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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AfterHow Much Does Air Duct Cleaning Cost in Los Angeles?
Air duct cleaning in Los Angeles typically costs $450 to $1,200 for a standard single-family home, with most jobs landing near $650. Larger homes, second systems, and heavy buildup push the number higher; a small condo with one system and easy access can come in under $400. Those ranges include the whole-house negative-pressure extraction most LA homeowners actually need, not a vent-only wipe-down that leaves the trunk lines untouched.
We’re Linden Air Duct Cleaning, and we’ve been doing this work since 2004 as part of the Threshold Group family. The first thing we do on any call is put the price in writing before any work begins. No surprise invoice at the end, no line item that appears after the tech is already in your attic. If you want a real number for your specific house, call (980) 447-2498 and a live person will pick up, any hour.
Key Takeaways
- A typical Los Angeles whole-house duct cleaning runs $450 to $1,200.
- Condos and smaller homes with a single system often fall between $350 and $550.
- Secondary systems, attic runs, and heavy dust in older housing stock add cost.
- You’ll get a written price before any work starts – always, no exceptions.
- Every repair is backed by a written guarantee and a free second visit if it fails.
Air Duct Cleaning Cost Breakdown (2026)
Pricing in Los Angeles breaks down by system, access, and how much buildup we find. Here’s what the line items look like on a 2026 invoice.
| Service | Typical LA Range |
|---|---|
| Whole-house air duct cleaning (single system) | $450 – $800 |
| Two-system home (common in two-story LA builds) | $750 – $1,200 |
| Condo / apartment with one compact system | $350 – $550 |
| Vent-only cleaning (no trunk line work) | $150 – $300 |
| Dryer vent cleaning (add-on or standalone) | $125 – $250 |
| Air duct repair (sealing, reconnecting, patching) | $250 – $900 depending on access |
| HVAC coil and blower cleaning | $200 – $450 |
| Sanitizing / antimicrobial treatment | $100 – $300 |
| Return and supply register cleaning (per register) | $8 – $20 |
What actually drives the price up or down is system count and access. A 1950s ranch house in Van Nuys with a single attic system and wide registers is a straightforward job. A 1920s bungalow in Highland Park with original galvanized ducting, a converted basement, and a crawl space run is not – that’s more time, more equipment, and sometimes a repair quote attached. We carry Rotobrush and Nikro equipment specifically because both handle tight LA attic clearances better than a standard rig, which keeps labor hours down and the price honest.
If we find a disconnected joint or a crushed flex run during cleaning, we tell you before doing anything about it. Air duct repair usually falls between $250 and $900 based on where the problem is and how hard it is to reach. If a covered repair doesn’t hold, we come back at no charge – that’s the second-visit guarantee, and it’s in writing on the invoice.
What Affects Air Duct Cleaning Pricing in Los Angeles
LA is not a flat market. The housing stock alone ranges from brand-new Playa Vista construction to pre-war bungalows with duct systems that predate air conditioning. Here’s what moves the number.
- Number of HVAC systems. Two-story homes in neighborhoods like Sherman Oaks and Encino commonly run two separate systems, sometimes three. Each system is its own cleaning job with its own trunk lines and returns.
- Duct material and age. Older galvanized steel in Echo Park and Boyle Heights tends to have more corrosion and more joints that leak. Newer flex duct in North Hollywood conversions is faster to clean but more prone to kinks and tears that need repair.
- Attic and crawl space access. A low-pitch attic on a 100-degree August day in the Valley is a different job than a walkable attic with a decked floor. Access panels, tight turns, and crawl space runs all add labor time.
- Local dust and air quality. LA’s airborne particulate from freeway proximity, wildfire smoke seasons, and near-constant construction dust means ducts here load up faster than in most markets. Homes near the 101 and 405 corridors and downwind of the Sepulveda Pass tend to have visibly heavier residue at the first cleaning.
- Pets and household load. Multiple pets, wood-burning fireplaces, recent remodeling, or a house that sat through a renovation all increase debris volume. Post-renovation cleanings are common in Silver Lake and Los Feliz where older homes get gut-renovated.
- Additional services. Dryer vent cleaning, coil cleaning, and sanitizing treatments are priced separately and often make sense to bundle into the same visit rather than pay a second trip charge.
One thing that does not affect our pricing: whether you’re in Downtown LA, Culver City, or the San Fernando Valley. We quote from your duct layout and system count, not your zip code. You can read more about how we approach the work on our Air Duct Cleaning in Los Angeles page.
How to Save on Air Duct Cleaning
There’s no magic coupon that drops a $900 job to $300, and anyone promising that is cutting the kind of corners you’ll pay for later. But there are real ways to keep the number reasonable.
- Bundle services in one visit. Adding dryer vent cleaning or coil cleaning to the same trip costs far less than scheduling them separately, since the equipment and setup are already on site.
- Time it around your system, not a sale. If you just had HVAC work done, have the ducts cleaned after the install or repair, not before, so you’re not paying twice for the same debris.
- Ask for a written quote up front. A free estimate from us means you get the exact figure before anyone commits – no “we’ll see once we’re in the attic” pricing.
- Keep up with filters. A $20 filter change every few months slows how fast your ducts reload, which stretches the years between cleanings. This matters more in LA than in most cities given how much airborne dust we deal with.
- Don’t skip the small stuff. Register cleaning and dryer vent service are inexpensive add-ons that prevent bigger, costlier problems later. A clogged dryer vent is a fire risk, not just an efficiency issue.
