Whole-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.
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AfterFast, Reliable Duct Sealing Across Austin
Duct sealing in Austin typically runs $800 – $2,400 for a whole-home job, depending on whether we’re reconnecting separated galvanized runs in a 1950s pier-and-beam crawlspace or sealing flex-duct collars in a 1990s suburban attic. Most Austin homeowners see the work completed in a single day, with the written price agreed before we touch anything. Call us at (361) 326-5060 for a free estimate.
We’ve been crawling through Austin’s crawlspaces and attics since 2004. Our dispatch and scheduling run from our Austin office, and our crews know the difference between a Hyde Park bungalow with original galvanized ductwork and a Cedar Park tract home with sagging flex runs. That local knowledge matters because the sealing strategy for a 1948 pier-and-beam house on Avenue F is nothing like the approach for a 2005 build in Steiner Ranch. We carry mastic, mesh, and replacement flex duct on every truck, and we don’t leave until we’ve pressure-tested what we sealed.
Why Hollis Air Duct Cleaning Is Austin’s Preferred Duct Sealing Company
We’re part of the Garrison Partners family, and every Hollis location runs on The Garrison Standard: arrive inside the quoted window, price in writing before work starts, complete the job by the book, and leave the site clean. Our Austin office dispatches background-checked, uniformed technicians who’ve handled the specific duct failures this market throws at them – crushed runs under floor joists, caliche-coated joints, and flex duct sweating through 130°F attic summers.
Our phones are answered by a live person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No voicemail loops, no callback queues, no waiting until Monday when your back bedroom is 85 degrees in July.
Every duct sealing job carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If the seal fails or the dust returns within a year, we come back at no charge. That includes a free second visit, not a negotiation. We’ve found that Austin homeowners who’ve been burned by no-shows and price jumps at the door care more about a written guarantee they can hold in their hand than about the lowest teaser quote.
Our equipment includes Rotobrush rotary brush systems and Nikro negative-air machines – the same tools commercial crews use. We explain what each piece does and why we’re using it on your particular house.
Duct Repair in Austin
Duct Repair in Austin usually starts with a camera inspection, because the symptoms homeowners describe – hot rooms, dust from registers, whistling sounds – often trace back to problems hidden in crawlspaces or behind drywall. In central Austin’s pier-and-beam neighborhoods, we regularly find original 1950s galvanized trunk lines that have separated at the plenum collar, or branch runs crushed flat where a previous contractor wedged them under a floor joist. Suburban homes in Round Rock and Cedar Park more often show degraded flex duct that’s collapsed in the attic or pulled loose from its register boot.
A typical duct repair in Austin runs $400 – $1,200 for reconnecting or replacing individual runs, with whole-system repairs climbing toward $1,800 – $2,800 when multiple trunk sections need attention. We always write the price down before we cut anything open.
Separated Trunk Lines and Collar Failures
The original galvanized duct in central Austin bungalows was joined with sheet-metal collars and pookie sealant that’s hardened and cracked over seventy years. When the house settles on its pier-and-beam foundation, those joints pull apart. We reconnect with mechanical fasteners, then seal with mastic and fiberglass mesh – not duct tape, which degrades in crawlspace humidity. The static pressure test afterward tells us whether the fix held.
Crushed or Disconnected Branch Runs
We’ve found branch runs crushed under floor joists, chewed by rodents in crawlspaces, and simply never connected by the original installer in homes where the ductwork was retrofitted decades ago. Camera inspection finds these. We replace crushed flex with properly sized new run, support it so it doesn’t sag, and seal every connection point.
Air Duct Sealing in Austin
Air Duct Sealing in Austin addresses the gaps, cracks, and disconnected joints that pull unconditioned air – and Austin’s distinctive caliche dust and mountain cedar pollen – into your HVAC system. Sealing is not cleaning; it’s the structural fix that keeps cleaned ducts clean and makes your air handler’s effort actually reach the rooms it’s supposed to cool. A typical whole-home air duct sealing job in Austin runs $800 – $2,400, with smaller partial-system seals starting around $500.
We use mastic, a thick paste that remains flexible after curing, reinforced with fiberglass mesh at joints and seams. For flex-duct connections, we add mechanical clamps. Every sealed system gets a static pressure check to confirm the leaks are actually closed, not just covered.
Mastic Sealing for Rigid Galvanized Duct
On older central Austin homes with original galvanized ductwork, we brush mastic onto every joint, seam, and penetration point. The mastic fills gaps that tape can’t, and it lasts decades in crawlspace conditions. We also seal the plenum, where the air handler connects to the trunk line – a common leak point that many contractors skip because it’s awkward to reach.
Flex-Duct Collar and Boot Sealing
Suburban Austin homes with flex duct need sealing at every collar, boot, and transition point. The flex itself degrades over time, especially in 130°F attics, so we assess whether the duct is worth sealing or needs replacement first. Sealing a collapsing run is wasted money; we’ll tell you straight if that’s what we find.
Trusted Brands We Service in Austin
We stock parts and materials from Abatement Technologies, Guardsman, and Rotobrush on our Austin trucks, which means we’re not ordering supplies after we arrive at your house. For filtration and air-quality components, we work with Honeywell, Aprilaire, and Guardsman products. That local inventory matters in July, when a homeowner in Rosedale with a separated trunk line doesn’t want to wait three days for a collar fitting to ship. Our technicians carry the common sizes and materials for Austin’s housing stock – the 6-inch and 8-inch galvanized fittings for older bungalows, the 7-inch and 9-inch flex for suburban tract homes – and we source same-day from local suppliers for anything unusual.
