Venting a washer dryer with a "Water Box"

[Matt Faircloth]

Hey BP,

We are buying an apartment complex in Kentucky.  One of the value-adds we want to do is add a washer dryer hook up in the units as we can get a nice rent increase for it.  We are running into a problem on finding a clear way to vent the dryers outside, and our construction manager is recommending a Water Box.  For those that don't know, this is exactly what it sounds like, a small box of water that the dryer vents into.  The water traps any lint and drops out the water from the dryer discharge.  The problem with them is that if there is not enough water in them they can discharge lint throughout the unit (fire hazard) or cause water and high humidity to the unit (mold).  They need to be properly maintained with the right amount of water to avoid these issues.  I don't want to rely on the tenants so we would be integrating that into the on site maintenance program (it's a 166 unit with two on site staff maintenance techs so we could do that easily).  The installation of the boxes will run around $30 a door versus around $500 a door to run the vent outside.  

I wanted to see if any landlords out there had any experience with Water Boxes, good or bad.  Please chime in!  I will tag a few - @Andrew Cushman, @Brian Burke , and @Ben Leybovich

Thanks!

[Brian Burke]

Matt, in thousands of units and hundreds of properties I'm surprised to say I've never run into this solution.  My sense is there's a reason for that.

I'd be a bit concerned that some type of failure could result in water damage, in addition to the risks that you mentioned.  And while your in-house team could certainly incorporate these devices into a routine inspection/maintenance program, that will come at a cost.  Not only in replacement parts but labor costs.  

The ultimate question would then be, what is the payback period (from maintenance savings) for spending the extra $470/unit to vent outside?  Or, to think of it another way--if you capitalize your net income, which results in a higher property value?  By that I mean that venting outside is a one-time expense and thus the increased rent you received directly capitalizes into added property value.  By going the water-box route, the net operating income is less after you subtract the ongoing maintenance costs, thus less terminal value.  You'd have to run the numbers to see.  To be fair, you might add a dryer vent cleaning expense to the venting option--those do need to be cleaned once in a while.

If it were me I'd vent to the outside.