Quick answer
Professional duct cleaning for a typical GTA house costs $300 to $700, depending on home size, number of vents, and system accessibility. Larger homes or systems with significant buildup can run $700–$1,000+. Be wary of $99–$150 phone offers — they're usually bait for high-pressure upselling and rarely include the truck-mounted vacuum equipment a proper cleaning requires.
How much duct cleaning costs in the GTA comes down to three things: how many supply and return openings the crew has to work, how many systems the house has, and how much material is actually sitting in the ducts. A typical detached house lands at $300–$700. The same house quoted at $99 on the phone is a different service entirely, and the difference shows up when a van arrives with a shop vacuum and a sales pitch.
What duct cleaning costs in the GTA by home size
- Townhouse or small bungalow (up to ~10 vents): $300–$450
- Typical detached 2-storey (10–20 vents): $400–$700
- Large home (20+ vents, multiple returns or systems): $700–$1,000+
- Add-ons: dryer vent cleaning $100–$200, furnace blower compartment cleaning $75–$150, sanitizing fog $100–$200
What moves the price up or down for your house
- Vent count. Every supply register and return grille is an opening the crew seals, agitates and vacuums, so a four-bedroom 2-storey with 18 openings takes longer than a bungalow with nine.
- Returns. A 1970s–90s subdivision house often has one large return per floor; a 2000s build may have a return in every bedroom, which adds openings and time.
- Two furnaces. Larger homes in Joshua Creek or north Oakville sometimes run a separate system per floor, and each one is priced as its own job.
- Access. A finished basement ceiling hides the trunk lines, so the crew cuts and patches access ports in the sheet metal instead of working from open joist bays.
- Load. A house that just finished a renovation, or a new build where the trades left drywall offcuts and sawdust in the trunks, needs more agitation passes than a house that is merely dusty.
- Flex duct. Flexible runs cannot take a steel rotary brush, so they are cleaned with air whips at lower pressure, and badly crushed sections get replaced rather than cleaned.
What a proper cleaning includes
- Negative-pressure vacuum (truck-mounted or HEPA portable) connected to the main trunk, with every register sealed so the whole system pulls toward the collector
- Agitation of every supply and return run with rotating brushes or air whips — not just vacuuming at the registers
- Cleaning of supply and return trunks, not only the branch runs
- Furnace blower wheel and evaporator coil compartment inspected, and cleaned if quoted
- Before/after photos or camera inspection on request
Why the $99 special costs more in the end
A $99 phone offer is a sales lead, not a price. The visit usually runs to a shop vacuum at a few registers, a flashlight in the return, and the 'discovery' of mould or contamination that needs remediation, UV lights or a sanitizer package at several times the advertised figure. A crew with a truck-mounted vacuum cannot profitably clean a whole system for $99, because the equipment alone costs more than that to run for a day. Get the price in writing before anyone arrives, with the vent count it is based on.
When duct cleaning is worth paying for
Duct cleaning is not an annual service — see how often ducts should be cleaned. It earns its cost in four situations: after a renovation, where drywall sanding dust is the most common reason we get called; in a newly purchased home with no service history; after pests, mould or a basement flood; and when registers show matted debris or puff dust at startup. If dust returns within months of a cleaning, the system is inhaling it through leaky joints, and sealing the ductwork is the better spend.
Questions homeowners ask before booking
- How long does it take? Plan on a few hours for a typical detached house, longer with two systems or a finished basement ceiling. A crew that is in and out in 45 minutes did not clean the trunks.
- Is the furnace blower included? Not always. Ask whether the blower wheel and the coil compartment are on the quote; a fouled blower wheel is the part that actually restricts airflow.
- Should I pay for the sanitizing fog? Only if there was mould, sewage or a pest problem. Fogging a dusty but sound system adds cost and a chemical smell without a measurable benefit.
- Should I clean before a new furnace goes in? If the old system ran for years on cheap filters, yes — a new ECM blower pushing a decade of dust through a new coil is a poor start. Book it the week before the install.
- Is the dryer vent the same job? No — it is a separate line and a fire load rather than a dust problem; what dryer vent cleaning costs covers it.
ZK Mechanical cleans full systems with negative-pressure equipment across the GTA and Hamilton — duct cleaning and sealing, including duct cleaning in Burlington — at a written price based on your register count. Send us your vent count and you get a real number, not a starting point.