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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AfterTrane Air Duct Cleaning in San Francisco, CA | Hollis Air Duct Cleaning
We’re an independent Trane service provider offering Air Duct Cleaning - San Francisco and sealing ductwork across the city. The quick answer: if your Trane system moves air through pre-war ducts, galvanized returns, or open joist cavities, we handle it. What makes our Trane work different here is simple: we know how San Francisco’s salt fog and 1930s framing interact with Trane equipment. Call (361) 326-5060 for a written quote before any work starts.
Why San Francisco Residents Choose Us for Trane Service
We’ve worked on Trane systems across San Francisco’s pre-war and mid-century housing for years. We know their duct layouts, coil designs, and failure patterns inside out. We are not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by Trane. Our expertise comes from hands-on field experience, not a manufacturer badge.
Roy Castellanos, our owner, picked up his HVAC fundamentals at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and spent years doing hands-on duct work before starting Hollis. When a Trane system in a Sunset row house pulls air through joist bays, our crew knows what that means for the coil, the blower, and the air you’re breathing. We show up uniformed, background-checked, and with a written price in hand before we touch anything.
Every Trane job gets the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if it’s not right, we come back free. Clean ducts, straight answers – that’s the whole job.
Common Trane Air Duct Cleaning Problems We Solve in San Francisco
- Corroded galvanized returns and duct interiors. San Francisco’s salt-heavy marine air eats galvanized steel from the inside out. Trane systems in crawlspace and wall-chase runs show flaking zinc, rust scale, and pinholes. We clean and seal what’s salvageable and tell you straight when replacement is cheaper than repeated repairs.
- Deteriorating flex duct lining from 1980s and 90s retrofits. Older Trane installations in the Richmond and Sunset used early flexible duct that breaks down in damp basements. The interior lining sheds fibers and traps mold. We remove failed flex runs, clean the remaining system, and install insulated duct that holds up to Bay fog.
- Blower motor and wheel contamination from rodent debris. In pre-1950 Trane gravity-furnace conversions, return air travels through open floor joist cavities. Rodents, dust, and biological growth end up packed against the blower wheel. We pull and clean the blower assembly, then seal the joist cavities with mastic so it stays clean.
- Condensate drain pan and coil fouling from fog-driven humidity. The marine layer keeps Trane XR and XB coils damp for months at a stretch. That means restricted airflow and premature compressor strain. We clean the evaporator coil, clear the drain pan, and check the condensate line so your Trane isn’t working against its own moisture load.
- Sealed-off original registers and abandoned duct runs. Many San Francisco homes have registers that were closed off decades ago when rooms were subdivided. Dead-end duct runs collect debris and breed mold. We inspect, identify abandoned runs, and clean or remove them as needed.
Trane Service in San Francisco: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
In the Sunset and Richmond districts, many original 1930s gravity-furnace systems, including Trane conversions, use open floor joist cavities as return-air paths. That means cleaning a Trane system there isn’t just about metal ducts. It’s about cleaning and sealing the building’s structural framing. Suburban crews almost never see this because dedicated return ducts have been standard in new construction for decades. If your Trane unit sits in a pre-war San Francisco house with a gravity furnace conversion, the return path may literally be the space between your floor joists, pulling air from the crawlspace, the walls, and wherever else air can move. That’s where the musty smell comes from, and that’s where a standard duct cleaning with a rotary brush and negative air machine won’t finish the job. You need mastic sealing and joist cavity cleaning, and that’s what we do.
In the Outer Sunset, we serviced a 1938 row house with a Trane XR14 heat pump and original gravity-furnace return plenum that had been pulling air through open joist bays for decades. Our video inspection showed rodent debris, mold, and corroded galvanized return ducts. We did a full system clean, sealed the joist cavities with mastic, and replaced deteriorating flex runs with insulated duct. The homeowner immediately noticed better airflow and less musty odor in the bedrooms.
San Francisco’s cool, damp marine layer promotes corrosion and biological growth inside ducts more than typical inland heat. Winter rains and summer fog drive humidity into crawlspaces and wall cavities. Add to that the fact that most city homes have never had air conditioning, so ductwork that was installed in 1938 has never been cleaned or sealed since. Every Trane system here fights salt air and moisture, and the ductwork is usually the first place that battle is lost.
