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.
Fast, Reliable Dryer Vent Cleaning Across Los Altos
Dryer vent cleaning in Los Altos typically runs $165 – $285 for a single vent run, and $310 – $540 when a home has two or more runs or a buried vent that needs camera inspection first. We serve the whole Los Altos area, from the ranch tracts off Foothill Expressway up to the hillside properties near Los Altos Hills, and we bring abatement-grade equipment to every job. If your dryer takes two cycles to dry a load, or you can smell lint heating up behind the wall, call us at (833) 620-7085. Neal Drummond leads our crew, and we treat dryer vents as the fire-prevention service they actually are, not a quick upsell.
Why Air Duct Cleaning Palo Alto Is Los Altos’s Preferred Dryer Vent Cleaning Company
Los Altos homeowners call us because we show up with equipment that most local cleaners don’t own. Our Dryer Vent Cleaning work uses Rotobrush contact-cleaning systems and Nikro HEPA negative-air machines. That means we capture lint and dust at the source instead of recirculating it through your laundry room. We don’t use a shop vac and call it done.
We’ve worked in enough 94022 and 94024 ranch homes to know what’s behind the wall before we open it. Older Los Altos houses hide vent runs under blown-in insulation, spliced with add-on flex from decades of remodels. We bring a camera inspection on every job so you see what we see. That’s the documentation piece most generic Bay Area duct cleaners skip, and it’s exactly what Los Altos homeowners expect.
Neal Drummond has built this company around a simple principle: clean the whole system, prove it, and repair what’s broken while you’re in there. From cleaning to repair, we handle it without referring you out to someone else. For dryer vents specifically, that means we’re a fire-code-aligned safety service. Not a commodity add-on.
Styles & brands we work with
- Whole-home duct cleaning
- Dryer vent cleaning
- Camera inspection
- Sanitizing & deodorizing
Dryer Vent Cleaning Company in Los Altos
A Dryer Vent Cleaning Company in Los Altos needs to understand that many homes here don’t have one short, straight vent run. They have long runs, sometimes 25 feet or more, buried under insulation, with elbows and splices hiding crushed sections. What we do is remove the lint, document the run, and repair any damage we find. A single vent cleaning in Los Altos runs $165 – $285. A full multi-run job with camera inspection and any needed vent replacement lands in the $310 – $540 range.
Camera-Backed Source Removal
We don’t guess. Before we start, we run a Rotobrush camera through the full vent pathway. In Los Altos ranch homes, especially in the 94024 side, we routinely find crushed flex behind laundry walls or disconnected sections in the attic. We use agitation tools under negative pressure with HEPA filtration, so the lint comes out into our containment, not back into the house.
Repair Before You Reload
If we find a crushed run, a disconnected joint, or a vent cap that’s rusted shut, we fix it on the spot. We carry replacement flex, rigid sections, and vent caps on the truck. That’s the difference between a cleaning and a solution. A vacuum-only crew can clean around a crushed section and leave you with half the airflow you paid for.
Dryer Vent Inspection in Los Altos
A Dryer Vent Inspection in Los Altos is the step that separates real cleaning from guesswork. Many local homes have vent runs that terminate under a low-pitch roof deck or through a re-roofed soffit. You cannot see most of that pathway from outside, and you cannot tell whether it’s clear or crushed without a camera. A standalone inspection runs $95 – $145 when booked with a cleaning, or $125 – $185 on its own.
What the Camera Checks
We look for lint compaction, crushed flex sections, disconnected joints, bird or rodent nests, and terminations that no longer vent properly to the outside. In 94040 and 94022 homes where laundry rooms were added during remodels, we often find a second dryer vent that the homeowner didn’t know existed, still full of lint. That’s a fire risk sitting in the wall.
After the Inspection, You’ll See It
We hand you before-and-after photos of your own vent run, not stock images. You’ll see the lint load before, the open pathway after, and any repair we made. For Los Altos homeowners who want air-quality readings and a written report, we can provide that too. You shouldn’t have to take anyone’s word for work you can’t see.
Trusted Brands We Service in Los Altos
We work on dryers from every major manufacturer, and our equipment list matters just as much. We run Rotobrush contact-cleaning systems for source removal, Nikro HEPA negative-air machines for containment, and we’re authorized to work with Honeywell and Aprilaire air-quality products when a Los Altos homeowner wants filtration added at the source. We carry common replacement parts on the truck, so a crushed flex section or a bad vent cap doesn’t mean a second appointment. Professional-grade equipment, not improvised tools.
Common Dryer Vent Cleaning Problems We See in Los Altos Homes
- Hidden runs beneath blown-in insulation. In the older ranch tracts off the 94022/94024 side, original vent runs get buried under insulation during re-insulation projects. You can’t see the damage, so you don’t know it’s there until a camera finds it.
- Multiple vents from add-on laundry rooms. Los Altos homeowners add square footage in phases. A 1960s rancher might have a new upstairs laundry with its own vent run, and nobody ever cleaned the second one. We map every run, not just the obvious one.
- Crushed flex behind remodeled walls. Remodeling crews crush flex duct when they close up walls. It happens constantly. A crushed run means slow drying, higher energy bills, and lint backing up in the wall cavity.
- Vent terminations that no longer vent. Re-roofing projects sometimes cover the old soffit termination without rerouting it. The dryer pushes lint into a dead space. We find these during camera inspections and reroute the termination properly.
Pricing for Dryer Vent Cleaning in Los Altos, CA
We price per vent run, not per square foot or per hour. A single, accessible dryer vent in Los Altos runs $165 – $285. Two or more runs, or a run that requires attic access and insulation moving, runs $310 – $540. Camera inspection is included in every cleaning. If we need to replace a crushed flex section or reroute a termination, we quote that as a separate line item before we start work. You agree to the number before anything happens. Call (833) 620-7085 for a free estimate on your specific home. We’ll tell you what we think it needs and what it’ll cost.
