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 Air Duct Cleaning Across Altadena
Air duct cleaning in Altadena typically runs $450-$850 for a full residential system and $1,200-$2,800 for commercial properties, with most jobs scheduled within a few days and completed in a single visit. We serve Altadena from our Los Angeles office, and our crews know the area from Lake Avenue down to the foothill neighborhoods below the San Gabriel Mountains. If your home is near the Eaton Fire burn perimeter or you’ve noticed persistent dust and smoke odor since January 2025, you’re not imagining it. Call us at (323) 918-4345 for a free estimate and we’ll show you exactly what’s in your ducts before we quote a price.
Why Morton’s Air Duct Cleaning Is Altadena’s Preferred Air Duct Cleaning Company
We’ve been part of the Cedarwell family since 2005, and our Air Duct Cleaning team has spent the past months working almost exclusively in Altadena’s fire-affected neighborhoods. Our customers here are specific about what they want: a written price before anyone touches anything, proof that the job was actually done, and a crew that respects the house. That’s exactly how we work.
Our technicians arrive in uniform with shoe covers and drop cloths already in hand. We use quiet equipment when we can, especially in homes with napping kids or anxious pets. Every job ends with a photo of the clean-up, sent before we leave. And our 365-Day Done Right Promise means if something isn’t right, we make it right. Full stop.
Altadena isn’t Pasadena. The foothills location, the older housing stock, the 1970s retrofits tucked into 1920s bungalows, these things matter when you’re cleaning ducts. We know what we’re walking into here.
Vent Cleaning in Altadena
Vent Cleaning in Altadena has become a different job since the Eaton Fire, because the vents most homeowners see are just the visible end of a system that may be packed with wildfire ash and smoke particulates. We clean supply vents, return vents, and the trunk lines behind them using Rotobrush agitation and Nikro negative-pressure collection, not a shop vacuum with a brush attachment. A typical residential vent cleaning in Altadena runs $280-$520 for a standard home with 8-12 vents.
What We Find Behind the Register
Altadena’s craftsman bungalows and Spanish colonial revivals often have original wall cavities that weren’t designed for forced air. When retrofits were added decades later, installers sometimes ran flex duct through tight spaces that crushed or kinked the line. We camera-inspect before we clean, so we know if we’re looking at a simple debris buildup or a duct that’s been partially collapsed since the Carter administration.
Post-Fire Vent Contamination
Even homes that never saw flame can have vents coated in sticky, acidic ash residue. Standard dusting doesn’t touch it. Our process uses source-removal methods that meet NADCA standards, with HEPA filtration so we don’t redistribute contamination into your living space.
Air Duct Repair in Altadena
Air Duct Repair in Altadena is often the real solution hiding inside what looks like a cleaning job. Disconnected runs, crushed flex duct, and deteriorated plenum seals are common in homes built between the 1920s and 1950s, and the 1970s retrofits added to many of these systems are now failing at their connection points. Repair work in Altadena typically ranges from $350-$800 for reconnection and sealing, and $900-$1,800 when sections of flex duct or metal trunk need replacement.
Hidden Damage in Older Systems
We regularly find ducts that have been blowing conditioned air into attics or wall cavities for years. Homeowners notice it as uneven temperatures or high utility bills, not as a duct problem. Our video inspection shows you exactly where the air is going, and we quote the repair before we cut anything open.
Sealing After Fire Exposure
Heat and smoke damage can degrade mastic seals and flex-duct tape that was already aging. In post-Eaton-Fire jobs, we often reseal plenums and trunk connections as part of the cleaning process, because the original sealant has become brittle or has pulled away from the metal.
Trusted Brands We Service in Altadena
We clean and service systems with components from Honeywell, Aprilaire, Abatement Technologies, and Guardsman, and we carry common replacement parts for these brands on our trucks. That means faster turnaround for Altadena customers, especially when we’re already on-site and discover a filter housing, plenum access panel, or damper that needs attention. Our Rotobrush and Nikro equipment is professional-grade, not rental-store gear, and we match the tool to the duct material, flexible brushes for corrugated flex lines, stiffer agitation for metal mains, and HEPA-contained vacuum for ash remediation.
Common Air Duct Cleaning Problems We See in Altadena Homes
- Eaton Fire ash packed into flex-duct corrugation. The 1970s-80s flex-duct retrofits common in Altadena’s older homes trap soot in their ribbed interior lining. A surface vacuum leaves the valleys full of contamination. Source removal with agitation and negative pressure is the only method that actually clears it.
