Whole-home duct cleaning
Dryer vent cleaning
Camera inspection
Sanitizing & deodorizingWhole-system duct and dryer vent check with before-and-after photos - you see exactly what came out of your vents
That "$99 whole-house special" is a bait ad - the real number appears once they are in your hallway, or the "clean" is a shop-vac at the register. We photograph the inside of your ducts before and after instead.
Fast, Reliable Air Duct Cleaning Across Altadena
Air duct cleaning in Altadena typically runs $395 – $695 for a full system on a single-family home, depending on home size and the condition of the ductwork. Most jobs take three to five hours when the crew does the job right, including the air handler, blower motor, and all supply and return runs. If you’re noticing dust on furniture within days of cleaning, weak airflow from certain registers, or a sooty smell after wildfire season, your ducts are telling you something. Call (626) 469-5477 for a written quote before any work begins.
We know Altadena’s houses because we’ve worked inside hundreds of them. The 1920s bungalows off Lake Avenue, the mid-century ranches near Farnsworth Park, the post-war homes climbing toward the base of the San Gabriels. Each has its own duct story, and most of them involve original galvanized steel that’s been moving air since before Eisenhower. Our Air Duct Cleaning team runs camera inspections on every job as standard practice, because in this town, what you can’t see in the crawlspace is usually the real problem.
Why Hollis Air Duct Pasadena Is Altadena’s Preferred Air Duct Cleaning Company
We run on The Garrison Standard: a written price before work starts, a written guarantee, and a 365-Day Done Right Promise. That means if something fails within a year, we return and fix it at no charge. No negotiation. No “well, that’s a different issue.” It’s covered, in writing, on every job we do in Altadena.
Our technicians are background-checked and uniformed. You’ll know the name of the person walking through your door before they arrive, and they’ll arrive inside the window we gave you. The Garrison Code is simple: show up when we said, price it before we touch it, do the work by the book, and leave the site cleaner than we found it. Roy Castellanos leads our crews, and he holds every tech to that standard on Altadena jobs.
Scheduling is coordinated from our Los Angeles office, but the crews serving Altadena work here regularly. We stock the common filter sizes and sealing materials for older Southern California homes on the trucks, so most decisions about repairs or replacements happen the same day, not after a second callback.
Styles & brands we work with
Air Duct Cleaning Services in Altadena
Air Duct Cleaning Services in Altadena mean more than running a brush through a few vents. On the older homes here, a proper cleaning means inspecting the entire duct path from the return grille to the supply register, including the branch lines that run through crawlspaces and attics. Most Altadena homes built between the 1920s and 1970s have never had their duct interiors inspected, let alone cleaned or sealed. When we pull a register and find a half-inch of packed gray dust, that’s decades of accumulation from taco nights, dry summers, and the occasional Santa Ana wind event.
A full system cleaning on a typical three-bedroom Altadena home runs $395 – $695. What affects the price? Home size, number of supply and return drops, whether the air handler and blower motor need cleaning, and whether we find crushed or disconnected runs that need sealing. We use negative-air machines from Nikro and rotary brush systems from Rotobrush, the same equipment commercial crews use, and we explain what each tool does in plain terms while we work.
Video Inspection Before Cleaning
Every Altadena job starts with a camera run through the main trunk lines. In homes built before 1960, this matters. We’re looking for separated joints, crushed flex, dead-end ducts, and places where the crawlspace is openly connected to the air you breathe. You get to see the footage. We don’t clean blind, and we don’t ask you to trust us on faith.
Supply and Return Duct Cleaning
Supply ducts push conditioned air into rooms; return ducts pull it back to the furnace or air handler. Both need attention. In Altadena’s ranch-style homes, returns often run through floor cavities and pick up dust from the crawlspace below. Cleaning one side and not the other is like washing one hand. We do both, every time, and we include the air handler and blower motor as part of the system cleaning, not an add-on.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
HVAC Duct Cleaning in Altadena
HVAC Duct Cleaning in Altadena addresses the complete air pathway in your heating and cooling system, not just visible vent openings. That includes the supply plenum, return plenum, trunk lines, branch ducts, and the air handler cabinet where the blower wheel collects a felt-like layer of dust over time. On older Altadena systems, the blower wheel is often caked with a fine gray film, especially if the filter has been neglected. That buildup reduces airflow and forces the blower motor to work harder, which shortens its life and raises your energy bill.
A full HVAC duct cleaning for a standard Altadena home falls in the $395 – $695 range, with larger homes or heavily soiled systems pushing toward $700 – $850. If the system hasn’t been cleaned in ten or more years, or if you have pets, the blower and coil work adds time. We’ll give you the exact written number before the equipment comes off the truck.
Air Handler and Blower Motor Cleaning
Skip this step and you’ve cleaned the hallways but not the rooms. The blower wheel pulls air across itself hundreds of times a day. When it’s loaded with dust, every cycle sends a small cloud of it back into the house. We remove the blower assembly where possible, clean the fins, and wash the housing. On Altadena systems with original blowers, this alone can restore noticeable airflow.
