have been drying their clothes in this apartment without it venting anywhere. When they cut through the drywall, it was caked with lint about an inch thick! It's not a wonder that our apartment building hasn't burned down!!! The men then went outside and cut a hole in the brick to finally allow our vent to go someplace.
We are still waiting (a week later) for them to come back and make another huge mess by patching the gigantic holes we have in our ceiling(s). But until then, at least we can dry our clothes without fear of burning the place down.
The man attempting to saw his way through the drywall. It appeared to me to be an over-sized serrated knife. (I was hiding behind the fridge, trying to get this shot without his noticing. It works a lot better in China -- the little Chinese guys just think you are cute and not annoying if they happen to notice you.)
Hole in the laundry closet
Two holes the kitchen nook
The 25 years worth of lint caked to the drywall
4 comments:
That is hilarious! Wow--you all have quite the apartment stories.
it IS just like a giant serrated knife--dan just had to buy one for cutting a hole our wall. i'd never seen one b4.
Un-be-liev-a-ble. How sad that you are the first ones to notice a smell LIKE YOUR APARTMENT IS GOING TO BURN DOWN!!! People. Honestly.
wow. isn't that just what you want to be doing the first week after you move in? hope it all worked out in the end...
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