Whole-home duct cleaning
Dryer vent cleaning
Camera inspection
Sanitizing & deodorizingWhole-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 HVAC Cleaning Across Alamo Heights
HVAC cleaning in Alamo Heights runs between $450 and $1,400 for most homes, depending on how many systems you have and how far we need to reach into tight attic and crawl spaces. Older homes here rarely have one clean answer: a 1950s ranch with three separate systems costs more than a single-unit condo off Broadway, and that’s exactly why we give a written per-system price before work starts. Omar Haddad and the Cardinal Air Duct San Antonio team know Alamo Heights homes well enough to spot failing galvanized ducts before we touch them. Call (254) 347-3897 for a free estimate, and you’ll get a real person, not a voicemail tree.
Why Cardinal Air Duct San Antonio Is Alamo Heights’s Preferred HVAC Cleaning Company
We’ve cleaned enough ducts in Alamo Heights to know that a 1960s two-story near Cambridge Oval has different problems than a 1930s bungalow off Patterson Avenue. The pier-and-beam foundations mean we’re regularly in crawl spaces checking corroded galvanized joints that leak air into the dirt. The tight attic spaces mean we plan our containment setup before we carry equipment up the ladder. Homeowners here tell us the same thing: they want to see proof of work they can’t see with their own eyes. That’s why every job includes before-and-after photos and a written report, not just a handshake.
Our technicians arrive in uniform with a name you know before the door opens. They run Rotobrush rotary brush systems and Nikro HEPA vacuums, not a truck-mounted shop vac with a hose taped to the register. And every booking comes with the Relay Standard: a live trackable arrival window, digital invoice by link, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise backing the whole job. If it isn’t right within a full year, we return and correct it at no charge. That’s not a pitch; it’s a guarantee we’ve honored since 2005 as part of the Relay Home Co. family.
Omar Haddad leads every project with one rule: the written price you’re handed before we start is the price you pay. No per-vent add-ons. No surprise “containment fees.” No bait-and-switch after the tech is already in your attic.
Styles & brands we work with
Evaporator Coil Cleaning in Alamo Heights
Evaporator coil cleaning in Alamo Heights typically runs $150 to $350 per coil, and it’s the single highest-impact service for older homes where the coil has been baking in hot attic air since the Clinton administration. The evaporator coil is the part inside your air handler that gets cold and pulls heat from the air passing over it. When it’s coated in Alamo Heights dust, cottonwood from the Olmos Basin, and years of humidity-driven gunk, your AC runs longer and cools less. On a three-system house off Terrell Road, that means three coils to clean, not one.
We see coils here so clogged that air barely moves across them. A dirty coil also freezes up faster in late summer when humidity is high and the system runs at full load. This is not a wash-with-a-garden-hose job. We remove the access panel, contain the area, and use a professional coil cleaner followed by a rinse that won’t eat the fins or flood the pan into your ceiling.
When Alamo Heights Homeowners Need Coil Cleaning
If your AC runs for hours without reaching the thermostat setpoint, or you notice water dripping from the air handler in your attic, check the coil. In Alamo Heights, March through October is a marathon cooling season that accelerates coil fouling. We recommend coil cleaning at least every two years on older systems, and yearly if you have pets, live near construction off North New Braunfels Avenue, or run the fan continuously.
Coil Treatment After Cleaning
After the coil is clean, we apply a treatment that slows dust re-adhesion and helps drainage. Some techs skip this step because it adds a few minutes; we don’t, because Alamo Heights attics are humid and the next layer of dust starts forming the same week. The treatment is included in the per-system price, not a line item added later.
AC Duct Cleaning in Alamo Heights
AC duct cleaning in Alamo Heights runs $300 to $900 per system, and it’s the service where documentation matters most because the work is invisible once we leave. The ducts in many older Alamo Heights homes are original galvanized steel from the 1940s and 1950s, not the flex duct you find in newer San Antonio suburbs. Galvanized ducts rust from the inside, collect dust in every seam, and often sit in crawl spaces where pier-and-beam foundations make access awkward. Cleaning them properly means more than running a brush from one register; it means sealing joints and checking for leaks that re-contaminate the system within weeks.
In the older neighborhoods north of Broadway, we regularly find ducts wrapped in thin foil insulation from the 1950s that crumbles on contact. That’s why our crews use negative-pressure extraction: set up a Nikro HEPA vacuum to pull air through the duct while agitation tools loosen debris, so the dust and crumbled foil go into the vacuum, not back into your living room. We then inspect every accessible joint and seal gaps with mastic, not tape that peels in Texas attic heat.
Why Source Removal Beats Brushing Alone
Some companies in Alamo Heights still sell a “brush-and-blow” job: they shove a brush down the trunk line, blast the dust loose, and call it a day. That leaves the debris sitting in the duct or blowing out every register. We use Rotobrush rotary agitation with HEPA negative pressure, which is the standard NADCA recommends for actual source removal. The difference is measurable in the dust levels on your furniture.
Custom Sealing for Corroded Galvanized Ducts
After cleaning, we inspect for pin holes and separated joints in the original steel ductwork. On a 1950s ranch off Patterson Avenue, we cleaned the evaporator coil, supply and return ducts, and air handler, then found the original galvanized ducts wrapped in crumbling foil insulation. We set up negative pressure containment before using agitation tools and HEPA filtration to prevent debris from spreading through the attic. After source removal and filling gaps with custom sealing, static pressure dropped and the homeowner noticed even airflow in every register. That’s what a proper cleaning should deliver: airflow, not just a receipt.
