I don't believe the dryer vent has to be very accessible, so you can build something around it.

I'm a little confused by the pic...what room am I looking at in the 2nd pic? The kitchen?

I think from the text in the post that's the bathroom? Can you take a picture further back so we can see what the surroundings are?

following

Check your local codes and your condo rules; You may need to be able to access it only from the ends so you can clean it out annually. Make sure it is well-connected so it won't come apart while you clean it. If you don't want to drywall it, you could hang shelves. How much of a gap is there between the pipe and the wall? Room to hang a couple of shelf standards? Then you could have shelves all the way up and down that wall, shallow ones because of the window. In front of the pipe, you could have small items or a long decorative -- nonflammable-- box to hide it..

Do you need a gasket around where it enters the outside wall to keep out cold, wind, and tiny unwelcome intruders?

I assume we are looking at a laundry set up in your kitchen and your bathroom is on the other side of the wall? How many right angles for the vent will be required and where do they need to be placed? What is on the opposite side of this wall?

striped bass,
In the first pic, you have a very "Heavy" electrical outlet fixed VERY close to that sink. That is dangerous.
I know that is against code.
You may have to hire an electrician to move that to the other side of the dryer, away from the sink.
Water and electricity don't mix.
You aren't allowed to really have a washer and dryer in your condo, are you?
I have this strange feeling you are not.
You will have to have an electrician come out and move that outlet.
You can try to hide the vent to the rooftop if you want, but on a cold day, all that steam will be pouring out of it for all to see.
Don't block the outside vent at all.
If it bothers you, when the weather is warmer and you want to be outside, you can always stick a plant in front of it.

Hi stripedbass,

I get the picture. I would put a not too wide shelf (one that you can lift off ) over the dryer vent and put some shower toiletries and such on it, add a towel bar on the front edge of the shelf edge to hang towels from. Vent is hidden but left available for service or whatever, and functional. I can't help but wonder where that vents out from your bathroom.

I think sasafras's solution is terrific. You could also paint the duct to match the wall (probably need some special paint for that pipe) so that when the towels are hanging in front of it, it will be less obvious than a silver duct.

As I was typing duct, I thought of duct tape...you know there are all these really fun rolls of duct tape now. If you wanted to do something fun and quirky, you could just cover the whole pipe in some crazy pattern of duct tape and hang a shelf or two above it. (oops, i just noticed you asked for tasteful solutions, this probably isn't)!

{{gwi:2139248}}

This post was edited by olychick on Sun, Jan 18, 15 at 14:30

It's probably too late to change it now, but did you consider a ventless condensation dryer? Miele makes one that looks just like the one that's there now. I prefer to use ducted dryers whenever possible since they're a bit quieter, faster, and require less maintenance, but where an outdoor vent is awkward or unavailable I'll still go the ventless route.

butterfly-
That outlet looks like it's a gfci, and I don't see a problem with that kind of receptacle in that location once it has a proper cover plate added.

I was going to suggest the same basic idea as Sassafras, a removable shelf and towel bar. Hope that you come back and show us what you ended up with. Lots of good suggestions here.
Lynn

Lee beat me to it! If you can return your units, a ventless condenser dryer would be the way to go. I love my Bosch one, but it seems Miele is more preferred on GW these days. I clean the lint from the condenser unit ( easy pullout from bottom front of machine) once a month.

OP, you could build, or have built, a bookcase type storage unit. It would have to go from vanity to wall. The "shelf" that coincided with the vent pipe, could have doors on the front to conceal the pipe. You might consider louvered doors or doors with a grid for air cirulation. (How hot does a dryer vent get ?)

Something like this (okay, everyone, swallow that coffee before going any further or you'll regret it!):

{{gwi:2139249}}

No, don't do the ventless dryer unless there is literally no other option. I've been there, done that. They are terrible at drying and can take hours to do a small load. Seriously, in our case, it was preferable to rip out the ventless washer dryer and do my laundry in the coin op units in my building's basement.

That has not been my experience at all with my ventless dryer. Of course, my washer spins at 1200 rpms, so clothes are practically dry before they even go in the washer. I suspect it depends on brand/model/etc. and I would certainly not say all condenser dryers are as good as mine has been, but you are incorrect to imply they are all terrible, SloeGinFizz.