Our estimates are free and there’s no pressure to book on the call. If you want the number in writing before you decide, that’s exactly how we work. Call (980) 447-2498 and we’ll walk you through what your home likely needs.
What the Price Actually Covers
It’s worth being clear about what separates a $450 job from a $250 one, because the difference isn’t the company’s mood that day. A proper whole-house cleaning includes the supply and return trunk lines, the branch runs, the registers, the plenum, and the air handler access. It uses negative-pressure extraction to pull debris out of the system rather than just blowing it around, followed by contact cleaning of the surfaces. Equipment from Rotobrush and Nikro lets us reach the full length of a run instead of cleaning the first few feet and calling it done.
A cheap “vent cleaning” often means a tech ran a shop vac over the visible registers and left the trunk lines full. That’s not a scam in every case – some companies genuinely only offer that service – but it isn’t the same job, and it doesn’t deliver the same result. When you compare quotes, ask what’s included and whether trunk lines and the air handler are part of it. A fair LA price for the full job starts around $450.
When Cleaning Isn’t the Answer: Repair and Replacement
Sometimes the ducts don’t need cleaning so much as fixing. If your system has disconnected joints, crushed flex runs, or leaks at the plenum, cleaning alone won’t solve the dust or the efficiency loss. Air duct repair typically runs $250 to $900 in Los Angeles depending on access and extent, and it’s a separate line item from cleaning.
Repair almost always beats replacement. Full duct replacement in an LA home can run into the thousands and often isn’t necessary if the existing system is sound and just needs sealing or reconnection. We’ll tell you which one you’re looking at after we’ve seen it, and the written guarantee covers the repairs we make. If a covered repair fails, we return at no charge.
One safety note we don’t skip: HVAC systems in LA homes occasionally involve gas furnaces and electrical components that are genuinely dangerous to work around without training. We handle those access points carefully and won’t talk a homeowner through a DIY fix on the gas or electrical side. That’s not our area and it isn’t yours. We’ll flag what we see and recommend the right trade when it’s needed.
Why Homeowners Choose Linden
Letting someone into your home is a real decision, and we treat it like one. Every Linden technician is background-checked, identity-verified, and arrives in a clean, marked uniform. Before your appointment, we text you the tech’s name and photo so you know exactly who’s coming. At the door, he shows a photo ID badge. This is The Threshold Standard, and it applies to every job, not just the ones we think to mention it on.
We’ve been serving homeowners since 2004 as part of the Threshold Group family, operating as an independently owned and operated location. Phones are answered by a live person 24/7 – no voicemail loops, no callback queues. If you call at 11 p.m. with a question about a quote, a human answers. We work with air-quality products from Honeywell, Aprilaire, Abatement Technologies, and Guardsman when a job calls for filtration or treatment upgrades.
What we don’t do is compete on being the cheapest. If price is your only criteria, there are companies in LA who will underbid us, and some of them will do a fine job on a simple system. What we compete on is the written price before work starts, the written guarantee on every repair, the free second visit if a repair doesn’t hold, and the verification that the person at your door is who we said he’d be.
FAQs – Air Duct Cleaning Cost
How much does air duct cleaning cost in Los Angeles?
It usually costs $450 to $1,200 for a whole-house cleaning in Los Angeles, with most single-family homes falling near $650. Condos and smaller homes run $350 to $550. Two-system homes and heavy-buildup jobs sit at the top of the range. Call (980) 447-2498 for an exact quote – estimates are free.
Is it cheaper to clean or replace air ducts?
Cleaning is almost always cheaper, running $450 to $1,200 versus several thousand for full replacement. Replacement only makes sense when ducting is collapsing, badly corroded, or sized wrong. Repair, at $250 to $900, is often the middle path. Call (980) 447-2498 and we’ll tell you which one you’re looking at.
How often should ducts be cleaned in Los Angeles?
Every 3 to 5 years for most LA homes, and every 2 to 3 years if you’re near a freeway, have multiple pets, or recently remodeled. The wildfire smoke seasons and construction dust in this city load systems faster than the national average. A short call to (980) 447-2498 is enough for us to guess your interval based on your address.
Can you clean my ducts the same day I call?
Often yes, depending on the day and system size. Because a live person answers 24/7 at (980) 447-2498, you’ll get a real answer about same-day availability rather than a scheduler that can’t confirm anything. Larger two-system homes sometimes need a next-day slot to allow enough time.
What’s included in the written price?
Everything we do on the job: trunk lines, branch runs, registers, plenum, and air handler access, using negative-pressure extraction and Rotobrush or Nikro equipment. The price is put in writing before any work begins, every time. If a covered repair fails within the guarantee period, we return at no charge. Call (980) 447-2498 for your written estimate.
Written by Marcus Veale, Owner at Linden Air Duct Cleaning, serving Los Angeles homeowners since 2004.
Pricing reflects the Los Angeles market as of 2026. Linden Air Duct Cleaning offers free estimates – call (980) 447-2498.
What Our Customers Say
"We had construction dust packed into every register after a remodel. They sealed off the returns, used negative pressure, and left the floors cleaner than they found them."
- Paul E."I liked that I knew who was coming in. Name and photo texted ahead, badge at the door. He was quiet, careful with the furniture, and thorough."
- Cheryl A."Thorough job on all eleven vents and the main trunk. Took longer than the three hours they quoted, but he told me early and kept working. Air feels fresher."
- Meredith L.