Dryer
GE Dryer Grinding or Drum Not Turning? Meet the Rear Bearing GE Built Differently
GE dryers hang the drum on a rear bearing and front slides, unlike roller-based brands. What the grinding means, the bearing kit fix, and belt checks on GE.
Formerly Adam & Sam Brothers RepairNorth Seattle · Northgate · Lake City
North Seattle dryer repair, Northgate to Greenwood
We cover Seattle's north end: Northgate, Lake City, Greenwood, Broadview, Haller Lake and Ballard. Most homes there are post-war houses with basement or utility-room laundries, between 13 and 21 minutes from our shop.
- Northgate
- 13–17 minutes south on I-5 from our shop
- Lake City, Greenwood
- 16–20 and 17–21 minutes off-peak
- Utilities
- Seattle City Light electricity, PSE gas
- $85 diagnosticBecomes part of the repair price when you say yes. If you pass on the repair, that visit is all you pay.
- Up to $18 offAny repair requested through the online form. The diagnostic itself is never reduced.
- $10 offA second appliance’s diagnostic when we check it during the same trip.
Seattle's city limit sat at 85th Street until 1954, when annexation pushed it north to 145th and took in Lake City, Greenwood and the neighborhoods between them. Much of that ground had already filled with post-war houses, and more followed through the 1950s and 1960s: compact ramblers, bungalows and daylight-basement homes with the laundry downstairs or in a utility room off the kitchen. Many of those dryers have had decades of homeowners add, move and patch their ducts, and that history is usually where a slow or overheating dryer begins.
North Seattle has newer layers too. Apartments have grown around Northgate since its light rail station opened in October 2021, and Ballard has added buildings steadily since the mid-2000s. Basement apartments and backyard cottages often get their own compact stacked laundry. About a third of Seattle homes heat with gas, so gas dryers turn up in older houses, while the apartments are almost all electric. We repair every combination, with common parts on the van and a written price before we begin. When you call or fill in the booking form, the model number from the rating plate and a word about where the dryer sits, basement, closet or cottage, help us bring the right parts and plan how to reach it.
North Seattle dryer trouble and its usual sources
Duct joints pulled apart in the crawlspace or basement
- Likely cause
- House settling, as on Greenwood's peat soils, stressing the run
- What we do
- Reconnect, support and seal the run, then clean out what collected
Gas dryer in an old basement won't light
- Likely cause
- Igniter or valve coils failing, sometimes an aging connector
- What we do
- Test the burner parts and replace what failed
Compact dryer in a basement unit takes hours
- Likely cause
- Long or improvised vent, or a small duct shared poorly
- What we do
- Measure airflow and clean or correct the run
Lint and humidity in the basement
- Likely cause
- Electric dryer vented indoors through a lint bucket kit
- What we do
- Route the exhaust outdoors with a metal duct and hood
Thump on every turn of the drum
- Likely cause
- Worn drum rollers or a flat spot on one
- What we do
- Fit new rollers and swap the idler and belt while the drum is out
Starts, runs a minute, then quits
- Likely cause
- Motor overheating on a clogged blower or failing internal switch
- What we do
- Clean the blower housing and test the motor
Post-war basements, peat soils and patched ducts
Greenwood is built partly on old peat bog, and the city has listed peat areas as environmentally critical since 2008 because buildings on them settle. A house that shifts even slightly can pull apart the joints of a dryer duct running through a crawlspace or along basement joists. When that happens, warm, wet exhaust leaks into the house, lint piles up under the floor, and the dryer struggles with whatever restricted air is left. We reconnect and support the run with proper hangers, seal the joints with foil tape and clean what collected around them.
In Lake City, Maple Leaf, Wedgwood, Haller Lake, Broadview and Bitter Lake, the post-war basement is the usual setting. Dryers vent up through a rim joist or out a window opening, and decades of remodeling have left some with plastic hose, extra elbows or a duct buried behind finished walls. Thornton Creek and the damp, shaded lots around it make moisture a constant. Every visit includes an airflow check at the hood, because in these houses the duct is as likely a culprit as the dryer. Gas dryers deserve one more look here: in a basement where the furnace and water heater share the space, we confirm the dryer's connector and shutoff are sound before we leave, and anyone who smells gas should walk outside and phone 911 or PSE at 1-888-225-5773 from the sidewalk.
We reach Northgate in about 13 to 17 minutes off-peak and Lake City and Greenwood in under 21; Ballard is about 24 to 30. Freeway traffic on I-5 and Aurora can stretch those times, so we confirm a window when you book and call when the technician is on the way. Street parking near Greenwood Avenue and in Ballard can be tight; if there's a driveway or alley we can use, let us know. Seattle City Light supplies the power across all these neighborhoods, so if an electric dryer goes dead right after an outage, check that both halves of its breaker are fully on before you call.
