Question 1

My house is a 1950s tract home and the ducts run under the floor. Can they even be cleaned properly?

Accepted Answer

Yes, though crawlspace runs take longer than attic systems. Most San Lorenzo tract houses sit on raised foundations with the trunk and branches strung through a low crawlspace, so we work from the registers and from access points under the house rather than from above. The tight clearance is the main limiting factor, not the ductwork itself. If a technician can physically reach a run, it can be cleaned. Occasionally a section is so crushed, disconnected, or corroded that cleaning it is pointless, and we'll tell you that instead of charging you to vacuum a pipe that needs replacing.

Question 2

Why does my house smell musty when the heat first comes on in winter?

Accepted Answer

That's the most common call we get from this part of the East Bay flats. Bare metal ducts in a crawlspace a few blocks from the shoreline stay cold and damp through the fog season. Moisture condenses on the outside and inside of uninsulated sheet metal, dust sticks to it instead of blowing through, and what settles in the bottom of a horizontal run stays wet long enough to grow. The first heating cycle pushes that air into the house and you smell it. Cleaning removes the debris that holds the moisture; if the run is also sagging or has lost its insulation entirely, that needs addressing too or the smell comes back.

Question 3

How fast can someone get out here?

Accepted Answer

San Lorenzo is close to the rest of our East Bay route, so scheduling is usually a matter of days rather than weeks. The exception is the stretch from the first real rains through late winter, when musty-smell calls spike across the flats and the calendar tightens. If you're calling in October or November, book a little further ahead than you would in summer.

Question 4

Can you do it the same day I call?

Accepted Answer

Sometimes, particularly midweek and if your home is a single-story tract house with standard register locations, which describes a lot of this neighborhood. A one-story house with modest square footage is a shorter job than a large two-story, so same-day slots open up more often here than in other areas we serve. What we can't promise same-day is any job where the crawlspace turns out to be flooded, blocked, or too low to enter safely. Call and we'll tell you honestly what's open.

Question 5

What makes one San Lorenzo house cost more than the neighbor's?

Accepted Answer

Mostly the gap between the furnace and the ducts. Many homes here have had the original gravity or early forced-air unit replaced over the decades while the 70-year-old metal trunk underneath stayed put, and those old runs often have more joints, more corrosion, and more accumulated damp debris than a newer system. Crawlspace access matters too: a technician who can move under the house works faster than one navigating a few inches of clearance around piers and plumbing. Register count on these smaller single-story floor plans is usually low, which works in your favor. We look at the actual system before quoting rather than pricing off square footage, because square footage tells you little about what's under a San Lorenzo floor.

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