Welcome to KleenKuip.com's Professional Carpet Cleaners Discussion Forum!

  
Carpet Cleaning Forum Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > Carpet Cleaners Discussion > Air Duct Cleaning & Indoor Air Quality Discussion
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Duct Cleaning in new homes is a scam.
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login


Commercial Floor Cleaning Machines

Duct Cleaning in new homes is a scam.

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <12
Author
Message Reverse Sort Order
Superglide Ken View Drop Down
Grand Potentate
Grand Potentate

SGK

Joined: 17/March/2004
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 4868
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Superglide Ken Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06/February/2009 at 7:49pm
Duct cleaning cleans the duct walls clean to a higher state of clean than existed before. Regardless of wether there are health effects from doing it(in most cases there are not), it makes people feel better that it has been done. That alone is why the service is needed.
Inventor of the Teflon Wand Glide and the Turboteck Rotary Air Duct Cleaners for TMs.
Back to Top
Sponsored Links


Back to Top
jaymark1 View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 27/January/2009
Location: Willow Grove
Status: Offline
Points: 129
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jaymark1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06/February/2009 at 5:31pm
You are right, the man who showed customers a bag full of dust he kept on the truck was dishonest, but he had to be because he just wasnt finding anything to clean.  He is not the only one, men I trust, good honest men, who have been in the HVAC industry for 25 years have said the same thing.
 
You can call me whatever you want, but I was in hundreds of homes over those 4 years, ripped apart hundreds of duct systems, and I had a hard time trying to convince myself this was an honest business.
 
Granted, I am sure when you clean a duct system, you find a bag full of crap, and the customer is amazed, but the pictures you have on your website ken, are not the typical senerio in someones home, and in my opinion dishonest.  The most I ever found on a duct system was just a layer of dust, which most of the time, was permintly stuck on due to condensation and constent change of temp, it was NOT floating in the air.  And im sure when you removed that layer of dust, it filled up a bag, please see article below!
 
Dont tell me I dont know anything about it sir, I have eyes, I can see that a duct is not dirty.  I know load limits on ducts, i did the math, I constructed duct systems on a computer, I hung duct, installed systems, have you sir?  Just because you run a alittle brush thru the duct and suck it out, and I dont do duct cleaning, doesnt make you the expert, and me the idiot sir.
 
I do believe duct cleaning can only be preformed in these couple of instances.  Right after new construction, since the construction guys us ducts as a trash can, guess what Ken, that HVAC company I worked for, had contracts with one of the largest home builders in america so i saw alot of duct systems.   You are right, construction dust will kill a system, but try and convice someone who just bought a new million dollar home that they need to spend a couple of hundred bucks because there ducts are dirty!!!!   In an older house that didnt keep up with proper maintance, when a filter has not been replaced, and in cased of mold.  If there is mold though, most of the time it is in what they call duct board, not ducts, unless you have a constant water source.  Please see last sentence from article below!
 
 
 
This is a report from the EPA  It was written by Jeanne Huber, who works for the Washington Post Ken, and 10 years later, the EPA still doesnt recomend it.
 
"In 1997, the EPA released a 16-page handout based on that research. It was pretty damning. "Duct cleaning has never been shown to actually prevent health problems," the report said. "Neither do studies conclusively demonstrate that particle (e.g., dust) levels in homes increase because of dirty air ducts or go down after cleaning. This is because much of the dirt in air ducts adheres to duct surfaces and does not necessarily enter the living space." The report went on to say that duct cleaning could be useful if there is visible mold inside ducts, but only if they are metal or other solid material, and only if the cleaning is done properly. Ducts with interior insulation can't be adequately cleaned and must be replaced if they become moldy."
 
 
 
I dont predict the future or sell glides, am I allowed on this site?
Back to Top
Superglide Ken View Drop Down
Grand Potentate
Grand Potentate

SGK

Joined: 17/March/2004
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 4868
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Superglide Ken Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06/February/2009 at 4:45pm
Originally posted by CCandmore CCandmore wrote:

Like the man you described, there are a lot of dishonest and/or incompetent duct cleaners around who sometimes give the industry a bad name.  If the ducts aren't dirty, I tell the customer it's not needing to be cleaned.  I lose that job, but get many referrals for being honest.
 

