Duct cleaning is one of the most-scammed service categories in North American home services. The industry runs on cold-call companies charging $99 as bait, then pressuring homeowners into $600+ upsells on the driveway. The result is that a lot of Island homeowners either avoid duct cleaning entirely or pay for it too often, and most don’t know what a real cleaning includes.
Dryer vent service is the opposite problem — nobody talks about it, most homeowners skip it, and it’s the leading cause of preventable house fires from residential appliances.
Here’s the honest guide to both, what our service actually includes, and what it costs.
Duct cleaning: when it’s worth it, when it’s not
Not every home needs duct cleaning every year. It depends on:
- Whether you have ducts at all. If your heat pump is ductless (mini-split or multi-split), you have no ducts. This whole section doesn’t apply. The equivalent for ductless is the annual heat pump maintenance visit, which cleans the indoor unit filters, coils, and drain lines.
- How old your ducts are. Newer builds with sealed ductwork accumulate less debris. Older homes with original 1970s-80s ductwork, especially rectangular sheet-metal runs in unconditioned crawlspaces, accumulate significantly more.
- Whether you have pets, especially heavy shedders. Pet dander and hair are the single biggest source of duct debris in most Island homes.
- Whether anyone in the home has allergies, asthma, or a respiratory condition. Even light accumulation matters more when it does.
- Whether you’ve had recent renovations. Drywall dust and construction debris in ductwork is a common trigger for a cleaning.
For most Island homes with ducted heating that isn’t in one of those categories, every 2 to 3 years is the honest cadence. Yearly is overkill and mostly benefits the contractor. Never-in-15-years is negligence and shows up in indoor air quality tests.
What a real duct cleaning includes
A proper duct cleaning is not a shop-vac and a hose at each register. It’s a full system service. Ours includes:
- All supply and return ductwork cleaned — no “extra vent” upcharge, no per-register pricing games.
- Main trunk lines brushed and vacuumed.
- Return-side plenum and blower compartment — often the dirtiest part of the system, often skipped.
- Filter replacement included in the price.
- Before and after inspection with a scope so you can see what came out.
We quote a flat rate for a standard residential system with all ducts included — no “extra vent” upcharge, no per-register games. If your home has an unusual configuration (multiple furnaces, unusually long trunk runs, a converted commercial space), we quote it separately before starting.
Dryer vent service: this one is not optional
Dryer vent lint accumulation is the number one preventable cause of residential dryer fires in Canada. Statistics from the National Fire Protection Association attribute thousands of dryer fires per year to failure to clean the vent. It’s the kind of thing where the risk is low per year, but compounding — a vent that hasn’t been cleaned in five years is meaningfully more dangerous than one cleaned annually.
The secondary reason to service the vent yearly: dryer efficiency. A partially blocked vent means longer drying cycles, higher energy consumption, and premature wear on the dryer’s heating element and motor. Homeowners often blame the dryer when the vent is the actual culprit.
Yearly service is the standard cadence. If you have a long vent run, a vertical vent to the roof, or a laundry appliance you use heavily, more often may be warranted.
What our dryer vent service includes
- Full vent line clean — from dryer to termination point (wall, roof, or exterior box).
- Vent hood inspection and clean at the termination.
- Lint screen deep clean if it’s fibreglass-clogged (many homeowners don’t realize this happens over years).
- Airflow measurement before and after so you can see the improvement.
- Ladder access included for standard heights.
Residential and commercial are quoted at different rates, and there’s an additional charge if the vent termination needs a 40-foot ladder — some multi-storey homes and townhomes with rooftop vent terminations. We give you the specific quote when we book the visit.
When to book both together
If you’re due for both, we can do them on the same visit and coordinate the scheduling and quote. Common triggers:
- Fall shoulder season (before heavy dryer use in winter, before heating system runs constantly).
- After a renovation.
- After a pet has joined the household.
- When you notice signs — musty smell from ducts when the system turns on, longer dryer cycles, visible dust at supply registers within a week of cleaning.
What to expect on the visit
We show up at the confirmed window with the equipment on the truck — no “we’ll come back tomorrow with the right tool” surprises. Straightforward jobs are typically 90 minutes to 2 hours for duct cleaning, 45 minutes to an hour for dryer vent. We leave you with photos of before/after, especially if we found something worth noting (a partially collapsed section, an unsealed joint, a rodent problem).
If we open a system up and find something we didn’t expect — a rodent issue, structural damage, asbestos-era materials in an older home — we stop, show you what we found, and quote the additional scope before doing any additional work. No surprise invoices.
Family-owned. Island-grown. 4.9 ★ Google Rated across the Island.
Call (236) 361-8293 to book, or reach us through our contact page.
— The Sasquatch Field Team
