Question 1

My house has those huge old sheet metal mains in the basement from a converted gravity furnace. Can those actually be cleaned?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and they're some of the most worthwhile systems we clean. Gravity trunks were sized for warm air drifting upward on its own, so they're far wider than anything a modern blower needs. That extra volume means air moves slowly through them and fine soil dust settles instead of staying airborne. We work those oversized mains in sections with access openings rather than pulling everything through one point, and we patch and seal what we open. If your trunks have old fibrous insulation on the exterior, we leave that alone and work inside the metal.

Question 2

We back onto the dry grassland in the foothills. Is that why the vents load up so fast?

Accepted Answer

Almost certainly. Open grassland and oak savanna put out grass pollen through the spring and early summer, then foxtail chaff and fine dry soil dust as everything cures off. All of it is light enough to ride through an exterior intake, and the fine soil fraction is small enough to slip past a loose or low-grade filter. Homes on the open-field side of campus tend to show grayish buildup on supply registers and a visible film on the return grille between filter changes. Tightening up the filter fit at the return usually does more than anything else, and we'll point out where air is bypassing the frame while we're there.

Question 3

We're turning over a faculty unit between residents. How fast can you get out here?

Accepted Answer

Turnover work is a regular part of what we do here, so we try to hold slots for it. Give us a few days of lead time and we can usually land inside your vacancy window. If you're working against a hard move-in date, tell us that when you call. A short empty-unit job with no furniture to work around is quicker than an occupied home, and we can sometimes fit one in on short notice. For a block of units changing over at once, schedule further out so we can send enough crew to finish them together.

Question 4

What makes a quote here higher or lower than a typical house?

Accepted Answer

A few things drive it locally. First, system type: a converted gravity system with wide trunks takes longer than a compact newer setup, even in a similar-sized house. Second, access. A lot of homes here had ducting added after the fact and squeezed into attic runs and ceiling chases, so reaching the runs can mean working in tight, low-clearance space. Third, the number of registers and whether there's one air handler or several, which matters in the multi-unit buildings. Vacant turnover units are generally on the simpler end. We'd rather see the system or get a clear description of it before we put a number on it.

Question 5

What typically goes wrong with ducts in these older campus-area homes?

Accepted Answer

Disconnected or sagging flex in the attic is the one we find most, usually on runs that were added to a masonry or stucco house that never had ducting to begin with. A run comes loose at the boot or collar and starts dumping conditioned air into the attic, so one room never keeps up. We also see crushed sections where ducting was forced through a tight ceiling chase, old tape that's dried out and let go at the joints, and returns that pull air from the wall cavity instead of just the grille, which is how outside dust gets in without ever passing the filter. We document what we find and tell you plainly whether it's something cleaning fixes or something that needs a repair.

Air Duct Cleaning in Stanford, CA

Duct work in Stanford homes

Frequently Asked Questions

My house has those huge old sheet metal mains in the basement from a converted gravity furnace. Can those actually be cleaned?

We back onto the dry grassland in the foothills. Is that why the vents load up so fast?

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