What north Seattle dryer repairs start at
Dryer repair in north Seattle starts at $235. Vent cleaning, quieting a thumping drum with new rollers, an idler and a belt, and fitting a gas igniter or valve coil set are the jobs we do most here. That opening price is the same for our entire service area, and Seattle addresses pay the same as suburban ones, with no distance surcharge. It is not your quote: after the $85 diagnostic you get a written price, and approving it turns the diagnostic into part of the repair.
- Dryer vent cleaningfrom $235
- Dryer thermal fuse or thermostatfrom $235
- Electric dryer heating elementfrom $245
- Dryer belt, rollers and idlerfrom $245
- Gas dryer igniter or valve coilsfrom $255
- Dryer control boardfrom $265
- Diagnostic visit$85, included in the repair
- Second appliance, same visit$10 off its diagnostic
Starting prices for the north Seattle area, 2026. The $85 diagnostic is included in any repair you approve, and the exact price is in the written estimate before work starts.
Is your north Seattle dryer worth fixing?
In older Seattle houses, the dryer is often the easy part. Most dryers in post-war basements are mechanically simple, and their common failures, rollers, belts, fuses, elements and igniters, are reasonable repairs that buy years of service. What changes the math is access and the duct. If the only route out of the basement is a steep, narrow stair, a dryer swap becomes a serious job, which favors repair. If the duct is the real problem, buying a new dryer won't help until the run is fixed. We lean toward replacement when a drum is rusting from basement humidity, when a worn-out motor coincides with a tired rear bearing, or when a compact unit in a basement apartment needs electronics priced near a replacement dryer. You'll see the repair price in writing first, along with our read on whether the duct needs work. In a house that has already been through two or three dryers on the same patched run, fixing the run is often what finally breaks the cycle.
Common questions
Which parts of Seattle do you cover?
The north end: Northgate, Lake City, Greenwood, Broadview, Bitter Lake, Haller Lake, Maple Leaf, Wedgwood and Ballard. Most sit 13 to 21 minutes from us at quiet times by I-5 or SR 99, Ballard nearer half an hour. If you're unsure whether your address is in range, call and we'll tell you.
My Greenwood house has settled. Can that affect the dryer vent?
Yes. Settling can pull duct joints apart in a crawlspace or basement, letting moist exhaust and lint escape under the house. The dryer then dries slowly and runs hot. We inspect the whole run, reconnect and support it, seal the joints and clean out anything that has collected.
Is it okay to vent an electric dryer into the basement?
We don't recommend it. Indoor lint kits catch some lint, but a load of laundry releases a lot of water, and in a Seattle basement that moisture feeds mildew. We'd rather route a short metal duct outside. Gas dryers must always vent outdoors, without exception.
Do you repair compact dryers in basement apartments and backyard cottages?
Yes. Compact 24-inch dryers, stacked or side by side, are common in those units, and we repair both vented and ventless types. Their small ducts clog quickly, so we check airflow on every visit and clean the run when needed.
Do you charge more for Seattle than the suburbs?
No. Our starting prices are identical across the whole service area, and we never add a distance surcharge, whether you live near Northgate or out by Golden Gardens. The $85 diagnostic works the same way here as anywhere else: it is the whole bill if you decline the repair, and it is folded into the price when you approve it.
Talk to Adam & Sam
Call (425) 570-9520 with your neighborhood and the number on the dryer's model tag, or reserve a visit online and trim up to $18 from the repair. Approve the job and the $85 diagnostic is already part of the price, from Broadview to Lake City.
From Sam’s repair notes
Dryer
GE Dryer Not Heating: The Coil Element Problem and Where GE Hides Its Safeties
GE electric dryers use open-coil heating elements that break with age, backed by safety thermostats that trip from vent restriction. Our GE diagnosis order.
Dryer
GE Dryer Won't Start: From the Half-Tripped Breaker to the Door Switch
A dead GE dryer is usually power, the door switch or the belt, rarely the board. Our five-minute elimination checklist for GE dryers that won't start.
Schedule a repair
Request a visit from Adam & Sam
Send the basics and we call you back with an arrival window, most days the same morning.
- $85 diagnostic Becomes part of the repair price when you say yes. If you pass on the repair, that visit is all you pay.
- Up to $18 off Any repair requested through the online form. The diagnostic itself is never reduced.
- $10 off A second appliance’s diagnostic when we check it during the same trip.