Trane Models & Products We Service in San Francisco
We service the full Trane residential line: XR series (XR13, XR14, XR16) air conditioners and heat pumps, XB series (XB13, XB14) entry-level systems, XV series (XV18, XV20i) variable-speed systems, and legacy Trane Freedom and Weathertron heat pumps still running in older San Francisco homes. For critical components like blower motors and coils, we use OEM Trane parts when available. For standard flex duct, mastic, and fittings, we use high-quality aftermarket equivalents that meet or exceed spec. For Trane systems over 15 years old with corroded coils and failing flex duct, we give an honest repair-vs-replace assessment. Sometimes a targeted duct and coil clean is enough. Sometimes replacement is the smarter long-term call. We’ll tell you which is which before any money changes hands.
Trane Service Pricing in San Francisco
Air duct cleaning for a Trane system in San Francisco typically falls between $350 and $700 for a full system, depending on the home’s square footage, number of returns, and whether joist cavity sealing is required. A straightforward Trane heat pump with accessible duct runs might run $350 to $450. A pre-war home with open joist returns, abandoned duct runs, and deteriorated flex duct could push toward $600 to $700 because the work includes mastic sealing and structural cavity cleaning. Video inspection is included in the quoted price. The written quote we give before any work starts is the price you pay, flat. It does not move at the door. Call (361) 326-5060 for a free estimate on your Trane system.
Serving San Francisco, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the 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 – Trane Air Duct Cleaning in San Francisco
Usually yes, if the smell comes from mold, rodent debris, or corroded return ducts pulling crawlspace air into the system. Cleaning the ducts, evaporator coil, and blower assembly solves most musty odor problems in Trane systems. But if your return path uses open joist cavities, plain duct cleaning won’t be enough. The joist bays themselves need sealing with mastic. Call (361) 326-5060 and we’ll inspect before we quote.
Yes. Pre-war San Francisco homes, especially in the Richmond and Sunset, often have gravity-furnace conversions where Trane equipment pulls return air through floor joist cavities rather than dedicated return ducts. That requires cleaning the structural framing and sealing the cavities with mastic. A standard rotary brush and negative-air setup won’t reach what’s actually carrying the air you breathe.
Every 3 to 5 years is reasonable for most San Francisco homes because the marine layer accelerates corrosion and biological growth. Homes in the Outer Sunset or Richmond with open joist returns, rodent activity, or damp crawlspaces may need attention more often. If you notice musty air when the heat kicks on, visible dust around registers, or reduced airflow, get an inspection sooner. Call (361) 326-5060 and we’ll give you an honest read.
Yes, in most cases. We open the air handler access panel and clean the coil in place with a coil-safe cleaner and brush. If the coil is badly fouled from years of fog-driven humidity or rodent contamination, we may need to remove it for a thorough cleaning, but that’s the exception, not the rule. We’ll show you before-and-after video so you know exactly what was done.
Yes. Shared duct chases are common in San Francisco’s attached row houses and stacked flats. We coordinate with property managers and neighbors for access when needed, and we seal our section of the chase after cleaning to prevent cross-contamination. This is routine work for us and not something a suburban crew would typically handle.
Service Areas Near San Francisco
While this page is built around our San Francisco work, our crews also serve nearby communities across the Bay and beyond. If you’re outside San Francisco proper, please check our San Francisco service area page to confirm coverage before calling. We do have teams supporting Trane service in Seattle and Trane service in Nashville-Davidson, so if your property sits in one of those markets, that’s the page to read. For everything else in the Bay, this page is the right one. And if you’re looking for broader brand support, our Trane sales & service page goes deeper into the full Trane lineup we work on.
Book Your Trane Service in San Francisco Today
Call (361) 326-5060 and we’ll schedule our Dryer Vent Cleaning in San Francisco or your Trane duct cleaning at a time that works. Written price before work starts. 365-Day Done Right Promise on every job.
Written by Roy Castellanos, Owner at Hollis Air Duct Cleaning, serving San Francisco with independent Trane service since 2004.