# Mike Rowe has nothing on me! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 13, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853 "2024-06-13T23:37:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/1 "2024-06-13T23:37:31Z")
We just bought a house built in 1959, with a cramped crawlspace. I’ve needed to go under the house to do a bunch of electrical work, but the first thing I had to do was to try to clean up the many pounds of lint that were covering the dirt floor (and all the plumbing). At some point (probably decades ago) the dryer hose came off where it attached to the outside vent, and the previous owners just left it that way. I filled most of a 33 gallon trash bag with it. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2024, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/2 "2024-06-13T23:42:58Z")
Oh lord. Skin sloughings enough? Gross. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2024, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/3 "2024-06-13T23:45:12Z")
Yes, I wore my jumpsuit, and had gloves and a N95 mask on. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2024, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/4 "2024-06-14T00:35:18Z")
Sounds like the beginning of a felting hobby to me. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2024, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/5 "2024-06-14T00:46:34Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > We just bought a house built in 1959, with a cramped crawlspace. I’ve needed to go under the house to do a bunch of electrical work, but the first thing I had to do was to try to clean up the many pounds of lint that were covering the dirt floor (and all the plumbing). At some point (probably decades ago) the dryer hose came off where it attached to the outside vent, and the previous owners just left it that way. I filled most of a 33 gallon trash bag with it. Sounds like a major fire hazard, and something that should have been caught by an decent inspector. I looked at a house that had done a full kitchen cut-rate ‘remodel’ (basically updating cabinets, new surface on the island, new hood and fan, new tile, et cetera). I was noting what a crappy job it was when we went up to the attic and discovered that the hood just vented directly into the unvented attic instead of a dedicated range vent through the hood, spraying whatever grease and oils straight onto wood framing. Then we discovered that instead of removing the asbestos-covered ventilation ducts and replacing them, some genius partially stripped the asbestos off of the ducts, leaving small chunks here and there and doubtless copious amounts of loose fiber from the friable insulation. I did not purchase that house. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2024, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/6 "2024-06-14T04:59:25Z")
ah, that guy ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2024, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/7 "2024-06-14T11:52:58Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I did not purchase that house. I did. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/8 "2024-06-14T15:28:51Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Sounds like a major fire hazard, I save the dryer lint to use as a fire-starter for our burn barrel. (I’ll bet @Beckdawrek and @Gatopescado understand this) ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/9 "2024-06-15T00:44:48Z")
We found out we had a lint problem shortly after we discovered we had a moisture problem in our crawl space. We contacted several different companies about the moisture issue, and the first guy in mentioned that the dryer hose had come loose and was blowing lint into the crawl space. Unfortunately this type of thing is likely to go unnoticed for a period of time until one has a reason to go under the house. Did you have the house inspected before you purchased it? Because they should have told about it then if so. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/10 "2024-06-15T01:00:20Z")
Yeah, the inspector noticed it. But, he didn’t mention the absolutely Brobdingnagian amount of lint. He just said the hose was disconnected. The house is old and has been marginally well maintained. There are going to be many things that I am going to need to repair. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/11 "2024-06-15T01:00:59Z")
Slackers. The crawlspace in my house (built in 1912) was 6 feet high, my height exactly, so I’ve been digging down to get a more comfortable clearance. Just topping up the first 10 cubic yard dumpster with dirt. So much history in this dirt - coal chips from the days when the furnace was coal fired, chunks of knob and tube fittings from previous electrical “improvements,” a fascinating array of toys, newspaper clippings, glassware, bottle caps, medalions from county fairs and automobile clubs, and a few layers of yuck from the odd flood, burst sewer pipe, or whatever. Fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/12 "2024-06-15T01:01:59Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > But, he didn’t mention the absolutely Brobdingnagian amount of lint. He just said the hose was disconnected. Jeez. Everyone has cell phones these days - he couldn’t have been arsed to take a photo? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/13 "2024-06-15T04:23:38Z")
Oh, I know about the burn barrel. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/14 "2024-06-15T04:34:24Z")
Me and Becky make fire the Old-Fashioned Way. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/15 "2024-06-15T05:13:51Z")
A Ring of Fire. 😉🔥 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/16 "2024-06-15T05:35:47Z")
Burns Burns Burns ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/17 "2024-06-15T11:44:13Z")
Weird coincidence: I have a good friend named Mike Rowe. First time I saw someone talking about Mike Rowe, I’d never heard of the tv guy and thought my buddy was being discussed. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/18 "2024-06-15T16:49:35Z")
I recently cleaned out my dryer lint tube. I disconnected it and then hooked up my leaf blower to the opening. Much lint ensued at the outlet. mmm ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/19 "2024-06-18T17:30:52Z")
When the dryer doesn’t seem to be drying the clothes, the first place to check is the dryer hose. If it is gunked up with lint, clearing the hose will “fix” the dryer so it gets hot in the drum again! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853/20 "2024-06-20T12:21:11Z")
I learned that lesson the hard and expensive way. Dryer not drying? Replace it. New dryer not drying, call company that sold it and bitch and moan. Tech comes out and removes 30+ years of lint from termination point of vent hose where it passed through to the outside. I had cleaned the hose itself every year but never thought about the vent tube that passed through the house sill. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-has-nothing-on-me/1002853.md?page=2)