Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Masonry repair
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Fast, Reliable Dryer Vent Cleaning Across Venice
Dryer vent cleaning in Venice typically runs $129 – $219 for a standard single-story home, and most jobs are completed in under two hours. That’s the direct answer. What makes Venice different is the salt air: it corrodes exterior vent hoods faster here than nearly anywhere else in Los Angeles, so a routine cleaning often turns into a hood replacement too. Our team of Dryer Vent Cleaning techs knows the difference between a simple lint clog and a rusted-shut flapper before we even pull up. If your dryer is taking two cycles to dry a load, call (855) 554-2841 and we’ll get you on the schedule. We work in 90291 and 90294 every week.
Why Hickory Chimney Sweep Is Venice’s Preferred Dryer Vent Cleaning Company
We’re not a franchise outfit that sends a different tech every time. Ruben Acosta leads our crew, and he’s the one who set the standard: document everything with photos, explain what you’re seeing, and never recommend work the house doesn’t need. That approach matters in Venice, where the housing stock runs from 1920s canal cottages to 1960s walk-street bungalows and every one of them has a different duct configuration.
Our reputation in Venice has been built on the boring stuff: showing up when we say, sweeping up the lint, and giving you a straight answer about whether that old aluminum flex duct can stay or needs to go. Homeowners on the canals and around Abbot Kinney call us back because we treat a dryer vent as a fire-safety system, not a five-minute blow-and-go. We carry stainless steel hoods and rigid duct on the truck, so when salt corrosion has eaten a galvanized flapper, we fix it that day instead of scheduling a second visit.
Dual coverage is the other reason people stick with us. Hickory Chimney Sweep handles both chimneys and dryer vents, which are the two big appliance-fire sources in a home. One call covers both. That’s not a slogan, it’s just how we’re set up.
Styles & brands we work with
Our Dryer Vent Cleaning Services in Venice
Dryer Vent Cleaning
The core service. We run a rotary brush through the full duct from the dryer connection to the exterior termination, then vacuum out everything it knocks loose. In Venice, that lint is often damp and matted from marine-layer humidity, which means it sticks to the duct walls harder than the dry, fluffy stuff you see inland. Standard pricing for a single-story home in 90291 runs $129 – $169. Two-story homes typically run $169 – $219 depending on duct length and access. We finish with an airflow test so you know the actual numbers, not just a “looks good.”
Dryer Vent Inspection
Some homes need eyes on the system before anyone should clean it. That’s true in a lot of Venice beach cottages where the original vent run was cobbled together decades ago. Our inspection includes a camera push through the duct, documentation of every joint and transition, and a written report with photos. Inspection-only in Venice runs $89 – $129, and we credit that fee toward cleaning if you book both in the same visit. Damp, musty laundry or a dryer that runs hot are both signs you want this before we start scrubbing.
Dryer Vent Hood Replacement
This is the service Venice calls for more than any other city we work. Galvanized steel hoods and flappers corrode in salt-laden onshore air, usually within three to five years. The flapper seizes shut, lint backs up into the duct, and your dryer starts struggling even though the lint screen is clean. We replace failed hoods with stainless steel models that resist salt corrosion, and we stock them on the truck. Hood replacement in Venice runs $89 – $159 for the part and labor, depending on the wall type and whether the existing penetration needs sealing work. Homes right on the canals or west of Lincoln tend to need this sooner, which we’ll talk about below.
Duct Replacement and Upgrades
Older Venice homes often have aluminum flex duct from the 1980s or earlier. Damp air pinholes it. Sagging sections trap lint. If we find flex duct that’s deteriorated or unsafe, we replace it with rigid metal duct, which moves air better and gives lint fewer places to collect. A typical duct replacement in a single-story Venice bungalow runs $199 – $349 depending on the run length and how much of it runs through crawl space or wall cavities. We’ll show you the camera footage first, so you can see exactly why we’re recommending the work.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees — you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Venice
We install and service components from manufacturers we trust in coastal environments. For exterior terminations, we use stainless steel hoods and Famco wall caps that hold up better under salt exposure than the galvanized steel you’ll find at a hardware store. For interior duct runs, we use rigid metal ducting specified for dryer exhaust, not the semi-rigid stuff that kinks behind the appliance. When a chimney repair overlaps with dryer work, the same standards apply: HeatShield resurfacing for flue liners, Venice DuraFlex service for relines, Gelco and Olympia Chimney for caps and components. We keep a small inventory of common Venice sizes on the truck because nobody wants to wait a week for a part when their dryer’s down.