Is that a door beside your washer/dryer? Does it go outside (has a window in it so am thinking it does....could you put your dryer vent out that way....looks like there is room beside the door? Or what is in the ceiling above the dryer? Could it be vented up and out? I have known people to put a nylon stocking over their dryer vent to catch lint when it is ducted inside their house....the humidity would get to me so I would not do it.

I can't speak for the new models, but the ventless dryer I had in a Moscow apartment years ago, simply baked your clothes dry. It took all night to do a load of sheets, and they were a wrinkled mess when they came out of the dryer. I hope they're better now. I ended up just throwing sheets and towels over the shower curtain because you couldn't even iron out the creases. Also would consider all the turns in your venting--there are a lot of turns that can end up getting blocked.

There's a wide disparity in quality between different brands/models of ventless dryers, but I have to believe the Miele (what's there now) is good. In general, they have improved alot in recent times (there's plenty of disscussion about all of them on the appliance forum). There are still differences in how they work - some can only dump the water it removes into a bin that has to be manually emptied occasionally (useful if the dryer isn't near a drain, but not what you want otherwise). Some have both options.

You can conceal that pipe with a bulkhead and maybe a shelf on top if you want or inside a cabinet as others mentioned. It is smooth rigid and it looks like you have all the fittings going the right way (so no lint gets caught in it). Make sure you tape all the joints well so all the moisture goes outside. Do not put decorative duct tape on it... the only tape should be aluminum tape. Remember the pipe gets hot, duct tape is not meant for that, wish we could rename it something other than duct tape. I call it duck tape.

What you were worried about and cant conseal is flexible pipe (rigid or non-rigid, because of lint buildup and fire risk), and what you cant use is plastic flex (melts).

Not sure why you cant have a washer/dryer in your condo. I guess there is a water damage risk and also a fire risk but isnt a condo your house...? Or do you expect him to use public washers and dryers like he is living in an apartment still. He probably just needs it inspected.

Butterfly4u is right about cautioning an electricity risk, that outlet is GFCI and will be fine for the washer BUT the dryer outlet cannot be anywhere near that sink because it is 30A non-GFCI that requires a metal double pole box. So imagine a living room with a ton of items powered on being supplied by a 15A breaker, then double that and that is what the dryer uses.

Another question is where is the washer draining to? I would assume the sink. Put a lint catcher on the end of the drain tube and empty it frequently so the sink doesnt get clogged and overflow causing water damage to you and other tenants.

I wouldnt recommend venting inside in a 500sqft home. You would still need to run a duct so the dryer isnt blowing into the wall behind it and its going to get hot and moist real quick unless you get one of those condensing dryers.

In conclusion:
1. Fire risk = looks ok and yes you can conceal it
2. Electric risk = Need dryer outlet farther behind the dryer away from the sink
3. Water Damage risk = Assuming sink drainage, put a lint catcher on the end of the drain tube and empty it frequently so the sink doesnt get clogged and overflow causing water damage to you and other tenants.

I don't see any faucet on the sink at all so maybe it's a dry sink? I would definitely get all the work and electrical checked and inspected since it's in a condo and you could be held liable for any type of damages that might result from the installation. Flooding, fire, overloaded electrical etc. find out if you need to be permitted.

I think a simple small bulkhead type thing can be built around the part in the bathroom. How close is that duct to the person sitting on the toilet, or standing at the bathroom sink it could get very warm.

I wondered about the door right beside the washer dryer, however if it happens to go into a garage you definitely can't vent it into a garage due to backflow of carbon monoxide from the garage into the house.

Most 24"w dryers including the one that's there actually need only a 240V/15A circuit not 30A - outlet is the same size as a 120V outlet but configured differently (hot, hot, neutral, sometimes a ground). Still has the same requirements otherwise but the box can be smaller. Not applicable if you have the 240V/15A washer that plugs into either an outlet on the dryer (with the dryer having a 240V/30A plug that powers both machines) or a separate box with two fused 240V/15A outlets that itself plugs into a big 240V/30A wall outlet to power both machines. The latter is a setup Miele used to use, and the first one that Bosch and Asko still do (and that works great).

I dont think they make any 240v GFCI outlets (I couldnt find any when I searched for them), but they make 240v GFCI breakers, so you would have to put that in the panel. I personally dont like the idea of having a 240v outlet next to a sink. Although they do use the 240v GFCI breakers for hot tubs so I guess its fine.

In addition to the other Code issues, might blocking the door be an issue?

I think stripedbass went fishing.