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 Air Duct Cleaning Across Chicago
Air duct cleaning in Chicago typically runs $380-$720 for a full residential system, with most jobs completed in a single visit and a written price delivered before any panel comes off. We’re CleanRun Duct Repair & Cleaning, and our Chicago office coordinates dispatch for homeowners from Edison Park to Hegewisch. You can reach us at (224) 344-8881 for a free estimate with a guaranteed written price.
Chicago’s housing stock isn’t like anywhere else. The brick bungalows, two-flats, and greystones that define neighborhoods like Portage Park, Archer Heights, and Austin carry ductwork from gravity-furnace conversions, postwar retrofits, and decades of layered modifications. That history matters when you’re choosing who opens your system. Our crews have documented photo records from over 52,000 homes since 2013, and the Chicago jobs that teach you the most are the ones where the ductwork predates the homeowner by half a century.
Why CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning Elk Grove Village Is Chicago’s Preferred Air Duct Cleaning Company
We’ve built our reputation in Chicago on one practice that still separates us from most competitors: every job starts with a written price and ends with a documented photo record of every duct run. Not a verbal estimate that shifts once the truck is parked. Not a single after-photo of the cleanest register. Every run, before and after, delivered to you as a standard job record. That’s Haven Standard Clause 1, and we’ve applied it to every one of the 52,000+ homes we’ve served since 2013.
Our Chicago customers find us after researching the category thoroughly, and what converts them is verifiable evidence. License number published on the page, not buried in a footer. Background-checked, uniformed technicians identified by name before arrival. Equipment from trade-recognized brands you can look up yourself: Rotobrush, Nikro, Abatement Technologies, Honeywell, Aprilaire, and Guardsman. The 365-Day Done Right Promise is backed in writing on every job, not just stated in marketing copy.
Scheduling and dispatch are coordinated from our Chicago office, so we’re routing crews with local knowledge of traffic patterns, parking restrictions, and the building types they’ll encounter. A bungalow on the northwest side and a high-rise on Lake Shore Drive require completely different approaches, and our techs know which tools to stage before they arrive.
Our Air Duct Cleaning Services in Chicago

Residential Duct Cleaning
Chicago’s residential duct cleaning market is defined by age. Most of the housing stock in neighborhoods like Belmont Cragin, Chatham, and South Shore was built before 1960, and the ductwork tells that story. We start with a video inspection to map what we’re working with, identify asbestos-containing insulation that requires assessment before cleaning can legally begin, and document every finding with photographs. A typical residential full-system clean in Chicago runs $380-$620, with two-flats and three-flats scaling from there depending on how many separate HVAC systems are stacked in the building.

Commercial Duct Cleaning
Chicago’s commercial buildings face their own legacy challenges. The Loop’s early skyscrapers, converted warehouses in Fulton Market, and mid-century office blocks in the Medical District all contain duct systems that have been modified multiple times across decades of tenant turnover. We use negative-pressure extraction with HEPA filtration, photograph every main trunk and branch line, and deliver a written scope with the photo record. Commercial pricing starts around $1,200 for smaller systems and scales with square footage and access complexity.

Supply Duct Cleaning
The supply side pushes conditioned air to your registers, and in Chicago’s converted gravity-furnace systems, these runs are often where we find the most dramatic blockages. The oversized, irregularly shaped trunks from original 1920s-1940s installations create low-velocity dead zones where debris accumulates for decades. Our Air Duct Cleaning team uses rotary agitation tools and controlled airflow to dislodge buildup without damaging aging sheet metal. Supply-only cleaning runs $280-$450 in the Chicago market.

Return Duct Cleaning
Return ducts pull air back to the air handler, and in Chicago’s older homes, these are frequently the most neglected component. We’ve found return plenums in Portage Park bungalows packed with plaster dust from long-ago renovations, pet hair compacted into dense mats, and in one case, a 1960s newspaper wedged against the blower motor. Return-only cleaning is typically $260-$420, though we often recommend combining supply and return for full-system coverage.

Full System Cleaning
This is what most Chicago homes actually need. Full system means every supply run, every return run, the plenum, the registers, and the boots, photographed before and after. For a typical Chicago bungalow or single-family frame house, expect $380-$720. Two-flats run $680-$1,100. Three-flats scale from $950 depending on system count. The price is written before work starts, every time.

Video Inspection
We offer video inspection as a standalone service for Chicago homeowners who want to understand their system before committing to a full clean, or who need documentation for a real estate transaction or insurance claim. The camera shows you what we see: crushed runs, disconnected joints, debris accumulation, and asbestos-wrap conditions that require assessment. Standalone video inspection is $180-$260, credited toward any subsequent cleaning work.