Common Dryer Vent Cleaning Problems We See in Venice Homes
- Rusted exterior hood flappers. Salt-laden ocean air eats galvanized steel. Within three to five years the flapper seizes and stops opening, which forces hot, lint-filled air to stall in the duct. We see this in nearly half the homes we service west of Lincoln Boulevard.
- Damp, matted lint deposits. Venice’s marine layer keeps humidity high for much of the year. Lint that would stay dry and fluffy in Culver City turns sticky and clings to duct walls here, building up faster and reducing airflow sooner.
- Deteriorating aluminum flex duct. The 1950s through 1970s beach cottages often still have original flex runs. Salt air and damp cycles cause pinholes and sagging, which trap lint and leak moist air into wall cavities or crawl spaces.
- Improper vent terminations. Some of the older canal-side homes vent into attics or crawl spaces rather than outdoors, which was code-legal decades ago but is a serious fire and moisture hazard today. We flag it during inspection and quote a proper exterior termination.
Pricing for Dryer Vent Cleaning in Venice, CA
Here’s what you should expect to pay in Venice. A standard dryer vent cleaning for a single-story home in 90291 or 90294 runs $129 – $169. Two-story homes and longer duct runs run $169 – $219. Inspection-only is $89 – $129 and includes camera documentation. Hood replacement runs $89 – $159 with a stainless steel unit, and full duct replacement runs $199 – $349 depending on the run. What moves you up the range: duct length over 15 feet, hard-to-access terminations, and second-story vents. What doesn’t: we don’t charge a Venice premium. These are the same prices we quote in Culver City and Ladera Heights, adjusted only for actual job conditions. Call (855) 554-2841 and describe your home. We’ll give you a firm number before we book, and estimates are free.
We Also Serve Cities Near Venice
Hickory Chimney Sweep covers the surrounding Westside and South Bay communities, including Dryer Vent Cleaning in Culver City, Ladera Heights, Century City, and El Segundo. If you’re just over the Venice line in any of those neighborhoods, same pricing and same availability apply. You’ll get the same tech, the same camera-documented inspection, and the same stainless steel parts we’d install in Venice.
See the difference
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AfterServing Venice, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Venice area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – Dryer Vent Cleaning in Venice
Every 12 months, same as inland. What changes in Venice is what we find: instead of dry lint, we’re usually pulling out damp, matted deposits that have been absorbing marine-layer moisture all year. Homes west of Lincoln or within a few blocks of the beach should consider an inspection every 6 months just to check the exterior hood for salt corrosion, even if the duct itself doesn’t need cleaning yet. Call (855) 554-2841 if you’re not sure when your last cleaning was.
Because it’s galvanized steel, and Venice’s salt-laden onshore air corrodes galvanized coating quickly. A galvanized hood on a home near the canals or the beach typically starts pitting within two years and can seize within three to five. Switching to a stainless steel hood solves it. Stainless is not immune to salt, but it holds up dramatically better, and we stock stainless hoods on the truck for exactly this reason.
Yes. When the exterior flapper seizes shut, lint stops exiting the home. It accumulates inside the duct, restricts airflow, and the dryer runs hotter while pushing against that resistance. Lint is highly combustible, and a plugged duct is one of the leading causes of residential dryer fires. If your hood looks rusted or the flapper is stuck, treat it as a fire-safety repair, not a cosmetic one. We’ll show you the inside of your duct with a camera so you can see the buildup yourself.
