Cleaning & sanitizing furnace air ducts...

[anonymous]

Just wondering if anyone has done this? Did it help? Anyone have their drs advise it? We recently moved to a newer home; however, the previous owner did not take care of it. We disinfected/wiped down the walls/baseboards, all fixtures, etc with lysol and bleach, tore out & replaced carpeting and are now considering cleaning out the air ducts. (Our child is also allergic to cats and he had 3 very long haired cats, hence considering the air duct cleaning.) Apparently, they can also sanitize the ductwork. Has anyone had this done? Also, please note we don't normally go to this extreme in cleaning but since it is a new home with someone else's germs and was extremely dirty, etc, we just didn't know what was/could be living in it! We just want to start out with it really clean and then return to our normal cleaning routine which is much more lax. Also, our child has been having problems this year hence also why we wanted to get rid of any potential contaminants. He was not present when we did the cleaning, tore out the carpet or did the painting. So, to my main question - is it worth the money to have the air ducts cleaned out and sanitized? Approx $400 US
Thanks.

 

[NoDayButToday]

I think if the money is there, and it wouldn't be a financial strain to do so, it probably is a good idea. The whole system is probably full of cat hair (just think of how cats love to sit on heat vents), which come winter when the heat comes on, will probably be pushed into the air. Also, if the previous owners were not especially clean people, there is also probably a lot of dust. I've never heard of santizing duct work, but unless they use something with horrible fumes, it is also probably a pretty good idea. Good luck

 

[anonymous]

Our family had that done recently. We did it because we had workers working in our house and they offered to clean them because they produced SO much dust. I have to admit I did not feel any difference afterwards, but that does not mean it did not help. I just want you to know (which you probably already do) that it wont be a huge noticable difference. I do like the idea of breathing cleaner air though. If you have the income to do it then it cant hurt and more tha likely will really help, especially with the cat situation!

 

[ladybug]

Good for you for going that extra mile to help your son breathe easier! Whatever you decide to do, you've already done a wonderful thing by cleaning and everything. I personally am one who would feel better just knowing I'm breathing cleaner air, but don't know what effect it would actually have. Can't be bad though, that's for sure. Good luck! Let us know if it makes a difference if you do it. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[anonymous]

Hi - We had it done last year. The sanitizer that our co. used did not have a strong odor at all. The price seems high, but it depends where you live. They also videotaped it so we could see what they found. No mold and not much dust - supprisingly. The house is almost 20 years old and it had never been done. Good Luck. Jo Ann

 

[anonymous]

We, too had our air ducts cleaned. We bought a house that was previously owned by smokers. The cleaning company showed us a video of the air ducts too, that was neat to see. Again, no mold, which was a good thing. Just some pills, candy, hair clips & other misc things were found. (not the hundreds of dollars we had hoped we might find-lol)
I just had a peace of mind knowing that everything was clean and fresh.