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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AfterAir Duct Cleaning in Altadena, CA: What It Costs and What We Actually Find
Air duct cleaning in Altadena typically runs $380-$690 for a full single-system home, with the final figure depending on how many duct runs the house has and what condition they’re in. For most of the homes we service here, the bigger question isn’t the cleaning itself. It’s what the camera shows once we open the first panel. Homes that survived the January 2025 Eaton Fire often have ash, soot, and combustion residue packed into ductwork even when the living spaces look fine. CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning gives you a written price before any work starts and a photo record of every duct run when we leave. Call (806) 606-6902 to schedule a video inspection first.
Fast, Reliable Air Duct Cleaning Across Altadena
Altadena is a community we know street by street, from the winding lanes off Loma Alta Drive to the older ranch-home neighborhoods east of Lake Avenue. The homes here were built differently than what you find across the county line in Pasadena. We’re talking Craftsman bungalows from the 1920s, original tract ranches from the 1950s and 1960s, and a lot of ductwork that has never been replaced. When wind events push dust and ash down from the San Gabriels, these systems take the hit. Our crews serve Altadena from our Los Angeles dispatch office, and every technician who arrives at your door is background-checked, uniformed, and identified by name. If you need Air Duct Cleaning done right the first time, with documentation of what was actually removed, call (806) 606-6902.
Why CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning Is Altadena’s Preferred Air Duct Cleaning Company
We built our reputation in Altadena on showing people what’s inside their ducts before asking them to spend a dollar. Since 2013, CleanRun has completed over 52,000 jobs, and every one of them had two things in common: a written price before work began and a photo record when the crew finished. No other company we know of makes that promise in writing.
What that means for an Altadena homeowner after the Eaton Fire is concrete. We can show you the ash embedded in your supply ducts. We can show you the disconnected return run pulling attic air. And we can show you the after photos proving the contamination is gone.
Reviews from Altadena customers tend to mention the same things: the technician was named before arrival, the price didn’t change mid-job, and the photos made it clear the work was real. That’s not an accident. It’s Haven Standard Clause 1: written price before work starts. Clause 6: Documented Photo Record on every visit. Not marketing language. Contract terms.
Response time to Altadena is typically same-week for video inspections and cleanings, depending on scheduling demand. Call (806) 606-6902 and we’ll give you a straight answer about the calendar.
BeforeAfterOur Air Duct Cleaning Services in Altadena
Residential Duct Cleaning
Most Altadena homes have between 8 and 16 duct runs. We clean every supply and return run using negative-pressure extraction, which means the system is sealed and vacuumed from the main trunk, not just poked at from the registers. In a mid-century ranch off Altadena Drive, that often means removing decades of accumulated dust, pet dander, and, in many homes since January 2025, Eaton Fire ash.
Commercial Duct Cleaning
Altadena has a thin commercial strip along Lake Avenue, plus small office spaces, churches, and storefronts with rooftop or crawlspace duct systems. We clean commercial ductwork with the same documentation standard we use in homes. Every duct run is photographed before and after, and every job is quoted in writing before we begin. If you manage a commercial property in Altadena, call (806) 606-6902 for a written scope.
Supply Duct Cleaning
Supply ducts are the part of the system that moves conditioned air from your furnace or HVAC unit into the rooms. In Altadena homes that ran their HVAC during the evacuation window of the Eaton Fire, supply ducts are the place where ash was distributed. The blower pulled fine combustion particulates through the return grille and pushed them into every supply run. Our supply duct cleaning uses HEPA-filtered negative air and agitation tools to break the bond between ash and the inner lining of the duct.
Return Duct Cleaning
Return ducts bring air back to the HVAC system, and in Altadena’s older homes they’re often the most neglected part of the system. We regularly find return runs that are disconnected at joints, pulling dusty attic air directly into the blower. When that happens, cleaning alone won’t fix the problem. The duct has to be reconnected and sealed. That’s where our video inspection changes the job: we see the disconnect, show it to you on camera, and include the repair in the written quote.
Full System Cleaning
A full system cleaning in Altadena covers the supply and return sides, the main trunk line, the plenum, and the registers. We also clean the blower motor and housing when accessible. This is the service we recommend after a wildfire event, because partial cleaning leaves ash in the trunk line that will re-contaminate the whole system within weeks. For a typical 1950s tract home near Loma Alta Drive, a full system cleaning runs $450-$690 depending on run count and accessibility.
Video Inspection
Before we recommend any cleaning, we run a camera through the ductwork and show you what we see. This matters more in Altadena than almost anywhere else in Los Angeles County, because the question isn’t whether your ducts are dirty. It’s what they’re dirty with. Our video inspections have documented ash, char debris, disconnected runs, and compressed flex duct in systems that looked fine from the register. The inspection is included when we quote a cleaning, and we’ll give you the footage as part of your job record.
