Duct Cleaning

Sillygirl45 · October 2013

We purchased a home in March. With the furnace being back on, I think we need our ducts cleaned. I'm pretty sure, with the history of the house, that it's never been done. H and I have been sniffling and sneezing since it came on. It seems to be lasting longer than the usual couple of days with the furnace on where it smells dusty.

Has anyone had this done? Did it help? Cost? The house is about 1800 sq. ft.

Thanks!

musictchr25 · October 2013

You should check Angie's List for your area. A lot of the past customers will provide you with that information.

I don't have forced hot air, so I am of no help to you, but good luck!

Sillygirl45 · October 2013

Will do. Thanks!

SJU1982 · October 2013

Duct cleaning is very cheap. We are in the Philly burbs, and it's anywhere from $100-$150 for the whole house. We are constantly getting coupons in the mail and local circulars for this service.

Also, have you swapped out your filters yet? They are supposed to be changed on a monthly basis, or at least 4x per year with the changing of the seasons.

Sillygirl45 · October 2013

SJU1982 said:

Duct cleaning is very cheap. We are in the Philly burbs, and it's anywhere from $100-$150 for the whole house. We are constantly getting coupons in the mail and local circulars for this service.
Also, have you swapped out your filters yet? They are supposed to be changed on a monthly basis, or at least 4x per year with the changing of the seasons.

We have changed our filter. I called around today. Looks like it will be $350-$400 to have it done correctly. Our HVAC guy is a personal friend as well, so he told us of a place he would use and I found another on Angie's list. Thank you both for your input!

SURFERxGIRL · October 2013

I just want to say it's for sure a good idea to get it done! That was one of the first things we did when we moved into our new home (like you we didn't think it had ever been done to the house as we were both sneezing all the time). We found a reputable company that was running a special and I think we paid about $300 for duct and dryer cleaning.

We're glad we had it done because they ended up finding some mold up in the ducts. Luckily there wasn't a ton, but we were able to work out a plan to have it sanitized and cleaned out. For now we're on a plan to have them come out every 3 months to clean out the ducts for the next 2 years to make sure the mold doesn't come back or spread. I hope that doesn't happen with you guys, but just want to emphasize that it is definitely a good idea to get that stuff checked out just in case!

lindsayandjamie · November 2013

That is about what it cost us to have our 1800 sq.ft home done. Good news is it is usually good for at least 5 yrs assuming you don't do major remodelling

Sillygirl45 · November 2013

SURFERxGIRL said:

I just want to say it's for sure a good idea to get it done! That was one of the first things we did when we moved into our new home (like you we didn't think it had ever been done to the house as we were both sneezing all the time). We found a reputable company that was running a special and I think we paid about $300 for duct and dryer cleaning.

We're glad we had it done because they ended up finding some mold up in the ducts. Luckily there wasn't a ton, but we were able to work out a plan to have it sanitized and cleaned out. For now we're on a plan to have them come out every 3 months to clean out the ducts for the next 2 years to make sure the mold doesn't come back or spread. I hope that doesn't happen with you guys, but just want to emphasize that it is definitely a good idea to get that stuff checked out just in case!

@SURFERxGIRL thank you for the advice.

I really hate to say this, but while I was researching, I came across some tips about fraud. One was that it was common for duct cleaning operations to say they found mold. The advice is if they say that, send them on their way and get a second opinion. If it is mold, it is likely being pulled in to the ducts from elsewhere and needs to be addressed at the source. The ducts then need to be sealed correctly. Mold does not originate in ducts.

There is no reason to have your ducts cleaned every 3 months. I asked the people I hired (it ended up being $355 for 18 ducts/1800 sq ft) they agreed.

Again, I hope this isn't some scam, but I really would get a second opinion if you haven't already. I found my company on Angie's list. Another good resource is your local BBB.

SURFERxGIRL · November 2013

I was worried about it being a scam too when my H told me about the whole situation (he was at home when they came since I was out of town so I didn't find out about it until later), but since we had checked the company out on the BBB and he had actually gone up and saw the mold he felt ok giving them the go ahead. It wasn't all that expensive to be honest and he said he'd rather spend the money than worry about it. We replaced our roof, gutters and about 1/4 of the siding recently too and they did find a significant amount of mold in places there too (eww!--wish I had known that before we moved in!).

This poor house was in desperate need of TLC when we bought it, but after a few months it's starting to come together.

I'm glad you were able to find a good deal to get your ducts cleaned!

Sillygirl45 · November 2013

I was worried about it being a scam too when my H told me about the whole situation (he was at home when they came since I was out of town so I didn't find out about it until later), but since we had checked the company out on the BBB and he had actually gone up and saw the mold he felt ok giving them the go ahead. It wasn't all that expensive to be honest and he said he'd rather spend the money than worry about it. We replaced our roof, gutters and about 1/4 of the siding recently too and they did find a significant amount of mold in places there too (eww!--wish I had known that before we moved in!).

This poor house was in desperate need of TLC when we bought it, but after a few months it's starting to come together.

I'm glad you were able to find a good deal to get your ducts cleaned!

Ah, ok. That makes sense. Glad to hear!

Duct Cleaning

Re: Duct Cleaning

Choose Another Board

Search Boards