Frequently asked questions

For most homes, once a year is a reasonable baseline. Heavily used dryers, long duct runs, shared multi-family exhaust systems and homes with pets often benefit from more frequent service. In strata and rental buildings, an annual building-wide program keeps every suite on the same schedule and produces a clear service record.

Common signs include clothes taking more than one cycle to dry, a dryer that is hot to the touch, a burning or musty smell during operation, lint collecting around the exterior vent, and little or no airflow at the outside termination while the dryer runs. Any of these is a good reason to have the duct inspected and cleaned.

A booster fan is an in-line fan installed on longer dryer duct runs — common in apartments and townhomes — to help move air the full length of the duct. Because all of the dryer’s lint passes through it, the fan and its pressure sensor need periodic cleaning to keep working properly.

A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) continuously exchanges stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air while transferring heat between the two airstreams, so fresh air arrives without losing all the warmth you have paid for. Most newer BC homes and condos have one. Its filters, core and connected ducting need regular cleaning to keep airflow at design levels.

An energy recovery ventilator (ERV) works like an HRV but also transfers moisture between the incoming and outgoing airstreams, which helps manage humidity. From a maintenance perspective the two are similar: filters, the core, condensate paths and connected ducting all need periodic service.

Filters typically need attention every three to six months, and a fuller service — core, fans, condensate path and accessible ducting — is generally worthwhile annually. If a unit has never been serviced, the first visit usually makes a noticeable difference to airflow.

Make-up air units supply fresh, tempered air into a building — typically into hallways and common areas of multi-family buildings — to replace the air removed by exhaust systems. When they are dirty or neglected, hallways can feel stuffy, suites can be pressurized incorrectly, and odours travel between units.

Airflow testing measures how much air a system is actually moving, using an anemometer or flow hood at grilles, fans and terminations. It verifies that cleaning restored performance and identifies systems that are underperforming for reasons cleaning alone will not fix, such as crushed ducting or failed fans.

Yes, at both scales. Residential kitchens — houses, condos and multi-family suites — get hood, grease filter, fan and accessible duct cleaning with airflow checked afterward. Commercial kitchens — restaurants, hotels and institutional cooking operations — get hood-to-fan grease exhaust cleaning on a schedule matched to cooking volume, with before/after photo documentation.

We coordinate the program with your property manager or council: a service schedule is set, residents receive notice with access instructions, and our technicians work through the building suite by suite alongside any rooftop or common-area systems in scope. Afterward you receive a completion summary covering suites serviced, any no-access suites and any deficiencies observed.

No-access suites are tracked and reported rather than silently skipped. Depending on the program, we can schedule a return visit to catch missed suites or fold them into the next service cycle, so the building record always shows exactly which units are outstanding.

For work inside a suite — dryer connections, HRV units, bathroom exhaust — we need access, which can be the resident being home or building-arranged access where the building’s rules allow it. Exterior and rooftop work does not require suite access.

A typical residential dryer vent cleaning takes under an hour. HRV service or combined suite ventilation work usually runs one to two hours. Building-wide programs are scheduled by floor or block of suites and quoted with a clear timeline up front.

Many ventilation systems terminate at the roof, and rooftop terminations, exhaust fans and related components are part of our regular scope where access is safe and permitted. Rooftop work is coordinated with building management as part of scheduling.

Residential customers receive a service record of the work performed and anything worth monitoring. For building-wide programs we provide a completion summary: suites scheduled and completed, no-access units, deficiencies observed, before/after photos where useful, and a recommended date for the next service.

We document what we observed — for example damaged ducting, a disconnected joint, a failed fan or a crushed termination — with photos where practical, and include it in your service record with a plain-language explanation. Repairs beyond our service scope are flagged so you can address them with the appropriate trade.

Yes. Single-family homes, townhomes and individual condo suites are a core part of our work — most commonly dryer vent cleaning, HRV/ERV service and bathroom exhaust cleaning.

Yes. We service commercial properties, hotels, care facilities and institutional buildings — from individual exhaust systems to recurring maintenance programs covering ventilation systems across a whole facility.

We service Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the Sea-to-Sky Corridor — including Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, the North Shore, the Tri-Cities, New Westminster, Delta, White Rock, Langley, Maple Ridge, Mission, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton.

Yes — preventative maintenance is central to how we work. After a first service we recommend an appropriate interval for your systems, and buildings on a recurring schedule get consistent records, predictable budgeting and fewer surprises.

Pricing depends on the systems being serviced, the number of units or fixtures, access requirements (including rooftop work) and travel. Residential services are quoted simply and up front; building-wide programs are quoted after we understand the building’s systems, unit count and scheduling needs.