Home / Services / Duct Cleaning
Air Quality · DuctsDuct cleaning, minus the upsell
Duct cleaning for a typical Burlington, Oakville or Hamilton house costs $300–$700, and $700–$1,000 for a large home with 20+ vents or two systems. The number quoted on the phone is the number at the door — and if the ducts don't need doing yet, we say so before the hoses come off the truck.
Duct cleaning has a reputation problem and it's earned: the $99–$150 phone offer is bait, and the money gets made at the door on per-vent charges, sanitizing fees and a furnace inspection nobody asked for. Our price is set before we drive out — $300–$450 for a townhouse or small bungalow up to about 10 vents, $400–$700 for a typical detached two-storey with 10–20 vents, $700–$1,000 for a large home, a heavily loaded system or a second furnace.
Negative pressure is what separates a cleaning from a redistribution. A truck-mounted vacuum is coupled to the trunk, the system is sealed and put under suction as a whole, and each branch is agitated with a whip or rotary brush so debris travels toward the vacuum instead of into the living room. A shop vac held at a register moves dust around the house; it doesn't move it out.
Cleaning earns its keep after a renovation, because drywall sanding loads a duct system faster than a decade of ordinary living; on a house you've just bought and know nothing about; when there's visible lint or dark growth at the register faces; and on the handover of a new build in Alton Village or Waterdown, where sawdust and offcuts get left in the trunk lines. Post-war bungalows in Aldershot, Westdale and on the Mountain carry their own reason: their returns are frequently panned floor joists rather than sheet metal, and decades of debris settle in them.
It won't fix everything, and we'd rather say which. A musty smell off a wet evaporator coil and a return pulling basement or garage air through an open seam are both diagnosed at the furnace, not in the branch runs, and both cost less to correct than a cleaning. Flex branch runs in a 2000s attic also get a gentler tool than rigid metal: the inner liner tears if it's brushed like sheet steel, and a torn liner is permanent.
Book a duct cleaning when
- A renovation just finished — drywall dust is the heaviest load a duct system takes
- You've bought the house and nobody can say when the ducts were last touched
- There's visible lint, debris or dark growth at the register faces
- A rodent, insulation or water problem happened along the duct route
- The dryer needs two cycles for one load — that's the dryer vent, and it's a fire risk
How it works
Priced by square footage, vent count and system count, with any add-on named before we book. Tell us what prompted the call — sometimes the answer is that you don't need this yet.
The trunk is opened to a truck-mounted vacuum, the system is sealed under suction, and every supply and return branch is agitated toward the vacuum. Registers come off and get washed; the blower compartment and coil face are inspected while the panel is off.
Before/after photos of the trunks, plus a plain account of what else we found — a disconnected branch, a leaking return seam, a filter slot that never sealed. Book one.
Common questions
How often should ducts be cleaned?
There's no honest fixed schedule, and a company selling you one is selling a subscription. Clean after a renovation, on a new-to-you house, or after a rodent or water event. Otherwise most GTA homes go years between cleanings without harm — how often ducts should be cleaned.
Will duct cleaning help my allergies?
It can, if the ducts are genuinely loaded. But a 4-inch MERV 11–13 media cabinet at $400–$700 usually buys more relief per dollar, because it catches particles on every cycle instead of once. We look first and say which one your house needs; indoor air quality covers the rest of the options.
How long does a duct cleaning take?
Two to four hours for a typical single-system home, longer for a large house, two furnaces or heavy construction loading. We need the furnace, both trunk lines and every register reachable, so clearing furniture off floor vents beforehand saves real time.
Why are some duct cleaning ads so cheap?
A $99–$150 headline covers a van, a shop vac and a sales call. The revenue arrives as per-vent pricing, mandatory sanitizing and a free furnace inspection that discovers a cracked heat exchanger. Compare final prices for the whole system — what duct cleaning costs in the GTA.
Should the dryer vent be cleaned at the same time?
Usually yes, at $100–$200, because it's the one duct in the house that's a fire risk. A dryer venting through a long run to the side wall of a two-storey packs lint at every elbow, and the symptom is a load that needs two cycles.