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 Altadena
The equipment we run in Altadena homes comes from brands you can look up and verify. We use Rotobrush and Nikro agitation and extraction systems, plus Abatement Technologies HEPA filtration units on post-fire jobs. When a system needs a new Aprilaire filter housing or a Honeywell media cabinet, we stock common parts locally so we’re not ordering pieces and stretching the job into a second visit. If your Altadena home has a specific HVAC brand, mention it when you call (806) 606-6902 and we’ll tell you what we carry.
Common Air Duct Cleaning Problems We See in Altadena Homes
- Post-Eaton Fire ash in return and supply runs: Even homes that never burned had smoke and ember-cast particulate pulled into their systems while the power was still on. That ash is fine, carcinogenic, and it sits in the duct lining until it’s removed mechanically.
- Disconnected or crushed duct runs in mid-century homes: The original metal or flex duct in 1950s through 1970s Altadena homes often separates at the joints. A disconnected return run in the attic pulls attic air, dust, and whatever else is up there straight into the blower.
- Fiberglass duct board that traps contaminants: Altadena has a lot of original fiberglass duct board. It’s porous. Ash, smoke odor, and fine particulates embed in the material and won’t release during a standard vacuum-only cleaning.
- Rapid re-contamination from Santa Ana wind events: When Santa Ana winds push mountain dust and chaparral particulates down through Altadena at 40 to 60 mph, unsealed duct leaks pull that grit inside the system. Homes that don’t get their ducts sealed after cleaning often look dirty again by the next season.
Pricing for Air Duct Cleaning in Altadena, CA
A standard residential air duct cleaning in Altadena runs $380-$690 for a full single-system home, and the quote we give you is the price you pay. No per-vent add-ons. No upsell after the panel comes off. That’s the whole point of Haven Standard Clause 1: one written price per system, agreed before work starts.
Here’s the breakdown for what we typically see in Altadena:
- Supply duct cleaning only: $180-$320
- Return duct cleaning only: $130-$250
- Full system cleaning (supply, return, trunk, plenum, registers): $380-$690
- Post-fire or heavy ash remediation with HEPA filtration: $550-$850
- Video inspection and written scope: included with every quoted job
- Duct sealing or reconnecting separated runs: quoted separately after camera review
If a home has a second system or an unusually high number of duct runs, the price lands higher. We’ll tell you exactly why before anything starts. Estimates are free. Call (806) 606-6902.
We Also Serve Cities Near Altadena
CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning works throughout the San Gabriel Valley foothills. Our service area for Air Duct Cleaning in Altadena also covers Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Gabriel, and Alhambra. If you’re just over the city line, the same written pricing policy and photo documentation apply. Call (806) 606-6902 and tell us which neighborhood you’re in.
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 - Air Duct Cleaning in Altadena
No, not reliably. A standard vacuum-only cleaning removes surface debris, but Eaton Fire ash embeds into the porous fiberglass duct board used in many 1950s through 1970s Altadena homes. Removing it requires negative-pressure extraction, HEPA filtration, and mechanical agitation tools that break the bond between the ash and the duct lining. That’s the only method we use on post-fire homes. If you think your system was exposed during the fire, call (806) 606-6902 and we’ll run a camera before recommending anything.
Santa Ana winds push dry, dusty air from the high desert down through the San Gabriel Mountain passes directly into Altadena. Fine mountain dust and chaparral particulates get pulled into HVAC intakes and, if the ductwork has even small leaks, distributed through the system. Homes with unsealed ducts can show visible gray powder at the registers within a few months of a cleaning. Sealing the ducts after cleaning is the most effective way to slow that cycle.
The camera shows separation, blockage, and contamination that you cannot see from the register. In Altadena’s older homes we routinely find disconnected return runs pulling attic air, crushed flex duct under the house, and fiberglass duct board saturated with ash. A push-only cleaning with no camera would miss all three and leave the system exactly as dirty as before. That’s why we include video inspection with every quoted job and give you the footage as part of the record.
Because the ash and odor-causing particulates are still in the system. A cleaning that only addresses the supply ducts, or that does not use HEPA filtration, leaves combustion residue in the trunk line, the return side, or the blower compartment. Some homes also have disconnected return runs recirculating attic air that picked up smoke odor during the fire. The camera shows us which one is happening, and then we clean and seal accordingly. Call (806) 606-6902 and we’ll tell you what we see.
In many cases, yes. Cleaning removes what’s already in the duct. Sealing stops new contamination from entering. Original ductwork from the 1950s through 1970s often has failing tape at the joints, gaps at the plenum connections, and separated runs. If you clean without sealing, the system stays clean for weeks, not years. We quote both together when the camera shows leakage, and the sealed system is what keeps the next Santa Ana wind event from undoing the work.
Written by Tomas Reyes, Owner at CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning, serving Altadena since 2013.