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 Medford
Air duct cleaning in Medford typically runs $450 – $850 for a full residential system and is scheduled by appointment with a written price locked in before any work starts. We’re the Air Duct Cleaning in Medford crew that shows up with rotary brushes and negative-air machines sized for your actual ductwork, not a one-size-fits-all truck mount that won’t fit down your basement stairs.
Our scheduling desk operates out of our Boston office, and we run regular appointments through Medford’s neighborhoods from West Medford down to the Wellington corridor and over to the Tufts area. We’ve been working on the city’s triple-deckers and two-families long enough to know which ones have 4-inch galvanized runs buried behind finished ceilings, which basements flood in March when the Mystic River swells, and why a standard suburban cleaning setup often won’t even reach the trunk line in a 1920s Medford three-decker. Call (361) 326-5060 and we’ll get you a flat per-system price, not a per-vent teaser that balloons at the door.
Why Hollis Air Duct Cleaning Is Medford’s Preferred Air Duct Cleaning Company
We’ve been part of the Garrison Partners family since 2004, and our reputation in Medford was built one triple-decker at a time. Homeowners here talk, and landlords in the Tufts rental market especially talk – they need crews who show up between tenants in August, get the job done without damaging finished basements, and leave documentation that satisfies both them and the next tenant.
Our response time to Medford is typically next-day or within 48 hours for standard scheduling. We’re not going to promise same-day because duct cleaning isn’t an emergency trade; it’s a scheduled job that takes two to four hours and requires setup time. What we do promise is arrival inside the quoted window, a written price before we touch anything, and a 365-Day Done Right Promise on every job – if the work fails within a year, we come back and make it right at no charge, including a free second visit.
Our technicians are background-checked and uniformed, and we follow The Garrison Code on every Medford job: arrive inside the window, price in writing, complete the job by the book, leave the site clean. No exceptions.
Air Duct Inspection in Medford
Air Duct Inspection in Medford starts with understanding what kind of house we’re walking into, because a 1905 triple-decker off Salem Street and a 1980s split-level near the Fellsway are completely different animals. The inspection itself is a camera-and-mirror assessment of your supply and return trunks, branch runs, and air handler – we look for debris load, moisture damage, disconnected joints, and whether your ducts are even accessible without cutting access ports. In Medford’s market, a residential inspection runs $150 – $250, and we apply that fee toward your cleaning if you move forward.
When Medford Homeowners Need an Inspection
You need an inspection before you buy any cleaning, and sometimes the honest answer is that you don’t need cleaning at all. If your system was installed after 1990 and you’ve changed filters regularly, we may find minimal debris. But if you’re in a pre-1940 home with original galvanized ductwork, or you’ve noticed uneven heating, musty odors when the AC kicks on, or visible dust pluming from registers, the inspection will show whether the problem is in the ducts or somewhere else. We don’t sell cleanings to people who don’t need them – that’s not The Garrison Standard.
What the Camera Reveals in Old Medford Housing
In Wellington and Glenwood especially, we find ducts that have never been opened because they’re sealed behind lath-and-plaster basement ceilings or boxed in with knob-and-tube wiring still live in the walls. The camera shows us whether we can reach branches through existing registers or whether we need to cut small access ports, and it shows you – on a screen, in real time – what we’re actually dealing with. No guessing, no “trust us” pricing after we’re already inside.
Residential Air Duct Cleaning in Medford
Residential Air Duct Cleaning in Medford means source removal from both supply and return sides using a rotary brush system and negative air machine, not a shop vacuum and a prayer. For a typical Medford single-family or condo unit, you’re looking at $450 – $650; for a two- or three-family with multiple air handlers and longer trunk runs, $700 – $850 is more realistic. The price is per system, agreed in writing before we start, and it does not move based on “extra vents” or “unexpected debris” – because we inspect first.
The Rotary Brush and Negative Air Method
We use Rotobrush flexible rotary brushes that spin through each branch run, knocking debris loose, while a Nikro negative air machine holds the trunk line under constant suction and HEPA filtration. This matters in Medford because your 4-inch galvanized branches are too narrow for a technician to crawl through, and too fragile for aggressive mechanical agitation. The rotary brush navigates tight turns without damaging the metal; the negative air machine ensures nothing escapes into your living space during cleaning. It’s the same method commercial crews use in hospitals and schools, scaled down for residential ductwork.
Access Work in Finished Basements
When ducts are buried behind finished ceilings – common in Wellington, Glenwood, and around Tufts – we cut small, precisely located access ports rather than tearing out drywall. We seal them with code-compliant covers when done, and we photograph every cut and every repair for your records. The alternative some competitors choose is to skip the buried branches entirely and only clean what they can reach from registers. That leaves your blower motor sitting in the same debris it started with, and it doesn’t solve the problem you called us about.
