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 HVAC Cleaning Across Altadena
HVAC cleaning in Altadena costs $480-$1,150 for a full system on a typical three-bedroom home, with post-Eaton Fire remediation work running higher when duct sealing and coil treatment are required. That’s the honest range, written down before a single panel comes off. CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning has been documenting what’s actually inside Altadena ductwork since before the January 2025 fire, and what we’re finding now is unlike anything in neighboring Pasadena or South Pasadena. Call (806) 606-6902 and we’ll put a written price in your hands before any work begins.
Why CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning Is Altadena’s Preferred HVAC Cleaning Company
Altadena homeowners ask harder questions than most, because January 2025 rewrote what “clean air” means here. We answer with a camera, not a sales pitch. Every job in Altadena includes a documented photo record of every duct run, before and after, delivered to you as part of the standard job record. That’s been our practice since our first job in 2013, and it’s why the HVAC Cleaning work we perform here holds up under scrutiny.
Tomas Reyes, who leads CleanRun, insists on one rule above all: no work begins until you’ve seen a written scope and price. Under Haven Standard Clause 1, the price is on paper before we touch a register. For Altadena homeowners dealing with smoke odor, ash, and the uncertainty of what a prior “clean” actually did, that documentation is the difference between guessing and knowing.
Our HVAC Cleaning Services in Altadena
Evaporator Coil Cleaning
Your evaporator coil sits inside the air handler, and in Altadena it’s collecting more than dust. After the Eaton Fire, we’re pulling coils with a gray, gritty film that isn’t household dirt - it’s ash that passed through the return ducts and condensed onto the wet coil surface. A coil loaded with this residue loses heat transfer efficiency and forces the compressor to work harder. We remove the coil, document the condition with before photos, clean it with professional-grade solutions, and treat it to resist re-adhesion of fine particulates. On mid-century Altadena systems with original carrier coils, this single step often restores cooling capacity that had silently degraded over decades.
Blower Cleaning
The blower wheel is the heart of air movement, and in Altadena’s post-fire homes it’s been distributing ash through every supply register. Each curved blade on the blower wheel collects a fine coating of particulates, and once loaded, the blower throws less air while consuming more power. We remove the blower assembly, photograph the wheel, and clean it blade by blade. On systems near Lake Avenue or around the Altadena Country Club, blowers that ran during the evacuation window are often the single most contaminated component in the entire system. A clean blower on a rebalanced system will move air quietly and predictably.
Condenser Cleaning
Your outdoor condenser sits in the path of Santa Ana winds and downslope mountain dust. The coil fins on a condenser in the foothills above Altadena trap chaparral debris, ash fall, and cottonwood fiber from the canyons. We wash the condenser coil with a low-pressure, high-volume rinse that clears the fin pack without bending the delicate aluminum. This is not a garden-hose rinse; it’s a systematic coil cleaning that restores the unit’s ability to reject heat. Homes along Fair Oaks Avenue or near the Rubio Canyon area see heavy seasonal loading, and an annual condenser clean cuts compressor wear measurably.
Air Handler Cleaning
The air handler is where Altadena’s post-fire air quality problems become visible. We open the cabinet, document the interior, and vacuum the plenum, blower compartment, and all accessible surfaces using HEPA-filtered negative-pressure extraction. Older Altadena homes with original fiberglass duct board in the return side often have shedding fibers and trapped smoke odor that requires more than a surface wipe. We clean the interior surfaces, sanitize where appropriate, and photograph before and after so you see exactly what was removed. Haven Standard Clause 7 requires documented verification, and that’s what you receive.
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.
BeforeAfterTrusted Brands We Service in Altadena
We service all major HVAC equipment in Altadena homes, and we use professional-grade tools from brands you can look up independently: Rotobrush agitation and extraction systems, Nikro HEPA-filtered negative air machines, Abatement Technologies containment equipment, and Honeywell and Aprilaire air quality components when filtration upgrades are part of the scope. We don’t ask you to take our word for the equipment. You can verify the names, the specs, and the application. For Altadena’s post-fire conditions, the combination of Nikro HEPA filtration and Guardsman coil treatment products is the difference between a cosmetic clean and source removal.
Common HVAC Cleaning Problems We See in Altadena Homes
- Ash-packed duct board in older bungalows. The 1920s-1940s Craftsman homes around Mariposa Street and near the Altadena Library commonly have original fiberglass duct board that absorbed smoke and ash during the fire. This material traps carcinogenic particulates rather than releasing them to a standard clean. Camera inspection is the only way to know how deep it went.