Trusted Brands We Service in Alamo Heights
We service and clean components on all major HVAC brands, including Trane, Carrier, Lennox, Rheem, and Goodman, plus the odd 1970s Fedders unit someone in Alamo Heights is still nursing along. We carry common filters from Honeywell and Aprilaire on the truck, and if your system needs filtration upgrades, we can supply and install Guardsman media right there. Because Alamo Heights is close to our San Antonio dispatch office, we keep parts accessible for same-week service, and we never schedule a follow-up without confirming the part is actually in hand. If your brand isn’t listed, call us; we’ll tell you straight whether we can do the job right or not.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon HVAC Cleaning Problems We See in Alamo Heights Homes
After years of working in Alamo Heights attics and crawl spaces, we can predict what most systems look like before we open them. Here’s what we encounter routinely:
- Crumbling 1950s foil insulation. The thin foil wrap used on ducts in the older neighborhoods north of Broadway disintegrates when touched, releasing dust and fibers into the attic air that re-enter the ducts if containment isn’t set up correctly.
- Corroded galvanized joints in pier-and-beam crawl spaces. Houses on piers leak air at every corroded seam, which means far rooms stay warm in July and ducts re-fill with dust and crawl-space debris within a month of cleaning unless the joints are sealed.
- Three separate systems, one cleaning bill. Many larger homes off Terrell Road or Cambridge Oval run two or three independent HVAC systems, each with its own evaporator coil, blower, and duct runs. A single “whole-house” cleaning price often means two systems were never even opened.
- Attic air handlers with no service access. Tight attic spaces in 1920s and 1930s bungalows often have air handlers jammed so close to the roofline that basic coil cleaning requires removing the unit or working from a ladder with special tools, which many crews skip.
Pricing for HVAC Cleaning in Alamo Heights, TX
Most single-system homes in Alamo Heights pay between $450 and $900 for full HVAC cleaning: evaporator coil, blower, supply and return ducts, and air handler. A two-system house typically lands between $750 and $1,200. A three-system older home with long duct runs, failing galvanized joints needing sealing, and attic access issues may reach $1,400. The factors that move the number: how many systems you have, how far we have to climb or crawl, whether the ducts are galvanized steel or flex, and how much sealing work is required after cleaning. You get a written per-system price before any work begins, and it does not change at the door. Call (254) 347-3897 for an exact quote; estimates are free and take about ten minutes over the phone or via video walkthrough.
We Also Serve Cities Near Alamo Heights
Cardinal Air Duct San Antonio handles HVAC Cleaning for homes throughout the Alamo Heights area and the surrounding communities. If you’re in San Antonio, New Braunfels, Cibolo, or Converse, we bring the same equipment, the same written pricing, and the same 365-Day Done Right Promise. When you search for HVAC Cleaning in Alamo Heights, know that the whole region falls under our service area with no extra trip charge for nearby cities.
Serving Alamo Heights, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Alamo Heights 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 About HVAC Cleaning in Alamo Heights
Homes built on pier-and-beam foundations in the 1950s typically still have original galvanized steel ducts running through crawl spaces, and those ducts are usually corroded, leaking, and contaminated with decades of dust, pest debris, and crawl-space humidity. NADCA standards require ducts to be cleanable, accessible, and reasonably sealed before a cleaning is considered complete. When joints are rusted open or the duct walls have pin holes, the system can’t hold negative pressure, so re-contamination starts almost immediately. We inspect first, tell you what we found, and include joint sealing in the written price before cleaning begins. Call (254) 347-3897 to schedule an inspection.
You should receive before-and-after photographs of the evaporator coil, the blower, the interior duct surfaces we could reach, and any sealing work at joints. You should also receive a written report stating what was cleaned, what was sealed, what could not be reached, and any remaining issues. This is not optional. If a company cleans your ducts and cannot show you photos of what they cleaned, you have no way to verify the work. Our techs document everything with a phone camera and upload it to your digital invoice, which you pay by link.
Per-system pricing means each system is quoted and cleaned separately, so a three-system home gets one clear written price for all three: three coils, three blowers, three sets of ducts. Some companies quote a flat “whole-house” price that assumes one system, then either silently skip two systems or push add-ons mid-job. With per-system pricing, you know exactly what you’re paying for and can verify each system was addressed in the before-and-after photos. For older Alamo Heights homes with multiple systems, this is the only honest way to quote the work. Call (254) 347-3897 and ask Omar for a per-system breakdown.
Most of the time, yes. We work through existing access points and use compact tools designed for tight spaces, including flexible HEPA hoses and small-diameter agitation brushes. On 1920s and 1930s bungalows in Alamo Heights, we’re careful around original plaster, exposed rafter tails, and aged framing. If a duct truly cannot be reached from an existing register or access panel, we tell you that before we cut anything. We never create new access holes without your written approval. And we set up containment on the job site before starting so no dust settles on stored items, original woodwork, or finished attic floors.
The long, hot, humid run from March through October means your system is pulling air through the ducts roughly seven to eight months a year, which builds dust, pollen, and microbial film on coils and duct walls faster than in cooler climates. For older homes with original galvanized ducts, we recommend a full HVAC cleaning every two to three years, and evaporator coil cleaning every two years at minimum. Homes with pets, heavy outdoor pollen from the Olmos Basin, or residents with allergies may justify yearly cleaning. Call (254) 347-3897 and we’ll help you set a schedule based on what we find, not a generic calendar.
Written by Omar Haddad, Owner at Cardinal Air Duct San Antonio, serving Alamo Heights and the surrounding region with professional HVAC and air duct cleaning. All cleaning performed with Rotobrush rotary brush systems, Nikro HEPA vacuums, and Abatement Technologies containment units. Every job backed by the 365-Day Done Right Promise.