Trusted Brands We Service in Medford
We stock filters and components from Honeywell, Aprilaire, and Abatement Technologies for Medford customers, which means replacement media, upgraded filtration, and UV air purifier add-ons don’t require a two-week order delay. Our equipment roster includes Nikro negative air machines and Rotobrush rotary systems – professional-grade tools, not hardware-store gear – and we carry common filter sizes for the older air handlers still running in Medford’s triple-deckers. If your system needs a part we don’t stock, our Boston office coordinates same-day pickup from regional suppliers, so most Medford jobs finish in one visit without callback delays.
Common Air Duct Cleaning Problems We See in Medford Homes
- Undersized galvanized runs choked with decades of debris. Medford’s 1890 – 1930 housing stock was built with 4-inch supply ducts that are too small by modern code, which means air moves slower and debris settles instead of passing through. We regularly open systems that haven’t been touched in 40 or 50 years and find packed dust, construction debris from prior renovations, and occasionally asbestos wrap that requires abatement referral before we can proceed.
- Water-damaged duct insulation after winter snowmelt. Medford averages 42 inches of snow yearly, and basements in low-lying areas near the Mystic River take on moisture during spring thaw. Fibrous duct insulation that gets wet becomes a mold reservoir once summer humidity hits and the AC starts cycling. Our inspection catches this; cleaning alone won’t fix it, and we’ll tell you straight when you need insulation replacement rather than a cleaning you don’t need.
- Skipped return-side cleaning leaving the blower contaminated. Some outfits clean supply registers, fog a deodorizer, and call it done. In Medford’s older systems, the return plenum and blower wheel often hold more debris than the supplies, especially in homes with no return ducting – just a grille in the basement ceiling pulling air past the furnace. We clean both sides, or we don’t take the job.
- Per-vent pricing that explodes on Medford’s complex layouts. A triple-decker off College Avenue might have 12 supply registers and only 3 actual branch runs, or it might have been retrofitted with additions that doubled the duct count without increasing capacity. Quoting per-vent over the phone is a setup for a price hike at the door. We inspect, we price per system, and that number is final.
Pricing for Air Duct Cleaning in Medford, MA
A typical residential duct cleaning in Medford runs $450 – $650 for a single system in a condo or single-family home. Two- and three-family buildings with multiple air handlers or longer trunk runs typically fall in the $700 – $850 range. Commercial properties and larger multi-unit buildings are priced individually after inspection.
What moves the number: system accessibility (finished ceilings add labor), the number of air handlers, whether we need to cut access ports, and the actual debris load – which is why we inspect before we quote. We do not quote per-vent. We do not offer $99 “whole house” specials that turn into $800 invoices. The price is written down before any work starts, and it does not move at the door.
Every job includes before-and-after photos of your own ducts, not stock images. Every job is covered by our 365-Day Done Right Promise – if the work fails within a year, we return and make it right at no charge, including a free second visit. Call (361) 326-5060 for a free estimate; inspections are $150 – $250 and credited toward cleaning if you proceed.
We Also Serve Cities Near Medford
Our crews regularly work in Medford and the surrounding communities – Malden to the north, Somerville to the south, Arlington to the west, and Everett to the east. Same equipment, same flat-price standard, same Garrison Code. If you’re in one of these cities and your home has the same vintage housing stock and old galvanized ductwork, we know what we’re walking into and we’ll price it honestly after inspection.
Serving Medford, MA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Medford 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 Medford
Every seven to ten years for most Medford homes, or after major renovations that generate construction dust. If you have original galvanized ductwork in a pre-1940 home, inspect every five years because the rough interior surface traps debris faster than smooth modern ducting. Call (361) 326-5060 to schedule an inspection and we’ll tell you honestly whether you’re due or not.
The finished basements, buried duct runs, and knob-and-tube wiring in Wellington, Glenwood, and Tufts-area rentals add access labor that open-basement suburban homes don’t require. A standard two-man crew with a truck mount can’t even reach some Medford trunk lines, so we bring portable negative air machines and rotary systems that navigate tight spaces. The extra equipment and time are reflected in the per-system price, which we still lock in writing before we start.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no – it depends on what the camera inspection shows. If your registers connect directly to accessible branch runs, we may reach everything from the supply and return grilles. If the trunk is boxed behind plaster or lath, we cut small, sealable access ports rather than skip the buried sections. We photograph every cut and repair, and we minimize drywall damage. The alternative – cleaning only what you can see – leaves the majority of your debris untouched.
The flat price covers complete source removal from all accessible supply and return ducts, the air handler cabinet, and the blower wheel, using rotary brush agitation and negative air extraction with HEPA filtration. We provide before-and-after photos of your own system, seal all access ports, and leave the site clean. The process takes two to four hours for a typical Medford single-family, longer for multi-unit buildings. Call (361) 326-5060 for a written estimate specific to your home.
No – duct cleaning is a scheduled, multi-hour job that requires equipment setup and inspection time. We typically book next-day or within 48 hours for Medford. Same-day promises in this trade usually mean rushed work or bait-and-switch pricing; we don’t do either. What we guarantee is arrival inside our quoted window, a written price that doesn’t change, and a 365-Day Done Right Promise on every job.
Written by Roy Castellanos, Owner at Hollis Air Duct Cleaning, serving Medford and the greater Boston area.