Duct Repair and Sealing in California

Licensed & insured Every company we put you through to holds current licensing and insurance.
Know what to ask You are told what actually decides the price, so you can judge a quote.
Someone local You are put through to a technician who works your area, not a call center three states away.
Calls answered 7 days Someone picks up seven days a week, weekends included.

Is it urgent?

This week

Not urgent in the safety sense, but it is the item on this list most likely to pay for itself. Air lost from a duct in an unconditioned attic or crawlspace is air the system paid to condition and then threw away, and it runs every hour the system runs.

Two things override everything on this page. If anyone has symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure — headache, nausea or dizziness that improves outdoors — leave the building and call the gas utility or the fire service, not a duct company. And if you can smell burning while the dryer is running, unplug it and leave it.

Signs to look for

One room that never reaches the temperature the rest of the house does
A heating or cooling bill that is high on a system that otherwise tests fine
Rooms that are dusty however often they are cleaned, because a leaking return pulls in attic or crawlspace air
A whistling or rushing noise near a register or at the air handler
Visibly disconnected or sagging flexible duct, or silver tape that has dried out and let go

How the work is done

Locating the leaks rather than sealing everything — usually at the plenum takeoffs, the boot-to-drywall joints and the flex-to-collar connections, which is where most of the loss is
Sealing with mastic and fiberglass mesh, or with a properly rated foil tape where mastic cannot be worked in
Reconnecting and supporting sagging flexible runs, since a sagging run restricts airflow even when it is not leaking
Sealing the return side too, which is skipped more often than the supply and is what pulls attic air into the house

In California specifically

In California the ductwork is generally in attics and crawlspaces, and on slab-on-grade homes in the south often under the floor or in the ceiling plenum, which is most of why this job looks the way it does here. Wildfire smoke is the single biggest thing that makes Californians think about what their ducts are carrying. Fine particulate gets pulled into a return during a smoke event and keeps circulating long after the air outside has cleared. California is also the one state where duct leakage is routinely tested: Title 24 requires a HERS-verified duct test on most furnace or air-conditioner changeouts, so a duct problem here often surfaces as a failed test rather than as a complaint.

Before the technician arrives

Four things worth doing — and the first one is usually the thing people get wrong.

Do not seal it with cloth duct tape. It is the one thing on a duct that duct tape is genuinely bad at — the adhesive dries and releases, and it is usually what a technician finds already failed.
Write down which rooms are the problem rooms and at what time of day. That is most of the diagnosis.
Clear access to the attic or crawlspace hatch and to the air handler.
Have a recent bill to hand if the complaint is cost rather than comfort.

What the work looks like

Photographs of duct repair and sealing being carried out, so you know what to expect on the day.

How it works

Three steps, and you decide at the end of them.

1
You call and describe the problem

Tell us what you have noticed and where — the room, the smell, the noise, how long it has been going on. Give us your ZIP code and we will match you to a licensed company covering your area. There is no form to fill in.
2
A local company takes it from there

They discuss the problem with you directly, arrange a time to inspect, and agree the work and the price with you before anything starts. That conversation is between you and them.
3
You decide whether to go ahead

You are under no obligation. If the quote or the approach is not what you wanted, you are free to say no and call someone else.

Duct Repair and Sealing — FAQs

Do I actually need Duct Repair and Sealing done?

Not urgent in the safety sense, but it is the item on this list most likely to pay for itself. Air lost from a duct in an unconditioned attic or crawlspace is air the system paid to condition and then threw away, and it runs every hour the system runs.

What does Duct Repair and Sealing involve?

Finding where conditioned air is escaping and closing it with mastic and mesh rather than tape. Leakage into an attic or crawlspace is the most common reason one room never gets comfortable.

What makes this different in California?

In California the ductwork is generally in attics and crawlspaces, and on slab-on-grade homes in the south often under the floor or in the ceiling plenum, which is most of why this job looks the way it does here. Wildfire smoke is the single biggest thing that makes Californians think about what their ducts are carrying. Fine particulate gets pulled into a return during a smoke event and keeps circulating long after the air outside has cleared. California is also the one state where duct leakage is routinely tested: Title 24 requires a HERS-verified duct test on most furnace or air-conditioner changeouts, so a duct problem here often surfaces as a failed test rather than as a complaint.

Are the companies licensed and insured?

Yes. We only pass calls to licensed, insured operators working in California, and you are welcome to ask to see a license number on arrival.

What does Duct Repair and Sealing cost?

It depends on the property, the size of the system and what the inspection finds, so we do not publish a price — a figure quoted on a web page is not one the attending company has agreed to. You get a price before any work starts.

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Duct Repair and Sealing in California

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