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 Air Duct Cleaning Across Brookline
Air duct cleaning in Brookline, MA typically runs $450 – $850 for a full residential system and is scheduled by appointment with a written price locked in before any work starts. Most Brookline homes need cleaning every three to five years, though the town’s pre-war housing stock and forced-air retrofits often create conditions that warrant more frequent attention.
We’re Hollis Air Duct Cleaning, and we’ve spent years working in Brookline’s tight, historic homes – from the Victorians along Beacon Street to the brick Colonials near Washington Square. Our crews know the parking restrictions around Coolidge Corner, the narrow basement stairs in Washington Square triple-deckers, and how to maneuver a negative-air machine up a bulkhead with six inches of clearance. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from our Boston office, but the technicians who arrive at your Brookline door live and work in the area. They know that a “routine” duct cleaning on Harvard Street often means navigating a coal-room furnace conversion that was done in 1972 and never properly sealed. Call (361) 326-5060 for a free estimate – we’ll give you a written price before we touch anything.
Why Hollis Air Duct Cleaning Is Brookline’s Preferred Air Duct Cleaning Company
Brookline homeowners don’t hire us because we’re the cheapest. They hire us because we show up inside the window, price the job in writing, and leave the site clean – The Garrison Standard, not a slogan.
Our technicians are background-checked and uniformed. You know who’s walking into your home before they arrive. Phones are answered by a live person, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No voicemail loops, no callback queues, no waiting until Monday for a scheduling question.
The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers every job: if the work fails within a year, we return and make it right at no charge, including a free second visit. That’s written on every invoice, not mentioned verbally and forgotten.
We carry professional-grade equipment – Rotobrush rotary brush systems, Nikro negative-air machines, and filtration products from Honeywell, Aprilaire, and Guardsman. These are the same tools commercial crews use in hospitals and schools, not hardware-store vacuums with a long hose attached.
HVAC Duct Cleaning in Brookline
HVAC Duct Cleaning in Brookline is rarely a simple brush-and-vacuum job. The town’s housing stock – heavy on 1880-1930 Victorians, Queen Annes, and brick Colonials – was built for gravity heat or coal-fired octopus furnaces. Forced air came later, usually retrofitted through panned joist returns, flex duct jammed into attic kneewalls, and chases hacked through plaster-and-lath walls. That means our Brookline HVAC duct cleaning jobs often start with finding where the ductwork actually runs, not just cleaning what’s visible.
A typical full HVAC duct cleaning in Brookline runs $550 – $950 for a single-family or condo, and $750 – $1,400 for multi-unit buildings with shared systems. The price is written down before we start, and it does not move at the door.
Supply Duct Cleaning
Supply ducts push heated or cooled air to your registers. In Brookline’s older homes, these are often flex runs that have been crushed in attic kneewalls or disconnected entirely, blowing conditioned air into the wall cavity instead of your bedroom. We verify airflow at each register before we call the job done.
Return Duct Cleaning
Return ducts pull air back to the furnace. In Brookline’s pre-war two- and three-family houses, the return plenum often sits in the old coal room or coal chute, drawing basement air – and whatever is stored there – straight into the system. We inspect with a camera, seal the plenum if it’s open, and clean under negative pressure so we don’t redistribute dust to neighboring units.
Vent Cleaning in Brookline
Vent Cleaning in Brookline covers both the registers you see and the duct runs behind them, plus dryer vents that serve single units or shared stacks in multi-family buildings. Most Brookline homeowners notice they need vent cleaning when registers start spitting gray dust, rooms heat unevenly, or the dryer takes two cycles to finish a load.
A standard vent cleaning in Brookline – registers, visible duct openings, and basic airflow test – runs $350 – $550. Dryer vent cleaning, which we strongly recommend as a separate service, adds $150 – $275 depending on run length and whether it’s a shared stack.
Dryer Vent Stack Cleaning
Shared dryer vent stacks in Brookline two- and three-families are a specific hazard. Many cleaning companies only clear the trap and the first elbow, leaving lint packed in the vertical run between floors. We clean the full stack from roof cap to basement connection, verify airflow with an anemometer, and document the before-and-after. This is not a job for a shop vac and a prayer.
Register and Grille Detailing
Brookline’s fine old plasterwork deserves respect. We remove registers carefully, clean behind them without damaging surrounding paint or plaster, and reinstall them square. It’s a small thing that matters in a home where the woodwork is original.
