Air Duct Cleaning

Duct cleaning is the one job in this trade where the honest answer is often no. A system in a tidy house with a decent filter, changed on time, does not need its ducts cleaned on a schedule, and no amount of advertising changes that. What genuinely calls for it is specific and visible: a build-up you can see when you take a register cover off, debris blown out of the vents when the system starts, a rodent or bird that has got into the ductwork, water damage or mould in a run, or a house that has just had building work done with the system running and drywall dust pulled through it.

In a north Houston attic there is a second reason that has nothing to do with dust. Flex duct that has been crushed, torn or pulled apart drags attic air, insulation fibre and whatever else is up there straight into the system. If that is what is happening, cleaning the ducts treats the symptom. The fix is sealing or replacing the run, which is a different job and usually the better one.

The thing to watch for is the price. The low advertised numbers are almost always for a limited number of vents, and the figure climbs once somebody is in the house and talking about sanitising, the main trunk, the blower and the coil. Ask before anyone comes out what the price covers, how many vents, whether the return and the air handler are included, and what the total is if nothing unexpected is found. A contractor who will answer that on the phone is the one to use.

Whatever the problem turns out to be, the first step is the same: describe it, say where the house is, and one independent HVAC contractor working in your town contacts you to look at it. No charge for being connected, and no obligation once he has.