Does Duct Cleaning Damage the Air Ducts?

Yes, duct cleaning can damage the ducts even it is it done properly and carefully.

How Does Duct Cleaning Damage the Air Ducts?

Residential air ducts are not designed to be cleaned. There are many manufactures of duct cleaning equipment and most of them claim to have brushes and air sweeps that dislodge the dirt for the vacuum to pick it up.

An air sweep looks like a ping pong ball with holes in for high pressure air to blow onto the ducting. The brushes used in residential duct cleaning operations usually spin in a circle, but not always, and are usually made out of nylon. They reassembly the bristles on a modern kitchen broom.

A duct cleaning business is, with little doubt, one of the most fraudulently sold and operating types of franchises. They are unregulated and unchecked. It is truly buyer beware. For those of you looking for a cheap duct cleaning, those advertised for $35 to about $180 you are asking to be taken to the cleaners.

A proper duct cleaning will take a crew of 2 three to 4 hours for a 2,000 square foot home. Duct cleaning should not be performed by a carpet cleaning company any more than you should have your gardener paint your house. They are simply not qualified to work on the equipment.

Damages occur most often with the brushes. Pushing a rotating brush down a new flexible duct will not generally damage it, but pushing a rotating brush down an older duct can tear it apart. The reason that it can tear it apart is because older ducting, pre-2000, was not made as well as the newer ducting. The inner liner and the outer liner were not ultra violet light stable and they tend to get brittle and fall apart all by themselves without the added effort of a rotating brush.

The air sweep is usually operated close to 175 psi and the jets of air push the ball through the ducting disturbing the dirt in the process. This can puncture the inner liner of a brittle older duct. Not all ducting can be cleaned with all methods and some ducting cannot be cleaned by any method.
Before we clean your ducting we will investigate it and make sure that it will not be damaged by the methods used.

In Los Angeles County Call 562.944.7895

In Riverside County Call 909.527.7167

In San Bernardino County Call 909.527.7167

In North Orange County Call 714.379.4757

In South Orange County Call 949.855.0141