- Disconnected or crushed runs hidden from view. Original 1920s-1950s ductwork in Altadena’s bungalows and ranch homes often has breaks at joints or crushing where flex was forced through tight wall cavities. Camera inspection finds what a register cleaning never would.
- Smoke-contaminated blower motors and plenums. After wildfire events, we see supply ducts that were cleaned or replaced while the air handler and blower motor were left coated in ash. Every HVAC cycle then re-contaminates the entire system. The job isn’t done until the blower assembly and plenum are cleaned too.
- Original duct materials never engineered for repeated smoke events. Altadena’s housing stock predates modern filtration and sealing standards. These systems pulled smoke continuously during the Eaton Fire, effectively vacuum-packing debris into every return and supply trunk.
Pricing for Air Duct Cleaning in Altadena, CA
We believe you should know what a job costs before you commit to it. Here’s what air duct cleaning runs in Altadena’s current market:
| Service | Typical Range |
|---|---|
| Residential vent cleaning (8-12 vents) | $280-$520 |
| Full residential system cleaning | $450-$850 |
| Post-fire remediation with HEPA containment | $650-$1,200 |
| Commercial duct cleaning | $1,200-$2,800 |
| Duct repair / reconnection | $350-$800 |
| Duct replacement (sections) | $900-$1,800 |
Your actual price depends on system size, accessibility, and whether we’re dealing with routine dust or Eaton Fire remediation. We provide a written price before any work starts, every time, with no per-vent add-ons or surprise charges after we’re in your home. Estimates are free. Call (323) 918-4345 to schedule.
We Also Serve Cities Near Altadena
Our crews work throughout the San Gabriel Valley foothills, including Air Duct Cleaning in Altadena and surrounding communities. We also serve Pasadena, San Marino, Sierra Madre, and South Pasadena. Each area has its own housing stock and air quality challenges, and we adjust our approach accordingly.
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 About Air Duct Cleaning in Altadena
Air duct cleaning in Altadena now requires wildfire-specific remediation on a scale not seen in neighboring cities. Even homes that never burned have ductwork infiltrated with smoke, ash, and toxic particulates from burned structures, because HVAC systems ran continuously while contamination blanketed the neighborhood. We use HEPA-contained negative pressure and source-removal methods that exceed standard cleaning protocols. Call (323) 918-4345 for a free assessment of your system.
Yes. Altadena’s 1920s-1950s homes often have original metal ductwork or 1970s flex-duct retrofits that are more fragile than modern systems. We camera-inspect first and match our equipment to the material, using softer agitation for aging flex and careful access for original wall cavities. Our written price includes any special handling before we start.
Wildfire smoke leaves acidic, sticky residue that standard dust removal won’t touch, and the corrugated interior of flex duct traps this contamination in valleys that vacuums can’t reach. Plenums collect soot on their interior surfaces, which then flakes off into airflow with every HVAC cycle. Our process removes this residue at the source rather than pushing it deeper.
We use video inspection to see inside your system before we quote any work. Contamination shows as coating on duct walls; damage shows as disconnected joints, crushed sections, or deteriorated seals. Sometimes it’s both. You’ll see the footage, and we’ll explain exactly what needs cleaning, what needs repair, and what each costs.
Yes. Our Nikro negative-pressure containment system captures debris at the point of agitation, and HEPA filtration on our exhaust prevents redistribution into your living space. We also seal registers during cleaning and use drop cloths to protect floors and furniture. Your home should smell and look better when we leave, not worse.
We spent the week in Altadena’s Country Club Park district, pulling a 1950s ranch duct that pulled ash from the Eaton Fire through every return. Our Rotobrush and Nikro negative-pressure setup snaked the flex runs, but the real fix was reconnecting a crushed trunk in the attic and sealing the plenum with mastic; the customer’s Honeywell filter had been pulling smoke directly into the air handler for weeks.
Altadena sits at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, so it takes the first hit from Santa Ana-driven ash and smoke; after the Eaton Fire, techs are pulling visibly ash-packed flex duct and soot-coated plenums even from homes that never burned, including near the Altadena Community Church on Lake Avenue. This foothills geography means HVAC systems here accumulate fire-related contamination far more aggressively than in the Pasadena flatlands a mile south. If you’re in Altadena and your ducts haven’t been inspected since January 2025, they almost certainly contain more than ordinary household dust.
Written by Paul Adeyemi, Owner at Morton’s Air Duct Cleaning, serving Altadena since 2005.