Air Duct & Dryer Vent Cleaning questions from Collin County homeowners

Whole-house duct cleaning for a typical single-system home is a flat $395 to $495. Dryer vent cleaning is $129. Both together are $475 to $575. Second systems and very large homes are priced from the square footage when you book.

The $99 covers a shop vac at a few registers. The real bill arrives after the technician finds "mold" and adds sanitizing, blower cleaning and a filter. Our price covers the whole house, it is set before the visit, and the method is written on the quote.

The National Air Duct Cleaners Association standard: the whole system is put under negative pressure with a powerful vacuum, every run is agitated with brushes and compressed air to loosen debris, and the debris is pulled out to the collection unit. Anything less is cosmetic.

Someone needs to let the crew in and we prefer you see the before and after photos on the spot. The job takes three to five hours for a typical home.

It removes the dust, pet dander and pollen that have settled in the system, which helps if the ducts were a source. It does not fix allergies caused by what is in the air outside, and we will not promise that it does. A good filter changed on schedule does more for ongoing air quality than any one-time cleaning.

The EPA says to clean when there is a reason rather than on a calendar, and in Collin County the reasons come around on a schedule: every three to five years with pets or allergies, five to seven without, once after any construction or remodel, and once in a new home after the builder is done.

Once a year for most households, twice a year for large families, dryers that vent through the roof, or runs over 25 feet. The National Fire Protection Association counts about 13,820 home fires a year involving clothes dryers, and failure to clean is the leading cause at about a third.

The blower compartment is vacuumed with every duct cleaning. Full blower wheel and evaporator coil cleaning is a separate service ($249 to $349) and is recommended when the coil has never been cleaned or airflow is weak. Texas lets an unlicensed crew clean ductwork from the supply plenum to the grilles if nothing is cut, no electrical connections are changed and only grilles come off. Opening the air handler to clean the blower wheel and coil goes beyond that, so that work is done by or under a TDLR-licensed air conditioning contractor.

We only apply EPA-registered antimicrobials labeled for HVAC systems, only after cleaning, and only when there is a reason shown on camera. The house is ventilated afterward and you get the product sheet. Most homes do not need it.

Texas has no separate duct cleaning license. TDLR rules allow duct cleaning without an air conditioning license as long as the work stays inside the duct system with no cuts or electrical changes, so insurance and method are what matter. The crew carries general liability insurance, works to the NADCA ACR standard, and sends before-and-after photos.