Trusted Brands We Service in Brookline
We stock filters and replacement parts from Aprilaire, Abatement Technologies, and Guardsman – brands that meet the spec for Brookline’s older, tighter duct systems. When a Coolidge Corner condo needs a MERV 13 filter that won’t choke an undersized return, or a Washington Square Victorian needs a sealed media cabinet instead of a cardboard slot, we carry the hardware and install it the same visit. No waiting for a parts order, no second trip, no “we’ll call you when it comes in.”
Common Air Duct Cleaning Problems We See in Brookline Homes
- Open return plenums in coal rooms. In Brookline’s pre-war two- and three-family houses, the retrofit furnace often sits in the old basement coal room, and its open return plenum pulls basement air straight into the duct system. We seal the plenum and clean what it’s been drawing in – not just brush the ducts and leave the source untouched.
- Panned joist returns leaking between apartments. A rotary brush run without negative pressure and proper sealing can blow dust from one unit into the next. We work under contained negative pressure with HEPA filtration, especially critical in Brookline’s dense multi-family housing.
- Crushed or disconnected flex duct in attic kneewalls. Prior retrofits in Brookline’s Victorians and Colonials often left flex duct routed through unheated attic spaces, where it’s been crushed by storage or disconnected by vibration. A surface-only cleaning misses this entirely; we camera-inspect and verify airflow at every register.
- Shared dryer vent stacks clogged beyond the first elbow. Brookline’s multi-unit buildings frequently have vertical dryer stacks that accumulate lint from multiple floors. Cleaning only the accessible portion leaves the fire hazard in place. We clean the full run and document airflow restoration.
Pricing for Air Duct Cleaning in Brookline, MA
Here’s what air duct cleaning costs in Brookline’s market, based on the jobs we’ve priced and completed:
| Service | Typical Range in Brookline |
|---|---|
| Full residential HVAC duct cleaning (single-family/condo) | $550 – $950 |
| Full HVAC duct cleaning (multi-unit shared system) | $750 – $1,400 |
| Vent cleaning (registers and visible duct openings) | $350 – $550 |
| Dryer vent cleaning (single run) | $150 – $275 |
| Dryer vent stack cleaning (multi-unit shared) | $275 – $450 |
| Video inspection with written report | $125 – $195 |
What moves the price: the number of supply and return runs, whether we need to access attic kneewalls or crawlspaces, the condition of the ductwork (retrofit flex vs. original metal), and whether we find disconnected or damaged runs that need repair before cleaning. We inspect first, price in writing, and you approve before we start. No per-vent add-ons, no equipment fees at the door, no “we found mold” upsell. Call (361) 326-5060 for a free estimate – we’ll look at your system and give you a number that doesn’t change.
We Also Serve Cities Near Brookline
Our crews work throughout the inner Boston metro, including Air Duct Cleaning in Brookline and the surrounding towns of Newton, Cambridge, Boston, and Somerville. Each job gets the same written price, the same 365-Day Done Right Promise, and the same background-checked, uniformed technicians – whether it’s a single condo near Coolidge Corner or a commercial building in Kendall Square.
Serving Brookline, MA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Brookline 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 Brookline
We seal the return plenum first, then clean under negative pressure so basement air doesn’t get pulled into the system while we’re working. In Brookline’s pre-war two- and three-families, this is standard procedure for us – the open plenum drawing coal-room dust is a pattern we see from Coolidge Corner to Washington Square. Call (361) 326-5060 and we’ll inspect the setup before pricing.
Yes. Our Brookline crews know the loading zones and elevator access at Coolidge Corner buildings, and we schedule equipment delivery to match your building’s receiving hours. We carry portable negative-air units that fit through standard doorways when a full-size machine won’t work. Call (361) 326-5060 to coordinate access – we’ll work with your building manager.
The dust is coming from somewhere upstream of the register. In Brookline Victorians, we usually find an open return plenum in the basement, a disconnected flex run in an attic kneewall, or a panned joist return that’s drawing from a wall cavity full of plaster debris. Surface cleaning the register and visible duct won’t fix a source problem. We camera-inspect to find the source, then clean and seal it properly.
Yes. The trap catches maybe ten percent of lint; the rest packs into the vertical stack, especially at elbows and where runs terminate at the roof or wall cap. In Brookline’s multi-units, we clean the full stack from termination to connection, verify airflow at each floor, and document the work. This is the only way to address the leading cause of home dryer fires.
Usually both. Brookline’s humid summers and cold, damp basements create conditions where mold grows on organic material in crawlspaces, and an open return plenum or leaky duct pulls that air into the system. We inspect with a camera to determine whether the odor source is in the ductwork, the basement, or both, then clean and seal accordingly. Call (361) 326-5060 for an inspection – estimates are free.
Written by Roy Castellanos, Owner at Hollis Air Duct Cleaning, serving Brookline and the greater Boston area since 2004.