Air Duct & Dryer Vent Cleaning questions from Palm Beach County homeowners

A photo of each vent at the dryer end and at the cap, before and after, and a dated sheet listing the unit, the run and the airflow reading. Stacked units in the coastal towers often vent a long way through the building, so the whole length is cleared rather than the first few feet behind the dryer. The per-unit price comes from the vent count and how far each run goes, and a certificate of insurance can be sent to the manager ahead of the first day.

Often it is growth on the coil or in a damp low spot of a supply run. UF/IFAS says most molds do best above 60 percent humidity and advises shutting the system off if you suspect mold inside it. The camera settles the question. Growth means the coil and the run get cleaned, the joint gets resealed, and an EPA-registered antimicrobial labeled for HVAC use goes on after, at $99 to $149. Plain dust means the cleaning alone usually ends the smell. UF/IFAS also advises a professional for any patch bigger than about 10 square feet.

From the square footage and the number of air handlers. One system is $395 to $495, resealing included. Each additional system on the same visit is $250. Dryer vent cleaning is $129 by itself and $475 to $575 with the ducts. The number you get on the phone is the number on the invoice.

Leave the system off until someone has looked. UF/IFAS notes mold risk climbs after a storm puts water into a house, and a wet duct run or air handler is where it starts. Start with the camera inspection: $79, credited toward cleaning. Runs that held standing water are usually replaced rather than cleaned, and that gets priced from the photos.

Once. A system that ran through drywall sanding and texture spray holds that dust in the flex, and it shows up as a white film around the registers. One cleaning after the builder leaves takes it out, and after that the schedule below applies.

The EPA says to clean when there is a reason rather than on a calendar, and in Palm Beach County the reasons come around on a schedule: every three to five years with pets or allergies, five to seven without, once after any construction or remodel, once in a new home after the builder is done, and once after any hurricane roof leak or flood that put water in the system.

Florida writes one building code for the whole state, and the Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th edition (2023), in force in every Palm Beach County city, caps a dryer exhaust duct at 35 feet, deducting 5 feet for every tight mitered 90-degree elbow and under 2 feet for a smooth long-radius one. It requires smooth metal duct of at least 28 gauge, no screws joining the sections, a backdraft damper at the termination and no screen on it. The 9th edition takes over on December 31, 2026. A vent that is too long, joined with screws, or capped with a screen is rerouted or rebuilt for $150 to $400.

Salt and sand come in with every open slider, and the return grilles in an oceanfront unit pull it into the system along with ordinary dust. The cleaning takes out what has settled. Keeping a good filter in and changing it on time does more between cleanings.

The blower compartment is vacuumed and photographed on every duct job. The blower wheel and evaporator coil are a separate job at $249 to $349, worth adding when the coil has never been cleaned or the system iced up last August. Florida law puts duct cleaning and equipment sanitizing that requires taking the system at least partly apart inside the scope of a licensed air conditioning or mechanical contractor. Opening the air handler to clean the blower wheel and coil is that kind of work, so it is done by or under a state-licensed contractor.

A single system is a morning or an afternoon. Someone has to let the crew in and point out the air handler and the returns, and the photos are walked through with you at the end. In between, you can leave.

Florida has no separate duct cleaning license. State law puts duct cleaning that takes the system partly apart inside the air conditioning contractor's scope, and in Palm Beach County a local business tax receipt is what the law requires to operate, so insurance and method are what matter. The crew carries general liability insurance, works to the NADCA ACR standard, and sends before-and-after photos.