Duct cleaning?

[Able 1]

Any of you guys doing it? There is a guy in town that said he dose well in the winter months.
If you do it what equipment do you have for it?

Keith

 

[Dolly Llama]

I know little to nothing about it.

I know of one outfit that does it here.
Their equipment looks like it would take a very sizable investment.
(if you wanted to do it "right" or well)

If you ask me, the dudes getting into it with that silly rotobrush thingie are akin to the dudes that clean carpet pt time with a Rug Doctor or Kirby



..L.T.A.

 

[lesterj2]

good luck getting a response they may tell you take a class, LOL.....

 

[Greg Loe]

Abatement technologies works great.Under $10,000 for most packages.

 

[miksar]

hey lester, that was good!

 

[Able 1]

good luck getting a response they may tell you take a class, LOL.....

I would take a class but none available... Nothin' wrong with going back to "school"! The guy I was talking about uses his TM. The expensive part is those camera's or at least looks that way.


Thanks,
Keith

 

[renegade_cowboy]

Get the right hoses and attachments you can use your TM.

Little investment. You just have to understand how the duct system works and know about furnaces.

:mrgreen:

 

[Able 1]

Get the right hoses and attachments you can use your TM.

Little investment. You just have to understand how the duct system works and know about furnaces.

:mrgreen:

I'm going to try to work with someone that dose ducts this winter, worth a try.

This guy said he was charging like $350.00 a house... Worth it in the slow times!

Keith

 

[packfancjh]

Interlink sells a system called Ramair which does a pretty good job. I would also recommend Air Care products.

 

[Able 1]

Interlink sells a system called Ramair which does a pretty good job. I would also recommend Air Care products.

Prices? Is there a catalog?

Thanks,
Keith

 

[lesterj2]

Interlink sells a system called Ramair which does a pretty good job. I would also recommend Air Care products.

Prices? Is there a catalog?

Thanks,
Keith

http://www.interlinksupply.com/

 

[packfancjh]

http://www.interlinksupply.com/index.ht ... ++++++++++ the Ramair system is around $900.00
http://www.air-care.com. Air cares prices range from around 2 to 3 G's up to around 10 G's I believe.

 

[Able 1]

Thank you! You think It's worth it? Do you do it?

Keith

 

[packfancjh]

I've used the Ramair on my own hosue and it worked pretty well. You do have to have an understanding of the operations of the duct system to properly clean them with this system. You also need a decent air compressor and a few other minor accessories with it but I like it for an entry level system. Low cost and easy to operate.

 

[Able 1]

Thanks Chris, Don't know if I really want to go with it yet but good info.

Keith

 

[The Preacher]

here in Florida you have to have an HVAC licence to do duct cleaning!

 

[Able 1]

here in Florida you have to have an HVAC licence to do duct cleaning!

Yeah that is not the fact here... The same guys that advertize 6.95 a room do ducts!

Keith

 

[packfancjh]

you don't need one here either

 

[The Great Oz]

Jim Pearson did a seminar on duct cleaning at Connections. He said the difference in systems is similar to the difference in truckmounts; you can get by with a small unit for small jobs, just like you can clean carpet with a small portable unit. He felt the smallest units were only appropriate for dryer vent cleaning and mobile homes. Bigger units allow you to do bigger jobs with less effort. He felt your minimum investment in all of the equipment needed should be between $25,000 and $45,000.

Duct cleaning courses are available through RIA and NADCA, and both will teach you to be professional enough to get top dollar for your efforts. In some states you need to be licensed to work on a heating system. http://www.nadca.com/training/

Of course, you can go the total hack method like a large local franchise. The owner said it was big easy money since "all you need is the cheapest equipment on the market and a guy the customers like, because they'll never know if you did a good job or not."

 

[Able 1]

I have wanted to go into this business with a friend that owns his own landscape bus. thought it would be good for both of us in the winter. Thing is I really don't believe in the whole air duct cleaning! It is hard to sell that! Who was that Poison "Give me somthing to believe in"

I posted this thinking some were doing it. Just putting the old feelers out there.

Keith

 

[ErikG]

[quote="Danny Strickland":c1rbnz5g]here in Florida you have to have an HVAC licence to do duct cleaning!

Yeah that is not the fact here... The same guys that advertize 6.95 a room do ducts!

Keith[/quote:c1rbnz5g]
Yeah that 6.95 a rm guy just unscrews the cover and throws his 1.5 hose down the duct and shakes around a bit to loosen the dirt then fogs it Probably ,ok mam that will 276.22 cash or credit lol

 

[TimP]

Ole Stanley Steamer does duct cleaning here......I seriously doubt they have a HVAC license.


