what technical questions to ask the salesman before giving a house air duct clea!
Question: air duct in the house was not cleaned for >10 years, each salesman says his job is the best in the market, what should i ask them about any particulars - that helps me to assess that i am getting the job done efficiently by the person.
Answers:
First of all, be sure to be there when they do the job! We had our ducts cleaned and got robbed by one of the workers who thought we wouldn't miss a few "minor" personal items. But, even though they didn't believe us at first, we reported it to the police and the company and he got caught!
Secondly, ask if they not only remove the vent covers but clean those too. Ask how they clean them and if they use their own cleaning supplies and take the vent covers outside to clean--not in your bathroom or kitchen sinks, using your personal towels. Ask if they clean up the lint that falls into the room with a vacuum cleaner.
They should have a crew of at least two people to put the hose in and clean out the vents and one to clean the vent covers and the area around the vents where the lint falls.
They should clean the air intake vents and cover also. Some try to sell you on cleaning out your actual AC/HVAC unit coils. I don't see the need for that, but if they insists it is needed, get them to show you the dirt in there that they will be cleaning out. If they can't show you, chances are they will not be able to get in there to clean it.
They should change the air filter, but be sure they don't try to sell you some heavy-duty, life-time guarantee filter that supposedly never needs to be replaced. Those don't let enough air flow through. The medium grade ones changed every few months or so work the best. You can buy those at a home improvement store and change them out yourself during the year.
Make sure that they don't damage your walls with their big machine, trying to get it down the hall and around corners. They damaged our walls, too and we had to have them plaster and paint it again.
Just because the company has a nationally recognizeable name doesn't mean they will do the best job. Often these are owners who hire flunkies to do the work who are thieves and don't care. It would be better to get a local guy that has been doing it a long time and can furnish you with references of satisfied customers.
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