[sunny46]

Has anyone had black smut on ceilings in front of a grate? Has anyone used a local company that they can recommend? There are some disreputable ones out there!

[Chatbrat]

Honestly with the flex duct used on most of the houses in the villages --the cleaning may do more damage --if your house has real metal ducts you would be safe for a cleaning--iif the dirt is on your return clean the grate

[RickeyD]

Originally Posted by sunny46

Has anyone had black smut on ceilings in front of a grate? Has anyone used a local company that they can recommend? There are some disreputable ones out there!

Clean the ceiling, buy a quality pleated air filter for your air handler and please DON'T call to have your air ducts "cleaned". Outside of replaced all your ductwork, nothing can be done that is effective. Save money, aggravation and listen to the Papa Cuma [emoji51]

[Bryan]

Be careful - be VERY careful. "Duct Cleaning" is one of the larger ripoffs around. Most often, it is not duct cleaning at all, it is 'vent cleaning'. Usually that just stirs up the dust and the problem will be worse once they finish. The "special offers" you see in local news papers is just a thinly disguised bait 'n switch ad. Read them carefully - most limit the work to five (5) ducts. Then they "find" mold in your ducts and recommend a very expensive 'black light' be installed. They also charge several arms and legs more when the cleaning exceeds five ducts. It's probably not mold at all, just mildew. To prove that it is really mold requires testing at a lab by a trained professional. Ask to see the test results and/or their certification to do the testing. Additionally, 'black lights' are of dubious effectiveness and very expensive. The other trick is to give your HVAC system a free tune-up or exam. They may or may not be licensed HVAC technicians. No matter - the system that worked just fine when you woke up this morning will now be found to need some expensive repairs (a capacitor is a common 'find', so are 'bad condensers'). Always get a second opinion before agreeing to very expensive HVAC repairs or replacement of the entire system.