In Los Altos’s 94022 and 94024 ranch tracts, dryer vents often terminate under a low-pitch roof deck or through a re-roofed soffit. The entire lint pathway sits hidden above blown-in insulation, behind patched drywall, and under roofing that was replaced a decade or two ago. Nothing about that run is visible from inside the house. Only a camera inspection can confirm whether the run is clear, crushed, or disconnected. That’s not an upsell. It’s the entire point.
We recently handled a dryer vent cleaning near Elena Road up toward Los Altos Hills. The homeowner had a 1960s rancher with a 25-foot vent run buried under blown-in insulation and spliced with add-on flex. Our tech ran a Rotobrush camera inspection and found a crushed section behind the laundry wall, hidden where two remodel phases met. We pulled the lint with agitation tools under negative pressure and HEPA filtration, then replaced the damaged flex and restored full airflow. A vacuum-only service would have left that crushed section in place and called the job done. The homeowner would have had a clean vent for about a month before the lint started stacking up again.
See the difference
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After
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After
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AfterWhat Dryer Vent Cleaning Actually Costs in Los Altos
A typical single-run dryer vent cleaning in Los Altos costs $165 – $285. That includes camera inspection, source removal, and before-and-after photos. If your home has multiple dryer vents, which is common in expanded ranchers and two-story rebuilds, expect $310 – $540 depending on run length and access. The homes off Foothill Expressway and up toward the hills tend to have longer runs and lower attics, which adds time. We give you one flat price per system before work starts, so there’s no surprise when the invoice comes. Call (833) 620-7085 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
Why Some Dryer Vent Cleaning Quotes in Los Altos Are So Much Cheaper
Some local ads quote $49 or $59 for dryer vent cleaning. What that usually means is a crew with a shop vac and a drill attachment, no camera, no negative pressure, and no HEPA filtration. They clean what they can reach from the exterior opening and move on. In Los Altos homes with long or buried runs, that leaves most of the lint in place. The dryer still works, sort of, and the homeowner thinks the job was done. It wasn’t. If a quote sounds too low to include camera inspection and containment, it doesn’t include them. Ask the company what equipment they bring. If they can’t name it, that’s your answer.
How Do I Know The Dryer Vent Was Actually Cleaned?
You should receive before-and-after photos of your own vent run, taken with a camera inspection system. Not stock photos. Not a summary that says “cleaned successfully.” In Los Altos, plenty of homeowners have learned to ask for this because the work is hidden and you can’t climb into the attic to check. We document every job with camera images showing the lint load before, the open pathway after, and any repair work we did. You should also get a written note if we found anything unusual, like a crushed section, a bird nest, or a vent that wasn’t terminating correctly. That’s what accountability looks like.
We Also Serve Cities Near Los Altos
Our service area covers Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Palo Alto, and East Palo Alto. If you’re in one of the surrounding neighborhoods and your dryer is running slow, we’ll bring the same equipment and the same documentation standard. Call (833) 620-7085 to schedule.
Serving Los Altos, CA – Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Los Altos 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 Dryer Vent Cleaning in Los Altos
Because in most Los Altos ranch homes, especially in the 94022 and 94024 tracts, the vent run is buried under blown-in insulation and hidden behind remodeled walls. You can’t see whether it’s crushed, disconnected, or full of lint from the outside. A camera inspection shows us what’s actually inside your ducts and confirms the run is intact before and after we clean it. Without the camera, we’d be guessing. Call (833) 620-7085 and we’ll walk you through what the inspection covers.
We charge per vent run, not per hour. A home with an add-on laundry room, a second dryer hookup in the garage, or a separate vent for a remodeled upstairs laundry has multiple runs. Each one gets cleaned and inspected individually. The price we quote covers all of them as separate line items, so you know exactly what each system costs before we start. For a large Los Altos property with three runs, you’re typically looking at $310 – $540 total. Call (833) 620-7085 for a free estimate on your specific layout.
You should expect before-and-after camera photos of your own vent run, a written summary of what we found, and a note about any repairs we made. We also provide air-quality readings on request. Los Altos homeowners tend to want this level of documentation because the work is invisible and they’re detail-conscious about their homes. If a company can’t show you what they did, don’t pay them.
Every 12 to 18 months for most Los Altos homes. If we have a heavy wildfire smoke season, which happens during the September-October dry stretch near the Santa Cruz Mountains, you may want to clean sooner. Smoke ash settles into the vent run and mixes with lint, creating a heavier particulate load. Homes with long runs or multiple dryers should lean toward an annual schedule. We’re happy to note a recommendation for your specific home when we finish a job.
Yes, we work in low-clearance attics constantly. Many Eichler-influenced and mid-century ranch homes in Los Altos have attic spaces you can barely crawl through, with vent runs tacked along the roofline and buried under insulation. We bring narrow-profile tools and take our time. We’ve never had a vent run we couldn’t reach, but we’ll tell you honestly if access is unusually tight before we quote the work. Call (833) 620-7085 to discuss your home’s layout.
Call for Dryer Vent Cleaning in Los Altos
If your dryer is running long, your laundry room smells like hot lint, or you haven’t had the vent cleaned in years, call us at (833) 620-7085. We’ll schedule a camera-backed cleaning, show you what we find, and give you a flat price before we begin. We serve Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Palo Alto, and East Palo Alto with the same professional equipment and documentation standard. Dryer vent fires are preventable. Let’s make sure your home isn’t one of the statistics.
Written by Neal Drummond, Owner at Air Duct Cleaning Palo Alto, serving Los Altos and the surrounding Bay Area.