- Disconnected and crushed runs in mid-century ranch homes. The 1950s-1970s ranch tracts in west Altadena often have original metal ductwork with joints that separated or runs that got crushed during decades of crawlspace work. A blower pushing through disconnected ducts pumps conditioned air into the crawlspace and pulls unfiltered air back through the registers. We find these during every thorough HVAC cleaning, and sealing them is often the real fix.
- Smoke odor that lingers after a “standard” cleaning. Positive-pressure blow-and-go methods push particles deeper into flex duct and into the air handler itself. If a previous company cleaned your Altadena ducts and the smoke smell returned within weeks, the particulates were never removed - they were relocated. Source removal means negative pressure, agitation, and HEPA filtration the entire time.
- Blowers that ran during the evacuation window. In homes where the HVAC system continued running after ember cast or smoke entered the return side, the blower distributed fine ash through the entire duct network before power was cut. The visible components look fine. The blower wheel and coil tell a different story under a camera.
Pricing for HVAC Cleaning in Altadena, CA
A full HVAC system cleaning in Altadena typically runs $480-$1,150 depending on the number of systems, the condition of the ductwork, and whether post-fire remediation is required. Evaporator coil cleaning and treatment adds $180-$320 to a standard clean. Blower removal and cleaning is $140-$240. Air handler interior cleaning with HEPA extraction runs $200-$400. Duct sealing for older metal runs, where we find disconnected or crushed sections, adds $300-$700 depending on scope. Every quote is written before work starts. No exceptions, no per-vent games, no bait-and-switch pricing. That’s the whole point of Haven Standard Clause 1.
We Also Serve Cities Near Altadena
Our crews work locally in Altadena and also serve Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Gabriel, and Alhambra. If you’re in a neighboring community and curious about how your ductwork compares to what we’re finding across Altadena, we’re happy to bring the camera and show you. The written price and photo record apply to every job, no matter the ZIP code.
Serving Altadena, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Altadena 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 - HVAC Cleaning in Altadena
The only way to know is a camera inspection of the duct interior, air handler, and blower wheel. Ash from the Eaton Fire is fine and dark, and it clings to the rough interior surfaces of fiberglass duct board and flex duct in a way that a surface wipe or register cleaning won’t touch. A cosmetic cleanup leaves the visible grilles looking fine while the runs behind the walls stay loaded. We photograph the interior of every duct run as part of our standard process, so you see exactly what’s there. Call (806) 606-6902 and we’ll put what we find in writing.
No, a standard duct cleaning is not sufficient for wildfire contamination. Eaton Fire ash contains heavy metals, benzene residues, and combustion byproducts from destroyed structures that require source removal: negative-pressure extraction, mechanical agitation of the duct surfaces, and HEPA filtration throughout the process. A positive-pressure or blow-and-go method pushes these particles deeper into the system instead of removing them. For Altadena homes, we treat this as remediation, not routine maintenance.
Because the previous cleaning didn’t remove the source. Smoke odor lodges in the porous surfaces of fiberglass duct board and in the accumulated debris on the blower wheel and evaporator coil. A previous company that used positive pressure or skipped the air handler left those particles in place. The fix is removing the actual material - cleaning the blower, treating the coil, and sealing any disconnected runs that are pulling outside air into the system. Call us at (806) 606-6902 for a documented inspection.
Cleaning and sealing older metal ductwork in an Altadena ranch home typically runs $780-$1,850 total, depending on the number of runs and how many disconnected or crushed sections we find. The cleaning portion is $480-$1,150, and sealing adds $300-$700. Older metal ductwork from the 1950s-1970s often has separated joints in the crawlspace that no amount of cleaning can fix. We’ll write the exact price before work starts, and you’ll have a photo record of every run when we leave.
You should not run the system until the blower, coil, and ductwork have been inspected. Running the blower circulates whatever is in the ducts - ash, char, or mold - into every room of the house. In Altadena homes that ran their systems during the evacuation window, the blower already distributed ash throughout the duct network once. Running it again just re-aerosolizes the settled particles. Have a professional camera the interior of the blower compartment and the duct runs before you turn it back on. Call (806) 606-6902 and we’ll document what’s there.
Written by Tomas Reyes, Owner at CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning, serving Altadena since 2013.