It is. Inland homes in Century City or Ladera Heights typically have dry, fluffy lint that brushes out easily. Venice ducts hold damp, sticky residue because of the constant marine-layer humidity, and the exterior components corrode from salt air, which you don’t see more than a mile inland. That means we spend more time on the hood and termination in Venice, and we carry more stainless steel replacement parts on the truck than we do for inland routes.
We install stainless steel hoods and terminations, primarily Famco, along with rigid metal duct specified for dryer exhaust. On the chimney side when work overlaps, we use HeatShield for flue resurfacing, DuraFlex for liner systems, and Gelco and Olympia Chimney for caps and exterior components. These are the same brands certified chimney contractors specify, which matters in a salt-air environment where hardware-store generics fail fast.
Why Salt Air Changes the Job in Venice
If you live anywhere within a half-mile of the Venice shoreline or along the canals, your dryer vent is living in a mild salt-spray environment. The morning marine layer rolls in, condenses on exterior metal surfaces, and leaves behind microscopic salt deposits. That salt accelerates galvanic corrosion on galvanized steel parts, which is why the flapper hood on your exterior wall is likely to fail before the dryer itself ever does. The interior duct can look fine while the hood is rust-frozen shut, and you’d never know it because the failure happens outside the living space.
This is the single biggest difference between dryer vent work in Venice and dryer vent work in Culver City or Century City. Inland, we’re usually clearing lint. In Venice, we’re often replacing corroded terminations and repairing moisture damage that started at the wall penetration. If your dryer’s drying time is creeping up and the lint screen is clean, the problem is often outside. Walk around the side of the house and look at the hood. If it’s rusty, stuck, or missing a flapper, that’s your airflow problem.
We recently serviced a 1920s beach cottage on the Venice Canals where the homeowner reported damp, musty laundry. Our tech discovered the exterior dryer vent hood was rusted shut from salt air, trapping lint and moisture in the duct. We replaced the galvanized hood with a stainless steel model and cleared the line. The airflow test went from barely registering to fully normal, and the musty smell was gone within a day. That’s not an unusual story for homes west of Pacific Avenue. It’s just what happens when steel lives next to the ocean.
What Usually Needs Replacing First
- Exterior hood and flapper. Galvanized steel goes first. Look for rust streaks on the stucco below the vent, a stuck flapper, or a flapper that’s fallen off entirely. Stainless replacement runs $89 – $159 installed.
- Duct joints and tape. Damp salt air weakens foil tape and accelerates corrosion at joints. If a joint has separated, the duct is blowing hot, humid air into a wall cavity, which is both a fire hazard and a mold risk.
- Wall penetration seal. The caulk around the termination degrades faster near salt water. When it fails, rain and fog wick into the wall around the duct. We reseal every penetration we replace, and we’ll point out failing seals on any duct we inspect.
One Provider for Both Fire-Safety Systems
Hickory Chimney Sweep handles the two appliance systems most likely to start a house fire: the chimney and the dryer vent. When Ruben Acosta sends a tech to your Venice home, that tech is trained on both, not just one. If you have a fireplace and a dryer, we can inspect, clean, and document both in the same visit. That’s the practical reason our Venice customers stick with us. Fewer vendors. Fewer calls. Fewer things deferred until “later.” Clean it. Repair it. Protect it. Those three steps apply to both systems, and we’re set up to handle all of them in one appointment.
Call for a Free Estimate in Venice
If your dryer is running longer than it used to, or you haven’t had the vent cleaned in the last year, call us at (855) 554-2841. We’ll ask a few quick questions about your home, give you a firm price range before you book, and schedule a time that works. We service all of Venice, including the walk streets, the canals, Silver Triangle, and everything east toward Lincoln Boulevard. Free estimates, camera documentation on every job, and a straight answer about what your house actually needs.
Written by Ruben Acosta, Owner at Hickory Chimney Sweep, serving Venice and the surrounding Westside with dryer vent and chimney fire-safety services.