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 South San Francisco
Air duct cleaning in South San Francisco typically runs $350 – $650 for a whole-house residential system and $800 – $2,400 for commercial jobs, with most homes completed in a single visit. We’re Hollis Air Duct Cleaning, and our crews work the full stretch of South San Francisco, from the pre-war bungalows east of El Camino Real to the terraced tract homes climbing toward Sign Hill and the San Bruno Mountain foothills. Dispatch is coordinated from our San Francisco Bay Area office, so we’re not driving up from San Jose or across from Vallejo when you need us. Call (361) 326-5060 and you’ll reach a live person, any hour, who can book your free estimate and explain exactly what we’ll do before we touch your system.
Why Hollis Air Duct Cleaning Is South San Francisco’s Preferred Air Duct Cleaning Company
We’ve been in business since 2004 as part of the Garrison Partners family, and that track record matters in a market where duct-cleaning outfits come and go. Our technicians are background-checked, uniformed, and held to The Garrison Code: arrive inside the quoted window, price the job in writing before any work starts, complete it by the book, and leave the site clean. Every job carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise – if the work fails within a year, we come back and make it right at no charge, including a free second visit.
South San Francisco homeowners know the bait-and-switch game – a $99 coupon that balloons to $800 once the van is in the driveway. We don’t play it. The price is written down before we start, and it does not move at the door. No per-vent add-ons, no “surprise contamination” upsells. We’ve built our reputation in this market on that discipline, and our phones are answered by a live person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – no voicemail loops, no callback queues.
Commercial Air Duct Cleaning in South San Francisco
Commercial Air Duct Cleaning in South San Francisco covers the biotech campuses, warehouse distribution centers, and light industrial buildings clustered along the 101 corridor, where rooftop package units move grease-laden, exhaust-heavy air through duct networks that residential crews aren’t equipped to handle. A typical commercial duct cleaning job here runs $800 – $2,400 depending on square footage, system count, and contamination level – grease from kitchen exhaust, particulate from loading docks, or biological buildup from humidifier oversaturation in climate-controlled labs.
Rooftop Package Units and Exhaust Systems
Buildings near Oyster Point and along Forbes Boulevard rely on rooftop package units with short, exposed duct runs that collect harbor moisture and jet-exhaust particulate from SFO approach corridors. Our crews use Nikro negative-air machines and rotary brush systems from Rotobrush to source-remove debris without pushing it into occupied spaces – critical in facilities where air quality affects product integrity.
Scheduled Maintenance for Biotech and Warehouse Facilities
Many South San Francisco commercial clients book quarterly or semi-annual cleanings to maintain HVAC efficiency and comply with facility insurance requirements. We coordinate after-hours access, provide before-and-after video documentation, and leave written certification of completion for your facilities file.
Air Duct Cleaning Services in South San Francisco
Air Duct Cleaning Services in South San Francisco mean different things depending on which side of Highway 101 you live on. East of El Camino, we’re often working in shallow crawlspaces and cramped attics of 1920s – 1950s bungalows where original gravity-duct trunks were retrofitted for forced air and never properly sealed. West of 101, we’re dealing with 1960s – 1980s tract homes on sloped lots where flex-duct runs sag in unconditioned attics, collect condensate from the persistent marine layer, and tear at collars where air handlers were swapped without resealing. A typical residential whole-system cleaning in South San Francisco runs $350 – $650; if we find crushed or disconnected runs that need repair, we’ll show you the camera footage and quote the fix in writing before proceeding.
Video Inspection and Source Removal
We start every job with a video inspection so you see what we see – grey-black SFO particulate film packed into return plenums, disconnected runs blowing conditioned air into attics, or mold spotting from condensation in poorly sealed flex. Then we HEPA-vacuum under negative pressure, agitating debris with rotary brushes so it exits the system rather than resettling.
Duct Sealing and Repair
Cleaning alone won’t fix a crushed trunk or a disconnected boot. When our camera finds structural problems – common in the older stock east of El Camino – we cut in new sealed trunk sections, reconnect runs with mastic-sealed collars, and test static pressure before we leave. The repair is quoted separately, in writing, and backed by the same 365-Day Done Right Promise.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in South San Francisco
Our equipment roster includes Rotobrush rotary brush systems, Nikro negative-air machines, and filtration products from Honeywell and Aprilaire – the same professional-grade tools commercial crews use, not hardware-store gear. For South San Francisco homeowners dealing with persistent marine-layer moisture and SFO corridor particulate, we often recommend Aprilaire media filters or Honeywell electronic air cleaners installed post-cleaning to extend the interval between services. We stock common filter sizes and can source Abatement Technologies HEPA replacement media without the multi-week wait you’d face ordering direct.