What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Before
AfterTrusted Brands We Service in Chicago
Our equipment roster includes Nikro HEPA vacuums, Honeywell media air cleaners, and Aprilaire whole-house dehumidifiers, among other trade-recognized brands. We stock common replacement parts locally for faster turnaround on Chicago jobs, and our technicians can service integrated air quality components from these manufacturers as part of a full-system clean. If your Chicago home has an existing Honeywell or Aprilaire system, we’ll document its condition in the photo record and note any maintenance needs in the written scope.
Common Air Duct Cleaning Problems We See in Chicago Homes

- Asbestos-wrap plenums on pre-1960 conversions. On northwest-side bungalow jobs, we routinely pull back insulation on plenum boxes and trunk lines to find chrysotile asbestos wrap from the original 1920s-1940s gravity-furnace installation. This requires a licensed asbestos assessment before any cleaning can legally begin, a condition essentially unknown in newer Sun Belt housing markets.
- Crushed or disconnected runs behind later renovations. Chicago’s bungalows have been modified repeatedly over 80-100 years. We’ve found supply runs crushed flat behind partition walls, return ducts severed during basement finishing, and entire branches abandoned but still connected, leaking conditioned air into wall cavities.
- Stacked HVAC systems in two-flats and three-flats missed as “one system.” The ubiquitous Chicago two-flat or three-flat often contains two or three completely separate furnaces and air handlers, one per floor. A crew that treats the building as a single system inevitably misses entire floors.
- Post-summer mold colonization from Lake Michigan humidity. Chicago’s summer humidity, amplified by proximity to the lake, drives moisture into poorly sealed older duct systems. By September, we’ve documented active mold growth in returns on homes from Rogers Park to South Chicago.
Pricing for Air Duct Cleaning in Chicago, IL
| Service | Typical Range in Chicago |
|---|---|
| Residential full system (single-family) | $380 - $720 |
| Two-flat full system | $680 - $1,100 |
| Three-flat full system | $950 - $1,400 |
| Supply-only cleaning | $280 - $450 |
| Return-only cleaning | $260 - $420 |
| Video inspection (standalone) | $180 - $260 |
| Commercial, per system | $1,200 - $3,500+ |
What moves a job toward the higher end: asbestos assessment requirements, crushed or disconnected runs requiring repair access, multiple stacked systems in multi-unit buildings, and severe debris accumulation in low-velocity dead zones from gravity-furnace conversions. What doesn’t affect price: number of vents. We price per system, not per register. Haven Standard Clause 1 means the written price is the price. Call (224) 344-8881 for your exact quote, estimates are free.
We Also Serve Cities Near Chicago

Our crews work throughout the Chicago metro area, including Air Duct Cleaning in Chicago proper and surrounding communities: Skokie, Glenview, Des Plaines, and Lombard. Each of these markets has its own housing stock characteristics, and we adjust our approach accordingly, from Skokie’s mid-century ranches to Lombard’s split-levels.
Serving Chicago, IL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Chicago 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 - Air Duct Cleaning in Chicago

Your bungalow was likely built with a gravity “octopus” furnace whose massive round trunk ducts were partially reused when the system was converted to forced air, creating oversized, irregularly shaped networks with low-velocity dead zones where debris settles and accumulates for decades. Modern systems use smaller, properly sized ductwork with velocities designed to keep particulate suspended and moving toward the filter. On a bungalow job near Portage Park, our tech pulled back insulation at the plenum box and found the original 1930s gravity-furnace trunk still in service, with a supply run crushed flat behind a later partition wall. After an asbestos assessment cleared the wrap, we set the Rotobrush and HEPA filtration under negative pressure, ran agitation tools through the low-velocity dead zones, and reconnected the crushed run, restoring real airflow to two front bedrooms that had never heated evenly. Call (224) 344-8881 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
Yes, if the home has original or modified gravity-furnace ductwork with insulation wrap, which describes most Chicago bungalows and many two-flats built 1920-1950. Chrysotile asbestos wrap on plenum boxes and trunk lines is common enough on the northwest and southwest sides that experienced technicians expect to find it. Cleaning without assessment violates EPA NESHAP regulations and creates serious liability. We coordinate licensed asbestos assessment as a preliminary step when our video inspection indicates suspect material. Call (224) 344-8881 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
A two-flat or three-flat typically contains two or three completely separate HVAC systems, each with its own furnace, air handler, blower motor, and duct network, stacked vertically. Cleaning only the most accessible system leaves entire floors untouched. We price and scope each system separately, photograph every run in every system, and deliver a documented record for each. A typical Chicago two-flat runs $680-$1,100, three-flats from $950. Call (224) 344-8881 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
Chicago’s heating season runs October through April with systems cycling at high intensity, while Lake Michigan’s proximity drives summer humidity that raises mold colonization risk in older, poorly sealed ducts. By September, we’ve documented active mold growth in returns from Rogers Park to South Chicago. Post-summer cleaning removes that colonization before the heating season forces spores through the living space. The combination of long heating seasons and humid summers creates a maintenance cycle that Sun Belt and dry-climate markets don’t replicate. Call (224) 344-8881 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
Repeated debris accumulation usually indicates disconnected joints, crushed runs, or gaps at the plenum that pull unfiltered air from wall cavities and attics, not a failure of cleaning itself. We use video inspection to locate these breaches, document them with photographs, and repair or seal them under Haven Standard Clause 4: Documented Repair. Without sealing the source, you’re paying to clean the same debris annually. Our 365-Day Done Right Promise covers both the cleaning and any Duct Repair & Sealing in Chicago we perform. Call (224) 344-8881 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
Ready to see what’s inside your ductwork? Call CleanRun Duct Repair & Cleaning at (224) 344-8881. We’ll schedule your free estimate, deliver a written price before any work starts, and leave you with a documented photo record of every duct run, backed by our 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Written by Tomas Reyes, Owner at CleanRun Duct Repair & Cleaning, serving Chicago since 2013.




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