You're looking at a 20 grand investment in equipment alone not to mention a vehicle....it's like adding another TM. That is if you want to do it right.....there are many just like with carpet cleaning that are out there that are doing it completely wrong!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Here you go, 3-jobs a month would make the payment. 8)

http://www.caddyvac.com/

 

[Walt]

http://www.interlinksupply.com/index.html?item_num=AC031+++++++++++++++ the Ramair system is around $900.00
http://www.air-care.com. Air cares prices range from around 2 to 3 G's up to around 10 G's I believe.

You better budget another 600-1000 for additional hose, fittings, air compressor and dust downer. Also, the cover that he sells needs to me modified by adding a foam seal on it. Additionally, it would be a good idea to fabricate additional covers for different situations - not all vents will work with the one provided. He should look into making a few different sizes.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

I have wanted to go into this business with a friend that owns his own landscape bus. thought it would be good for both of us in the winter. Thing is I really don't believe in the whole air duct cleaning! It is hard to sell that! Who was that Poison "Give me somthing to believe in"

I posted this thinking some were doing it. Just putting the old feelers out there.

Keith

The air ducts vents are the lungs of the house and do need to be cleaned out every few years. Its really not a hard sell. Just think when they turn on that venting system and the cold air return sucks in the bio pollutants, along with whatever is in the vents already and then cycle through the vents and then gets kicked back up in the air. Lowering your indoor air quality. Now if you have allergies then you will notice this alot effect ALOT more. I have cleaned alot of vents using the Hepafilter machine, TM and the Rotobrush and you will be suprised what you can pull out of the vents. Its a good service to offer if you want to invest into it. As far as selling, it really sells itself. Just like with carpet, uph, ect you have to educate them in the benifits of the services. It is something you shouldnt just jump into, get trained and get educated and it will be a great add on service for you.

Good Luck
:mrgreen:

 

[John Buxton]

Keith,

I did duct cleaning for 10 years, mainly as an owner / op. Duct cleaning usually picked up when carpet cleaning fell off. It was a great source of income when I started since there were only 4 companies in Indianapolis (12th largest city in the US) that were in the yellow pages so I got alot of calls. I took the first duct cleaning class that Unsmoke taught. That was in 1993, and none of the HVAC companies did it. Now its a different story, all of the larger ones do it, along with cheapass carpet cleaners. The bulk of my business came from HVAC and fire / water contractors. My minimum was $300.00 and that was for a couple hour job (easy). My biggest was a $37,000 job in a retirement home that took about 3 weeks.

I started with a portable electric hepavac and compressor in a trailer which was inexpensive but difficult in some driveways. I then bought a repossed truckmount that sold for $65,000 new. I got it for $22,000 with 9000 miles on a NPR Izusu diesel chasis. It was made by Altanic Engineering which makes portables and slide ins for ducts. I kept that truck for 8 years and sold it for $36,000 along with the biz name of "Airemasters".

Dont even think about using an accessory for your cc truck, they are a rippoff as is a rotojunk. You can always lease stuff cheap, or find used. The best thing you can do is get hooked up with the best company in a non-competitive market and do a work with. Your distributor may be able to help.

You need to test some waters as to where your business will come from before jumping in. I got out for a couple of reasons. My biggest customers were getting into it, and its a nasty dirty hard job (hope you like crawl spaces, attics, rodents, and breathing crap).

I can tell you anything you want to know about it so feel free to ask away or we can always talk on the phone.

 

[Able 1]

Thanks for the info guys! Not quite sure if I want to do it yet but to work all year would be real nice!

If I do I'll give you a call, John

Thanks again

Keith

 

[scotty747]

i agree with keith. my friend cleans ducts and its just like carpet. you may start witha porty but you'l end up with a truck if you want to grow, or just do a better job.

 

[Mikey P]

Coit did it for a while.

Man would they screw things up. One guy who took the NADCA class knew how to do it right but all the monkeys he trained just went out and messed things up.
I sold the service a few times and lost those customers for good.
Like some said here, you can hack your way through it if the brains of the home is at work you'll get away with it as long as you clean out the visible are in each register.

The Coit chimps got so lazy they wouldn't even take the covers off. Just hook up the porty vac to the plenum and then go to each register and blow some compressed air through the slits.



I was at a house doing the carpet while the HVAC guy was doing his thing. I was standing in the living room chatting with Mrs Pift when KAPOW! This HUGH blast of nasty funky filth comes wooshing up from a floor register, looked like I Dream of Genie was going to be standing there when the cloud settled.

The lady looks at me and asks "Is that suppose to happen?"





I know some pretty smart guys who couldn't pass the NADCA test the first time.

 

[John Buxton]

Work with the best in a non-competitive market and do it right or dont do it at all. You dont need NADCA they are mostly for commercial which is a whole different thing.