Tacoma, Pierce County
In Tacoma, air duct cleaning starts at $535 for a typical house with one forced-air system. More registers, longer trunk lines, a second furnace or ducts that are hard to reach raise the figure. We only recommend it when something has actually got into the ductwork, and we will tell you if a new filter would do more good.
Typical investment
From $535
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Book your $99 inspection
$99 plus tax, deducted when you approve the repair
Not sure where to start
Pick what you're seeing at your Tacoma home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Tacoma homes.
Level 1 or Level 2 as needed; Level 2 includes a camera run through the entire flue
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Top-to-bottom brushing of flue and firebox under drop cloths, with a HEPA vacuum pulling the dust
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Loose or damaged brick, open joints and firebox panels repaired
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A full-length stainless-steel or cast liner, firebox to chimney top
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A stainless cap sized to your actual flue dimensions
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Burner, pilot assembly and valve cleaned and adjusted
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
Many of Tacoma's older houses did not start with ducts at all. Fireplaces and stoves did the heating, and forced air came later, in some houses more than once. That history means odd layouts: ducts squeezed into old chimney chases, abandoned registers and trunk lines running through damp crawl spaces.
More than a quarter of Tacoma's homes, 26.9 percent, date from 1939 or earlier according to census estimates. Nine districts across the city carry a historic designation, and four are listed locally.
Houses of that age were built around fireplaces, often several, and the ductwork came later. Retrofit ducts sometimes run through a disused flue or next to a working one, so the masonry beside a duct gets a look along with the duct itself.
Every air duct cleaning we do in Tacoma includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowThe Tacoma cases where cleaning pays off: plaster dust sucked into return grilles while walls were opened up, water that reached ductwork in a flooded basement or crawl space, rodents in under-floor runs, and musty smells from ducts that sat damp through a long winter. Without one of those, cleaning is rarely worth the money.
Tacoma sits above a fault zone that state planners have modeled for a shallow magnitude 7.1 event, and it felt the deep 6.8 Nisqually earthquake of February 2001, centered under Anderson Island.
Sheet-metal ducts hanging in a crawl space can separate at their joints when a house moves, leaking conditioned air into the crawl space and pulling damp air back in. During cleaning we check the joints we can reach and note any that have come apart.
Ductwork falls under the mechanical provisions of Washington's codes. Since March 15, 2024, the 2021 editions govern; next, the council's timetable has the 2024 IRC, IMC and IFGC taking over on May 3, 2027.
Cleaning does not alter a system, so it does not change what code applies. When we notice duct runs that would not meet today's requirements, such as crushed flex or disconnected joints, we note them separately.
A few registers and the main return are opened, and we tell you whether the ducts actually need cleaning.
Registers are covered and a collector under negative pressure is connected so the dust leaves the house.
Brushes and air tools work each run toward the collector, return side and supply side.
Registers are refitted clean, and you receive photos plus a note on filter size and any repairs we spotted.
What this work is quoted at for Tacoma homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Tacoma | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Air Duct Cleaning | From $535 | Whole HVAC system — trunks, branches and every register |
| Chimney Sweep | $189–$449 | Full flue swept, Level 1 inspection included |
| Chimney Inspection | $99 plus tax | Level 1 visual; Level 2 adds a full camera scan |
| Chimney Relining | From $1,900 | Full-length stainless liner, sized to the appliance |
| Chimney Repair | From $375 | Masonry repair — brick and mortar, scoped after diagnosis |
Ranges are what these jobs are quoted at in Tacoma. The exact figure is set on site after a $99 inspection (credited toward the job if you go ahead), and you approve it before any work starts.
When the EPA labeled the Tacoma-Pierce County area in breach of the 24-hour fine particle limit in 2009, home wood burning was behind roughly three quarters, 74 percent, of the directly emitted particles on winter days. The area met the standard again from March 12, 2015.
In 2023 Pierce County logged 272 good air days, 90 moderate and 3 unhealthy. On smoky days the answer indoors is a good filter and closed windows, not duct cleaning; ducts do not generate smoke.
The city's WRCC record, 1982 through 2016, puts yearly precipitation at 39.76 inches, and November tops the monthly table at 6.82. Freezing nights are limited, around 31.8 a year, so the ground under most houses stays damp rather than frozen through the winter.
Ducts running through that damp space can pick up moisture at leaky joints or through a crushed section. Where we find a musty smell, the first fix is the moisture source, then the cleaning.
Tacoma is the port city the Northern Pacific Railroad chose in 1873 as the western terminus of its transcontinental line, on Commencement Bay, with the territory's oldest housing — about 27% of homes built in 1939 or earlier, in Queen Anne, Craftsman and Foursquare styles. We work every part of it — North Slope, Stadium-Seminary, Proctor, College Park, Buckley's Addition included.
TacomaPierce County, WA · 47.253, -122.444
Before and after
Illustrations of what each repair changes on a typical chimney — not photos of a specific job.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Four steps, each one on paper — so you always know what happens next.
Choose a genuine opening on the crew's calendar. Confirmation is immediate.
Liner, crown, cap, flashing and masonry examined in order — each finding photographed.
One document, plain numbers, covering only the work your chimney genuinely needs.
The repair is completed, then handed over with before-and-after photos of every item.
From $535 for one system in a typical house. Extra registers, a second system or hard-to-reach runs increase it; we quote after looking.
Little. Wildfire smoke is carried in by outdoor air; the ducts are not its source, so a good furnace filter replaced on time does more.
Yes, where they are reachable. We also check that no appliance still vents into that chase, which would be a separate problem.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