I have a a separate vehicle and equipment for air duct cleaning, not some vac hose attachment or Rotobrush.  When I clean the ductwork, plenum, trunklines, blower, and coils I get a lot of crap out.  I show the customer before and after.  The local HVAC companies have seen my work and started recommending my company to their customers after furnace replacements, IF IT IS NEEDED.  When I treat for mold, etc. I  use an EPA approved microbiocide, not some glorified air freshener like Envirocon. 

 

I seldom clean new construction, however there are times when it is neccessary.  Drywall work taking place while the air is running is not uncommon.  Heavy drywall dust on the AHU coils/fins will make the AHU very inefficient and send it to an early grave - ask any HVAC installer or repairman.  I those instances, I do clean the ductwork, coils, etc. removing the drywall dust from the system and restoring the efficiency and longevity of the AHU.

 

I'm glad you're not charging people for the service, since you obviously do not know a lot about it.  Don't make statements badmouthing an entire industry based on your own very limited experience.



I agree.
Inventor of the Teflon Wand Glide and the Turboteck Rotary Air Duct Cleaners for TMs.
Back to Top
CCandmore View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 07/December/2006
Location: Virginia, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 150
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CCandmore Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06/February/2009 at 3:40pm
Like the man you described, there are a lot of dishonest and/or incompetent duct cleaners around who sometimes give the industry a bad name.  If the ducts aren't dirty, I tell the customer it's not needing to be cleaned.  I lose that job, but get many referrals for being honest.
 
I have a a separate vehicle and equipment for air duct cleaning, not some vac hose attachment or Rotobrush.  When I clean the ductwork, plenum, trunklines, blower, and coils I get a lot of crap out.  I show the customer before and after.  The local HVAC companies have seen my work and started recommending my company to their customers after furnace replacements, IF IT IS NEEDED.  When I treat for mold, etc. I  use an EPA approved microbiocide, not some glorified air freshener like Envirocon. 
 
I seldom clean new construction, however there are times when it is neccessary.  Drywall work taking place while the air is running is not uncommon.  Heavy drywall dust on the AHU coils/fins will make the AHU very inefficient and send it to an early grave - ask any HVAC installer or repairman.  I those instances, I do clean the ductwork, coils, etc. removing the drywall dust from the system and restoring the efficiency and longevity of the AHU.
 
I'm glad you're not charging people for the service, since you obviously do not know a lot about it.  Don't make statements badmouthing an entire industry based on your own very limited experience.
Back to Top
jaymark1 View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 27/January/2009
Location: Willow Grove
Status: Offline
Points: 129
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jaymark1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06/February/2009 at 2:06pm

I know im going to get alot of flack for this one. 

Before I started my carpet cleaning business, I put myself thru college working at a HVAC business.  We did a good amount(50%) of replacement.  Meaning, we would take out the old heater, and install a new, along with often replacing the duct work.  I can only remeber, and I stress this is in the average home, 2 occasions where duct cleaning might have made a difference.   

Before you call me an idiot, or stupid, or that im a virgin or something, understand that I did see homes where a filter wasnt changed, or there was construction debris.  I am refering to the average home that maintained there system and changed there filter.
 
The man who was a VP at the company, also did duct cleaning before he came to the company, someone who I thought of as a good friend.  He even said it was a scam, and he used to have to carry a bag of dirt around for when people asked to see what was in the duct.  I didnt say he was honest!
 
about 2 years ago, the bosses son and I were looking into adding it to the company, since it was large, 50 employees and 30,000 customers over the years.  And after awhile, we both looked at each other and gave up.  I could not morally charge people for the service.
 
When you look at the amount of material that is floating in the air, cleaning the dirt out of a duct wont make much of a difference.  I know there will be people who will quote some EPA guildline, but the simple fact is that there is very few occasions where the duct gets covered like you see in duct cleaning ads.
 
I even saw on here someone said every 6 months you need your ducts cleaned, you gotta be kidding me


Edited by jaymark1 - 06/February/2009 at 2:11pm
I dont predict the future or sell glides, am I allowed on this site?
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <12

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.06
Copyright ©2001-2023 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.234 seconds.