Common Air Duct Cleaning Problems We See in South San Francisco Homes
- The “clean register, dirty plenum” problem. Houses east of El Camino often show spotless ceiling registers while return plenums are packed with decades of grey-black lint – SFO jet-exhaust particulate mixed with harbor and freeway corridor grime. You can’t vacuum that from the living room; it takes negative-pressure source removal from the crawlspace or attic side.
- Crushed or disconnected runs in pre-war retrofits. On a 1947 stucco bungalow off Grand Avenue near downtown South San Francisco, our tech ran a camera inspection up the main return and found the original sheet-metal trunk crushed where a previous remodel had dropped a beam on it, plus two disconnected runs feeding bedrooms that had never gotten air. We cut in a new sealed trunk section, reconnected both runs, and HEPA-vacuumed under negative pressure; the homeowner said the front bedroom finally cooled and the musty smell was gone the same afternoon.
- Sagging flex-duct with condensate damage west of 101. The terraced tract homes toward Sign Hill have longer duct runs in unconditioned attics where marine-layer dampness condenses on cool duct surfaces. Flex duct sags, pools water, and tears at collars – especially where homeowners swapped in larger air handlers without resizing or resealing connections.
- Surface-only cleaning that leaves the real debris behind. Competitors sometimes vacuum registers and call it done, skipping the return side entirely. In South San Francisco’s climate, that means the source of your musty smell – packed plenum lint, moldy condensation, or rodent debris in crawlspace boots – stays put and recirculates within weeks.
Pricing for Air Duct Cleaning in South San Francisco, CA
A typical residential whole-system air duct cleaning in South San Francisco runs $350 – $650 for a single-furnace home with 8 – 15 registers, depending on accessibility (crawlspace versus attic), contamination level, and whether we find disconnected or crushed runs that need repair before cleaning is effective. Commercial jobs along the 101 corridor typically start at $800 and range to $2,400 for multi-unit rooftop systems or facilities with specialized exhaust requirements.
What moves the price: homes with multiple HVAC systems, severe contamination requiring longer agitation and vacuum cycles, and structural repairs like trunk replacement or duct sealing with mastic. We do not quote per-vent pricing – that’s the teaser-rate game. One flat price per system, agreed in writing before work starts. You’ll see the camera footage, you’ll see the written price, and that number does not change at the door. Call (361) 326-5060 for your free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near South San Francisco
Our crews regularly work Air Duct Cleaning in South San Francisco and the surrounding corridor – Brisbane to the north, Daly City and San Bruno to the west and south, and Millbrae toward the Peninsula. Each community has its own housing stock and duct problems, and our Air Duct Cleaning team adjusts approach accordingly. Whether you’re in a Brisbane hillside ranch or a Millbrae Eichler, the same standards apply: written price, background-checked uniformed techs, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Serving South San Francisco, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the South San Francisco 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 South San Francisco
The musty smell is almost always coming from the return plenum or crawlspace boots, not the supply registers you can see. In South San Francisco’s older bungalows east of El Camino, decades of fog-damp dust and SFO corridor particulate pack the hidden return side while the ceiling vents look fine. We camera-inspect the full system and HEPA-vacuum under negative pressure to remove the source, not just the visible surfaces. Call (361) 326-5060 for an exact quote – estimates are free.
Yes – commercial duct cleaning is a core service for the Oyster Point, Forbes Boulevard, and Airport Boulevard industrial zones. Rooftop package units, exhaust-heavy registers, and grease-laden kitchen systems are standard jobs for us, priced in writing and scheduled to minimize facility downtime. Call (361) 326-5060 to discuss your building’s specific requirements.
For South San Francisco’s marine-layer conditions and SFO corridor particulate load, we typically recommend MERV 11 – 13 pleated media if your system can handle the static pressure, or MERV 8 with more frequent changes if it’s an older retrofit with a smaller blower. The persistent fog and onshore winds here mean finer particulate loads than inland Bay Area cities, so a basic fiberglass panel filter won’t protect your freshly cleaned ducts for long.
Most South San Francisco homes benefit from cleaning every 4 – 6 years, but the interval shrinks if you have pets, recent remodeling, or live directly under the SFO approach corridor where jet-exhaust particulate loads are heavier. The grey-black film we find in return plenums here builds faster than in Daly City or San Bruno. We check contamination level with a camera inspection and tell you honestly whether it’s time or you can wait.
Cleaning will not fix a crushed trunk or disconnected boot – it’s a separate repair, quoted in writing after we show you the camera footage. On that 1947 bungalow off Grand Avenue, cleaning alone would have left two bedrooms without airflow and the musty smell intact. We reconnected both runs and sealed the new trunk section with mastic before vacuuming; the repair and cleaning were itemized separately, and both were backed by our 365-Day Done Right Promise. Call (361) 326-5060 to schedule your inspection.
Written by Roy Castellanos, Owner at Hollis Air Duct Cleaning, serving South San Francisco and the Bay Area since 2004.