Cutting dryer vent hole question.

[GK2018]

We just got our new Big Horn about a week ago and I finally got around to cutting the dryer vent hole today and well using the factory sticker as the guide on where to start cutting I ran into the aluminum structure. Probably should've used a stud finder but out of the millions of tools I own that isn't one of them surprisingly. I had seen where others had the same issue but couldn't find whether y'all went above or below the aluminum frame? I only want to cut one more nice 4" hole in my laundry room...

I attached some pictures showing it definitely wasn't user error haha.

What are y'alls suggestions on going above or below that aluminum frame?

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[Mark-Roberta 051995]

UGH - Glad you didn't go all the way through. This is fixable - I would take something solid to slide in the hole and go in a downward position to see if there are any studs below the stud that you drilled into. You probably could use your finger and move the insulation some to feel if there are any other obstructions.

Hope I didn't confuse you - good luck and am sure you will receive multiple other suggestions.

Mark

 

[GK2018]

UGH - Glad you didn't go all the way through. This is fixable - I would take something solid to slide in the hole and go in a downward position to see if there are any studs below the stud that you drilled into. You probably could use your finger and move the insulation some to feel if there are any other obstructions.

Hope I didn't confuse you - good luck and am sure you will receive multiple other suggestions.

Mark

Haha no kidding! Had I went all the way through there'd probably been a few bad words involved . I figured with amount of people I've seen run into this same issue Heartland would've realigned their "drill here" sticker by now but nope!

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[JohnDar]

Straighten out a metal coat hanger and use it to probe below the hole you made. Once you cut out the final hole, you could make a cover from thin plywood (stained or painted) to dress up the area.

 

[GK2018]

So I just went directly below their marker no obstructions were there thank goodness but (there's always a but haha) when I put the pilot hole through the exterior of the RV I decided to go outside and measure and see if everything looked like it would work prior to cutting that huge 4" hole in the fiberglass and low and behold had I done that I wouldn't have been able to put the exterior dryer vent on because I was 3" away from the black seal (picture attached) luckily I can drill a third time putting that pilot hole closer to the exterior of my cutting bit and gaining the necessary room away from the black seal. But now instead of a nice pretty clean cut hole on the interior I have a cosmetic train wreck that I'm going to have fix.

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[GK2018]

Straighten out a metal coat hanger and use it to probe below the hole you made. Once you cut out the final hole, you could make a cover from thin plywood (stained or painted) to dress up the area.

Definitely going to have to use that plywood idea at this point! I'm just glad it's interior cosmetic and nothing too terrible!

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[GK2018]

This is the interior before I drill my third hole.

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[GK2018]

Got the hole drilled and it fits! I definitely appreciate all the suggestions! I was sure nervous drilling into the side of a one week old RV

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[jbeletti]

Greg - sorry this happened to you but so glad you were going slow and was able to recover.

Please know that this has been flagged up to the factory and tomorrow, all plants will be audited for this very item. Thank you for letting us know this is happening. We thought we had it corrected in the past.

 

[GK2018]

Greg - sorry this happened to you but so glad you were going slow and was able to recover.

Please know that this has been flagged up to the factory and tomorrow, all plants will be audited for this very item. Thank you for letting us know this is happening. We thought we had it corrected in the past.

Thank you! It all worked out but I was sure sweating it! It looks good in my opinion and the interior is fixable like Johndar was saying to just put an access panel over it and problem solved! Thank you!!

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[GK2018]

This is the final interior pic before hooking up the dryer! I'll still need to fill in the styrofoam I removed and attach an access panel but beyond that it looks golden!

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[jbeletti]

Greg - it might be possible to obtain some wallpaper that matches your interior decor board. Often, the plant has it in rolls - think contact paper. In the morning, I suggest you reach out to our Customer Service Team at 877-262-8032 to see if they can obtain and send you enough to recover that small wall, once you make underlying repairs.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Someone had obtained seam tape for the same living room wallpaper that I had when I discovered a screw that punched a hold, a big hole, behind the area on the side of my sofa. Heartland sent him a role to fix his and he offered me some to patch mine. I did not need it, but Heartland may have seam tape for yours as well. You can get a thin sheet of almost anything to cover the area up where the vent is located. The outside is perfectly covered. I hope you used plenty of sealant under the vent top and sides. Should the sealant fail in the future, leave the bottom open and inch or two as to allow any water that could get in a place to exit.

For anyone else looking at this, get and use a good metal stud finder to locate the stud locations prior to drilling. I do not know if any of the "Dryer Vent Location" stickers are not over the studs! Also drill half way through and finish on the other side. That way you will eliminate the tear out caused by the hole drill.

