Air Duct Cleaning Services
How should air duct cleaning services clean your ducts?
Air ducts are one of the sources of indoor air pollution. Air that comes through the ducts also brings with it dirt, dust, mites, pet dander, and other aerial contaminants. Some ducts are infested with vermin and rodents. You should clean up the ducts from time to time as far as you can reach. But professional cleaning of ducts once in every three to five years is reasonable. It will save you and your family from health hazards that are contracted through various aerial contaminants. When you schedule a service call with a duct cleaning company, here are a few things that you should do while cleaning your ducts:
• The professionals should open the ports and the doors in order to inspect and clean the empire duct work.
• Before they start the cleaning procedure they should check if there is asbestos –containing substances like insulation, register boots, etc. in the heating and cooling system. Handling asbestos-containing materials has a separate set of procedures. They should be removed only by specially trained and equipped contractors.
• Use modern brushes that are especially designed to clean the duct surfaces. A good cleaner would also use contact vacuum cleaning to remove dust and other particles The high-efficiency particle air (HEPA) machine has a large hose that attaches itself to your ducts. It pulls all the dust and debris from your ducts that ae loosened by the service provider with help of a round steel or nylon brush. The blower motor and the registers will be removed and cleaned. Access holes will be made into your trunk lines to ensure that all dirt and debris is accessed and removed.
• If you have duct boards made of fiberglass then they should use soft-bristled brushes to clean them. Flex ducts can also be cleaned by using soft bristle brushes but they are better replaced than cleaning.
• They should carefully handle carpets and other furniture of the house while cleaning ducts.
• The holes or accesses in the ducts that were used by the service providers to reach out to the remote sections should be sealed and re insulated after cleaning has been done.
• The duct cleaner should abide by the recommendations of NADCA(National Air Duct Cleaners Association)about air duct cleaning. If you ducts are made of fiber glass or have fiber glass lining on sheet metal then there are special guidelines by NAIMA's(North American Insulation Manufacturers Association's)about cleaning them. Your service provider should follow them.
• If your ducts are infected with molds and the cleaner proposes using chemicals on your duct to stop the growth, do enough research before allowing such use. Using chemicals in the duct scan cause possible health hazards. Also ensue that the chemical they use is EPA approved and it is handled and used according to the recommendations given on the label.
• The service provider should take snaps of the dirty duct before cleaning and take some snaps of it after cleaning. You should be given both the sets of photos so that you can compare each picture and assure yourself that the job has been done well.