Drilling I-Joists for a Dryer Vent? Know the Rules First

I just ran into a problem installing this dryer vent. The basement below is getting finished, so the pipe has to run up inside the floor system. But with the joists 19.2 on center, there's no way to feed a 5-foot section through once the holes are drilled. But I think I found a solution. The stairway is right next to the laundry room. I'm gonna drill a hole in the side of this joist and feed the pipe through. I-joists have rules. The manufacturer tells you where and how big a hole you can drill. These are 14-inch tall PJ 40s, and I need to drill a 4½-inch hole. So the center of the hole needs to be at least 9 inches away from any support wall. I transfer the location of the hole in the laundry room to the side of the stairway. Then I aim a laser where I wanna drill. Here's the cool thing about a laser: after I drill the first joist, it'll shine through to the next one and so on. Because the drill gets in the way of the laser, I have to mark each spot before I drill. Thanks to the laser, all the holes I drilled are perfectly in line. Now I can slide 3 1/2 foot sections in one at a time from the stairway. @hausplans #build #howto #construction #diy #contractor