 

[GK2018]

Greg - it might be possible to obtain some wallpaper that matches your interior decor board. Often, the plant has it in rolls - think contact paper. In the morning, I suggest you reach out to our Customer Service Team at 877-262-8032 to see if they can obtain and send you enough to recover that small wall, once you make underlying repairs.

I didn't think about that, I'll give them a call and see if they have a little bit. It wouldn't take too much to cover that back up I think a small piece about 8" X 8" would work. Maybe even smaller I'll have to measure before calling them. I was pretty careful not to take out more wall than necessary.

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[GK2018]

Someone had obtained seam tape for the same living room wallpaper that I had when I discovered a screw that punched a hold, a big hole, behind the area on the side of my sofa. Heartland sent him a role to fix his and he offered me some to patch mine. I did not need it, but Heartland may have seam tape for yours as well. You can get a thin sheet of almost anything to cover the area up where the vent is located. The outside is perfectly covered. I hope you used plenty of sealant under the vent top and sides. Should the sealant fail in the future, leave the bottom open and inch or two as to allow any water that could get in a place to exit.

For anyone else looking at this, get and use a good metal stud finder to locate the stud locations prior to drilling. I do not know if any of the "Dryer Vent Location" stickers are not over the studs! Also drill half way through and finish on the other side. That way you will eliminate the tear out caused by the hole drill.

I definitely agree with the stud finder! I should've used one but I didn't want to purchase it for just one hole although it probably would've saved me a bit of time and trouble!

When I cut out the fiberglass portion on the exterior I used the drill in reverse to score it but realized how well it was cutting in that direction so I just left it in reverse which eliminated the possibility of the teeth catching on anything and jumping or chipping the fiberglass.

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[jbeletti]

I didn't think about that, I'll give them a call and see if they have a little bit. It wouldn't take too much to cover that back up I think a small piece about 8" X 8" would work. Maybe even smaller I'll have to measure before calling them. I was pretty careful not to take out more wall than necessary.

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I think it comes in 18" width. If you can get it, go ahead and make a custom-fit paper template to lay on top of material, trace around it and cut with scissors. Then have fun applying it

 

[GK2018]

I think it comes in 18" width. If you can get it, go ahead and make a custom-fit paper template to lay on top of material, trace around it and cut with scissors. Then have fun applying it

That would definitely be big enough, I'll give them a call here in a couple hours and see what they can do. I bet I could probably measure a 4" hole in the contact paper and slide it on the dryer vent tube and then adhere it to the wall. I'll try that with a paper template first and see if it works the way I'm thinking it will. It's definitely nice to have a vented dryer though and besides that minor hiccup I ran into it wasn't too hard of a task.

I'm just waiting on my new washer to come in now, I went with a stackable General Electric 24" washer and I'm keeping my Panda dryer since the 24" GE dryer is 240 volt. I debated on temporarily removing the door frame and putting a bigger washer in but ultimately decided we didn't need that much washer. I'm also hoping I can fabricate a way to mount the dryer on top of the washer but I won't know about how I'm going to do that until I get the washer in and can look at it. GE definitely has some outstanding customer service though, I called them 4 times over two days asking some technical questions and every time I called I went through two prompts and then directly to a person which is nothing less than impressive!

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[NYSUPstater]

Glad to see hear you got things righted around but ended up w/ a boo-boo in the 1st place which brings up a question and not meaning to hijack this thread by any means. Our BC 3560SS has the w/d hook ups on main hallway/bedroom slide. I do not recall ever seeing a sticker for drier hole cut location. If none, does this mean that a combo w/d is needed VS separate w/d?

 

[GK2018]

Glad to see hear you got things righted around but ended up w/ a boo-boo in the 1st place which brings up a question and not meaning to hijack this thread by any means. Our BC 3560SS has the w/d hook ups on main hallway/bedroom slide. I do not recall ever seeing a sticker for drier hole cut location. If none, does this mean that a combo w/d is needed VS separate w/d?

Definitely no worries on hijacking the thread, that's a good question. I'd wonder the same thing. I would like to imagine that as long as it sits near an exterior wall that so long as you could avoid pipes, wiring and braces you should be good but I definitely don't claim to be a professional by any means! You might also be able to vent it directly down the bottom through the floor as well which might be another option (one I thought about doing in our Mallard M33). I know Amazon sells ventless dryer kits and they work because I had one on our dryer when we had the RV prior to this one. I'm sure I could scrounge up the link if you're interested in checking it out.

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[GK2018]

I got so busy today that it completely slipped my mind to call Heartland until just now and now they are closed so I'll have to do it tomorrow. Sometimes I have CRS disease

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