Common Duct Sealing Problems We See in Austin Homes
- Original galvanized joints separated by foundation settling. Central Austin’s pier-and-beam bungalows shift seasonally on their piers, and the rigid galvanized duct doesn’t shift with them. Collar joints crack, pull apart, and suck caliche dust and cedar pollen directly into the supply airstream. We find this in nearly every pre-1960 home we inspect.
- Contractors who seal only the visible plenum and ignore the crawlspace. A camera inspection almost always finds at least one disconnected or crushed branch run in older central Austin homes. The plenum looks fine from the utility closet, but the air is dumping into the crawlspace through a run that’s been open for years.
- Flex duct sweating and degrading in 130 – 140°F attics. In Round Rock, Cedar Park, and Pflugerville tract homes from the 1990s and 2000s, flex duct runs through unconditioned attics where summer temperatures cook the plastic liner. The duct collapses, pulls away from collars, and draws construction dust through gaps that mastic alone can’t fix.
- New-build ducts packed with construction debris and unsealed at rough-in. Austin’s rapid growth means homes in Mueller, East Austin, and the suburbs often have flex duct that was never properly sealed during construction. Drywall dust, wood chips, and insulation fragments blow through the system until the joints are sealed and the debris is removed.
Pricing for Duct Sealing in Austin, TX
Here’s what duct sealing costs in the Austin market, based on the jobs we’ve completed across the metro:
| Scope of Work | Typical Range |
|---|---|
| Partial system seal (plenum + visible trunk, 1-2 branches) | $500 – $900 |
| Whole-home seal, standard suburban flex-duct home | $800 – $1,600 |
| Whole-home seal, central Austin pier-and-beam with crawlspace work | $1,200 – $2,400 |
| Seal + duct repair (crushed runs, separated trunk) | $1,400 – $2,800 |
What moves the price: accessibility (crawlspace height, attic temperature), the condition of existing duct (whether we can seal or must replace first), and the size of the system. We inspect with a camera before quoting, and the price we write down is the price you pay. No per-vent add-ons, no “we found another problem” charges once we’re inside. Call (361) 326-5060 for a free estimate – we’ll look at your specific house and give you a number you can plan around.
We Also Serve Cities Near Austin
Our Austin office dispatches crews throughout the metro, including Austin proper plus Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Manor, and Round Rock. The duct failure patterns differ by suburb – Cedar Park’s 1990s flex-duct attics versus Manor’s mix of older ranch homes and new builds – and our technicians carry materials for each. If you’re unsure whether your address falls in our service area, call and we’ll confirm.
Serving Austin, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Austin 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 Duct Sealing in Austin
Your 1920s – 1950s pier-and-beam home likely has original galvanized duct in an unconditioned crawlspace, and those joints have separated over decades of foundation settling. Caliche dust from the soil and mountain cedar pollen pour in through gaps that don’t exist in a new build with sealed flex duct. Camera inspection almost always finds multiple leak points in central Austin bungalows. Call (361) 326-5060 and we’ll show you exactly where your system is pulling dirty air.
Not always. If the flex duct liner is brittle, collapsed, or the insulation is water-stained from attic condensation, sealing the collars is a temporary fix on failing material. We camera-inspect first and tell you straight whether sealing will last or whether replacement sections are the smarter spend. Our written quote separates the two options so you can decide. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers either path.
Yes, because from December through February, mountain cedar pollen counts spike and that pollen pours into leaky return ducts. If your system has separated joints or unsealed plenum connections, you’re pressurizing your home with allergen-laden outdoor air every time the handler runs. Sealing before or during cedar fever season reduces the pollen load your filtration system must handle. Call (361) 326-5060 to schedule an inspection.
We start with camera inspection of the crawlspace ductwork, then source-remove accumulated dust and debris with negative-air machines and HEPA filtration. We reconnect any separated trunk lines, replace crushed branch runs, and seal every joint with mastic and fiberglass mesh. The plenum gets sealed where it meets the air handler. We finish with a static pressure test to confirm the system holds. Most central Austin bungalows take a full day. The price is written before we start.
Camera inspection tells the story. If the galvanized duct is structurally sound with intact seams and only the joints have failed, sealing is the right call and will last decades. If the metal is rusted through, crushed beyond reshaping, or the flex duct is brittle and collapsing, replacement sections are necessary. We show you the camera footage and explain which category your system falls into. No guesswork, no pressure – just the facts and a written price for either path. Call (361) 326-5060 to book the inspection.
We were called to a 1948 pier-and-beam bungalow in Hyde Park where the homeowners complained of dust blowing from the registers every time the air handler kicked on. Camera inspection showed the original 6-inch galvanized trunk line had separated at a collar near the plenum, and the branch run to the back bedroom was crushed flat under a floor joist. After source removal with negative pressure and HEPA filtration, we reconnected the trunk, replaced the crushed flex run, and sealed every joint with mastic and mesh – the static pressure dropped and the dust complaint stopped.
Central Austin’s pier-and-beam bungalows hide original 1950s duct runs in unconditioned crawlspaces where caliche dust and mountain cedar pollen coat every joint, so sealing work here often starts with reconnecting crushed runs before we can even think about mastic – a pattern you don’t see in Houston’s slab-on-grade housing stock. That’s why a company that knows Austin’s specific housing split matters. Our Duct Sealing team has handled both sides of it: the original galvanized in Clarksville and Rosedale, the flex-duct tract homes in Pflugerville and Round Rock, and the new builds going up on Austin’s east side.
Ready to stop losing conditioned air to your crawlspace or attic? Call Hollis Air Duct Cleaning at (361) 326-5060 for a free estimate. We’ll inspect your system with a camera, explain what we find in plain terms, and give you a written price before any work begins. Every job is covered by our 365-Day Done Right Promise – if it’s not right, we make it right, at no charge.
Written by Roy Castellanos, Owner at Hollis Air Duct Cleaning, serving Austin since 2004.