What's Included
- Full ductwork inspection
- HEPA vacuum cleaning of all supply and return ducts
- Rotary brush agitation for stubborn buildup
- EPA-registered antimicrobial sanitization
- Before and after photo documentation (on request)
- All vents removed, cleaned, and reinstalled
- System performance check after cleaning
Why Air Duct Cleaning Matters
The EPA estimates that indoor air can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air. Your HVAC ducts circulate air throughout your home 5 to 7 times per day — carrying dust, allergens, pet dander, mold spores, and bacteria along with it.
Regular duct cleaning reduces allergens, eliminates musty odors, improves HVAC efficiency (lowering energy bills), and creates a healthier environment for your family. If anyone in your home suffers from allergies or respiratory issues, clean ducts make a real difference.
Our 5-Step Cleaning Process
Inspection & Assessment
We inspect your entire ductwork, check all supply and return vents, identify problem areas, and document current conditions with photos on request.
HEPA Vacuum Setup
Our commercial-grade HEPA vacuum connects to your ductwork, creating negative pressure to capture all loosened debris without releasing particles into your home.
Rotary Brush Cleaning
Specialized rotary brushes agitate and loosen years of accumulated dust, debris, and contaminants from the interior walls of your ductwork.
Sanitization
We apply an EPA-registered antimicrobial sanitizer throughout the duct system to eliminate bacteria, mold spores, and odor-causing organisms.
Final Inspection
A thorough final inspection ensures every vent is clean. We can provide before/after photos on request and walk you through the results so you can see the difference.
What Actually Happens During a Professional Duct Cleaning
A lot of homeowners have never watched a duct cleaning happen, which is exactly how low-quality operators get away with a 20-minute vacuum-and-go job. Here is what a real cleaning looks like when our technicians arrive at your home:
1. Walkthrough and ductwork inspection. The technician counts your supply and return vents, locates the air handler, and inspects the accessible ductwork so you know the condition of the system before any cleaning starts. If we find damaged or disconnected duct runs, we show you before touching anything.
2. Containment and floor protection. Drop cloths go down along the work path and around every register we open. Cleaning ducts should not mean dust settling on your furniture — the work stays contained at the vent we are cleaning.
3. Register removal and cleaning. Every supply register and return grille comes off the wall or floor, gets cleaned, and goes back on. Painted-over or fragile registers are handled carefully and reinstalled in their original position.
4. Agitation plus portable HEPA extraction. This is the heart of the job. A rotary brush travels through each duct run to break loose the compacted dust, dander, and debris stuck to the duct walls, while a portable HEPA-filtered vacuum captures what the brush frees directly at the vent. Supply runs and return trunks are cleaned separately — returns are usually the dirtiest part of any system.
5. Airflow verification. After cleaning we check airflow at the registers, so you see the system moving air the way it should before we pack up. Sanitization with EPA-registered products is available, and before/after photos are available on request.
A typical single-system home takes 2 to 4 hours. If a company quotes you a whole-house cleaning in under an hour, that is not a cleaning — it is a vacuum pass at the register openings.
What Air Duct Cleaning Costs — No Surprises
Our pricing is flat and published: $399 for a full air duct cleaning covering up to 10 vents, plus $24.99 per additional vent. That is the complete price for the full process described above — inspection, containment, register removal, rotary brush agitation with portable HEPA extraction, and the airflow check. There is no per-duct upcharge waiting for you at the door and no “deep cleaning” upsell once the technician is inside.
Popular services homeowners schedule alongside a duct cleaning: UV light installation ($349), bathroom exhaust fan cleaning ($149), residential kitchen exhaust cleaning ($199), and dryer vent cleaning ($149). Commercial buildings are quoted individually — see commercial duct cleaning.
Why do you see $99 “whole house specials” advertised? Those offers are built to get a truck in your driveway, discover a “serious problem,” and convert a $99 visit into an $800 invoice. It is common enough in the Bay Area that local homeowners warn each other about it on neighborhood forums. Flat pricing exists so that conversation never happens.
When Ducts Actually Need Cleaning
Air duct cleaning is not a monthly chore — the industry standard is a professional cleaning every 3 to 5 years for a typical home. But some situations call for one sooner:
- You just bought the home. You inherit the previous owner’s dust, dander, and habits. A cleaning resets the system to a known-clean baseline.
- Renovation or construction just wrapped. Drywall dust and sawdust end up inside ductwork on nearly every remodel, and the system re-circulates it for months.
- Pets in the home. Fur and dander accumulate on duct walls far faster than in pet-free homes.
- Visible dust puffs from registers, or dust returning within a day or two of cleaning surfaces.
- Musty or stale smell when the system runs that comes back no matter how often you clean the house.
- Evidence of rodents or insects in or around duct runs — droppings and nesting material belong out of your airflow.
If none of these apply and your last cleaning was recent, we will tell you that too. Our technicians inspect the ductwork first — if your ducts do not need cleaning, you will hear it from us before any work starts.
What Bay Area Customers Say About Our Duct Cleaning
Cal Duct Cleaning holds a 4.9★ rating across 337 Google reviews and more than 1,000 five-star reviews across Yelp, Google, Thumbtack, HomeAdvisor, and Angi. Here is what recent customers say about this service, quoted verbatim from our public Google listing:
“Lex arrived right at the scheduled time of my appointment and got the job done quickly and cleanly. We did not know where my vents were, so he went the extra mile to find them!”
“Great service. Very easy to schedule online, the technician (Angel) was excellent and great to work with, and the price was fair. Highly recommended”
“Very responsive to my initial inquiry, got the job done in the time frame we requested (6 to 8 am). I would not hesitate to use Cal Duct again or recommend their services to others”
“Lex M. of Cal Duct Cleaning exceeded my expectations. From the start, he was very responsive and quick to notify me about scheduling and updates. The entire process was smooth and efficient, and his professionalism really stood out.”
“The owner was very customer friendly and took care of an issue personally I had right away himself. He double checked the service himself! I would use this company again!”
Find This Service Near You
Air duct cleaning near you:
San Jose Sunnyvale Santa Clara Cupertino Campbell Mountain View Palo Alto Fremont
Often booked together:
Dryer Vent Cleaning ($149) UV Light Installation ($349) Bathroom Fan Cleaning ($149)
Our Work
Standards & Certifications
We follow established industry cleaning standards and adhere to EPA guidelines for indoor air quality. Our technicians are trained in proper containment, cleaning techniques, and use only EPA-registered products.
- Cleaning procedures to industry best-practice standards
- EPA-registered sanitization products
- Commercial-grade HEPA filtration equipment
- Licensed and insured technicians
Service Area
We provide air duct cleaning throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including:
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready for Cleaner Air?
Book your air duct cleaning today and breathe the difference. Fast, professional service across the Bay Area.