Air Duct Cleaning in Los Gatos, CA

Usually yes, at least partly. Wildfire smoke off the Santa Cruz Mountains settles into attics, and hillside homes here tend to run long flex runs through those attics to reach multiple zones. Fine smoke particulate works through attic insulation and into any gap at a boot or collar, then sits in the low spots where flex sags between trusses. Once it's in the duct, it re-releases every time the system kicks on, which is why the smell shows up months after the smoke has cleared outside. Cleaning the runs and resealing the connection points is what actually stops it. Running the fan alone just recirculates it.

Most Los Gatos jobs get scheduled within a few days. Hillside addresses above town are the variable. Steep driveways and narrow turnarounds mean we plan the access and sometimes bring a shorter hose run or a second tech, so those occasionally land a day or two later than a valley-floor ranch off the flats. If you tell us up front that it's a steep lot or a long driveway, we'll slot it correctly the first time instead of rescheduling.

The pre-1940 cottages, Craftsmans and Victorians near downtown were never built for forced air, so the ductwork was retrofitted into the crawlspace after the fact. What we find most often is duct that's been bumped loose by someone working on plumbing or electrical, tape-sealed joints that gave up decades ago, and trunk lines resting directly on soil instead of hung clear of it. Crawlspace duct also pulls in whatever is down there: moisture, dust, and on wooded parcels, rodents. A disconnected run under the floor is a common reason one room never gets warm.

Rodent pressure is high on the wooded parcels bordering open space here, and attic flex is easy for them to chew into. First we inspect and tell you honestly what's in there. If there's nesting material, droppings or a chewed-open run, cleaning alone isn't the answer. The damaged sections need to be replaced and the entry point found, or it happens again. We'll clean and sanitize what's sound and be straight with you about what needs to come out. We don't do the trapping or exclusion work itself.