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.
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Before
AfterAir Duct Cleaning Before & After in Atlanta, GA
We’ve cleaned ducts in over 52,000 Atlanta-area homes since 2013. Every job ends with a documented photo record, before and after, inside every duct run. The camera doesn’t exaggerate. Below are real scenarios we’ve handled in Buckhead, Decatur, Sandy Springs, and across Fulton and DeKalb counties. These are the conditions we walked into, and what the same duct looked like when our crew left.
Recent Transformations
Heavy Dust Build-Up in 1980s Ranch, Decatur
The homeowner in Decatur’s Oakhurst neighborhood hadn’t had the ducts touched in 22 years. Our camera showed a 2-inch blanket of compacted dust at the first elbow of the main return plenum, the metal box that distributes air from your furnace or air handler throughout the house. The supply registers in the three bedrooms were blowing visible particulate every time the HVAC cycled on. We ran negative-pressure extraction, the process that pulls loosened debris out of the system rather than letting it escape into living spaces, through every duct run using a Rotobrush system with HEPA filtration. The after photos showed bare galvanized steel. The customer kept the photo record on her phone to show her allergist.
Construction Debris in New Build, West Midtown
A couple in West Midtown moved into their new build in the summer of 2024 and noticed a fine white film resetting on furniture within 48 hours of dusting. The camera revealed drywall dust packed into the flex duct runs, the flexible tubing that connects the main plenum to individual room registers, particularly at the second-floor master suite. This is common in Atlanta’s rapid infill construction market, where trades overlap and duct systems run before final cleanup. We used a Nikro industrial vacuum pulling 150 CFM to extract the construction residue without damaging the flexible duct walls. The after documentation showed clean flex with intact insulation lining. They stopped dusting three times a week.
Pet Hair and Dander Clog, Buckhead Townhome
Three golden retrievers, one HVAC system, five years. The return air grille in the Buckhead townhome’s main living level was pulling so much hair that the filter was bowing inward between monthly changes. When we opened the return plenum, the camera showed matted fur interwoven with standard household dust, reducing airflow to the point that the upstairs bedroom was running 8 degrees warmer than the thermostat setting in July heat. We removed and hand-cleaned every register and return grille, then ran the Abatement Technologies portable HEPA system through the full duct network. The after photos showed unrestricted 14-inch return ductwork. The temperature differential disappeared. The owner, Tomas Reyes, noted in the job record that this was the densest pet hair accumulation he’d documented that year.
Mold-Prone System in Basement Ranch, Sandy Springs
Atlanta’s humidity hits differently in basement-level mechanical rooms. This Sandy Springs ranch, built into a slope off Roswell Road, had a furnace and evaporator coil sitting in a space that held 68% relative humidity through the summer. The camera showed microbial growth, not just dust, on the interior surfaces of the supply plenum and the first 4 feet of every downstream duct run. We don’t handle remediation ourselves, we document and refer, but in this case the growth was surface-level and non-porous. We performed full mechanical cleaning with contact vacuuming, then applied a Guardsman antimicrobial treatment registered for HVAC use. The Honeywell UV assessment we include flagged the evaporator coil as needing a separate HVAC contractor’s attention. The after documentation showed clean metal with no visible growth. We recommended a dehumidifier and scheduled a 90-day follow-up photo check at no charge.
Failed DIY Attempt in Virginia-Highland Bungalow
The homeowner in Virginia-Highland had rented a shop vacuum and pushed it as far as he could reach into a basement register. He dislodged a decade of debris from the first 6 feet of one duct run and left it sitting in the elbow where the flex met the main trunk line. Now three rooms were getting dust pulses worse than before. Our camera showed a compacted plug of disturbed material blocking roughly 40% of the cross-section at that junction. We extracted the obstruction with a Rotobrush system and camera verification at every turn, the process of checking each bend in the ductwork with a borescope to confirm debris removal rather than relocation. The after photos showed the full circumference of the duct at that junction, something the customer specifically requested given his experience. Tomas Reyes added a note to the file: “Customer now understands why we don’t quote by the hour.”
Elderly System with Separated Ductwork, East Atlanta
The 1960s brick ranch in East Atlanta Village was cooling the crawl space more than the house. Our camera found three separated flex duct connections at the plenum, where the duct tape had dried and failed decades ago, plus a 4-inch gap at a mid-run splice over the kitchen. Conditioned air was dumping into the vented crawl space, and the crawl space’s humidity, pollen, and occasional rodent activity were being drawn into the return side. We reconnected and sealed all separations with Aprilaire mastic sealant, the brush-applied compound that remains flexible and is rated for duct interiors, then ran full Nikro extraction on every intact run. The after documentation included photos of sealed joints and clean duct interiors. The homeowner’s next power bill dropped $87. We have the screenshot.
What Every CleanRun Customer Receives
These aren’t marketing selections. Every job produces the same deliverables:
- Written price before work starts, every time, under Haven Standard Clause 1. No exceptions. No “call for a quote.”
- Documented photo record of every duct run, before and after, delivered as part of your standard job record. You see what we saw.
- 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing, not a policy subject to manager approval. If it’s not right, we make it right.
- Free Second Opinion on any competitor’s written estimate. Bring it. We’ll put our number next to it.
BeforeAfterWant Results Like These?
We’ve documented the inside of ducts in every Atlanta neighborhood from Cascade Heights to Brookhaven. Call (470) 495-9370 for a written quote before any work starts. Estimates are free. Every call is answered by a live person, and our background-checked, uniformed technicians identify themselves by name before arrival.
Written by Tomas Reyes, Owner at CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning Atlanta, serving Atlanta since 2013.