Full System Cleaning with Duct Sealing
Cleaning opens up the system. Sealing keeps it closed. For Altadena’s older galvanized ductwork, leaks at the seams and joints are common, especially in crawlspaces where moisture has caused corrosion. We use a mastic sealant, not tape, because mastic stays flexible and holds up through the hot, dry summers that bake tape into brittle flakes within a season. Sealing is priced separately from cleaning, and we’ll show you exactly where the leaks are before we seal them.
Trusted Brands We Service in Altadena
We service and work alongside the filtration and equipment brands that Altadena homeowners already know. That includes Aprilaire media cabinets and air cleaners, Honeywell filtration systems, and Guardsman products where applicable. Our cleaning equipment comes from Rotobrush and Nikro, and we use Abatement Technologies negative-air machines on heavy soot jobs after wildfire season. Because we stock common filters and sealing materials on the trucks, most Altadena jobs finish the same day without waiting on parts. If your system uses a specific Aprilaire or Honeywell filter size, we’ll confirm it before we arrive.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Air Duct Cleaning Problems We See in Altadena Homes
- Corroded galvanized duct seams. The original steel ducts in 1930s to 1950s Altadena homes develop rust at the crimped joints, especially in crawlspaces. Air escapes before it reaches your rooms, and the leak pulls in crawlspace dust.
- Disconnected or crushed runs. We regularly find duct separations under ranch houses, often from decades of foundation settling or careless work by previous trades. The gap pulls unfiltered air directly into the home.
- Wildfire soot and ash buildup. After fires in the Angeles National Forest, fine ash settles into return ducts and onto the blower wheel. Homes near the base of the San Gabriels see this more than Pasadena or Alhambra.
- Failed DIY tape patches. Duct tape dries out and peels within a season in Altadena’s heat. We remove old patches and seal the joint properly with mastic, which lasts for years, not months.
Pricing for Air Duct Cleaning in Altadena, CA
A full air duct cleaning in Altadena on a typical 1,500 – 2,500 square foot home runs $395 – $695. Single-story ranch homes on larger lots often come in at the higher end if there are long duct runs to the far bedrooms. Two-story craftsman homes with finished basements or converted attics can push toward $700 – $850, especially if there’s a second air handler. Duct sealing, corroded joint repairs, and blower motor cleaning are priced separately and quoted in writing before any work starts. You’ll never get a number that changes once the technician is inside. Call (626) 469-5477 for a free estimate on your Altadena system.
We Also Serve Cities Near Altadena
Our crews work throughout the San Gabriel Valley. If you have family or investment property in nearby areas, we provide the same Air Duct Cleaning standards and written pricing in Pasadena, San Gabriel, Alhambra, and Arcadia. Each job gets the same camera inspection, the same negative-air cleaning equipment, and the same 365-Day Done Right Promise, regardless of which city is on the mailing address.
Serving Altadena, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Altadena area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Air Duct Cleaning in Altadena
Older Altadena homes with original galvanized steel ducts have more joints, more seams, and more places for smoke particles to accumulate and get trapped. After a significant brush fire in the Angeles National Forest, homes in north Altadena and along the foothill streets show soot not just in the supply registers but caked onto the blower wheel and inside the return plenum. A thorough post-fire cleaning on these homes involves agitating the duct walls, running the negative-air machine longer, and cleaning the air handler compartment, not just brushing the visible vents. Call (626) 469-5477 to schedule a post-fire inspection.
We show you the camera footage, then we give you a written price to repair or seal the affected section. In many Altadena ranch homes, a disconnected galvanized run in the crawlspace is the actual reason for weak airflow in the far bedrooms. Cleaning alone won’t fix a gap. Sealing the joint with mastic or reconnecting a separated section restores the air path, and we price that work separately so you know exactly what each part costs before we start.
Santa Ana winds carry fine dust and airborne debris from the San Gabriel Mountains and high desert directly into the Altadena foothills. That dust gets pulled into homes through return ducts, window gaps, and attic vents. Homes along Lake Avenue, Fair Oaks Avenue, and streets near the base of the mountains accumulate dust faster than homes lower in Pasadena. We typically recommend visual inspections after particularly dusty wind events, and discounted rates apply when you bundle a cleaning with a filter replacement.
If the ducts are structurally intact but leaking at the seams, sealing is the economical and effective fix. Mastic sealing costs a fraction of full replacement and stops the dust intrusion immediately. If we find ducts that have rusted through, crushed flat, or detached from multiple connections, we’ll tell you honestly that replacement is the real answer. We don’t sell replacement when sealing will do, and we don’t pretend sealing a collapsed duct will hold. You’ll see the camera evidence either way. Call (626) 469-5477 for an inspection and a written recommendation.
In a classic Altadena craftsman, the ducts are often original galvanized steel routed through narrow crawlspaces, with accessible floor registers in the hardwood. We spend more time on access, more time on inspection, and more time sealing joints than we would in a home built after 1990. The register covers may need careful removal to avoid damaging 1920s-era wood floors, and we take that extra care as standard practice. Newer homes use flexible insulated ducts that are simpler to clean but less durable over time.
Written by Roy Castellanos, Owner at Hollis Air Duct Pasadena, serving Altadena and the San Gabriel Valley since 2004.