Air duct cleaning in Alexandria.
Duct and dryer vent cleaning in the City of Alexandria and the Fairfax County side. We put a camera in first, so you see what’s in yours before a price.
- You see inside first
- Priced by the system, in writing
- Dedicated HVAC team
Get your duct price in writing
Two Alexandrias, two different duct jobs.
Inside the City, a lot of what we open is original: sheet-metal runs in the 1950s and 60s houses, and small systems tucked into condo closets from Rosemont to the West End, where more than half the homes are in bigger buildings. On the Fairfax County side it depends on the street. Kingstowne and Franconia are about half townhouses, most from the late 1980s and 90s, while Rose Hill, Mount Vernon and Fort Hunt are mostly single-family houses from the 1960s.
The condo question comes up more here than anywhere else we work. In a condo we clean the unit’s own ductwork and air handler. A riser or a vent run through the building belongs to the association, so we tell you what we see and who to call about it.
The oldest City houses are their own kind of job. Many were built for radiators and got central air later, so the ducts were squeezed into closets, soffits and the attic wherever they’d fit. Getting at them is the hard part, which is one more reason we look before we price.
What the ducts look like across Alexandria.
Census figures for the owner-occupied homes in each place, and what that usually means when we open the system.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | What we usually find |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Alexandria | 1970 | condo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Condo and apartment buildings: small closet systems and short runs. |
| Rose Hill | 1969 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Houses from before 1980: original sheet metal, and returns built into the floor framing. |
| Franconia | 1986 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Townhouse streets: an air handler in a closet or attic, and a long dryer vent run. |
| Fort Hunt | 1963 | single-family houses, nearly all | gas, about 8 in 10 | Houses from before 1980: original sheet metal, and returns built into the floor framing. |
| Kingstowne | 1994 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Townhouse streets: an air handler in a closet or attic, and a long dryer vent run. |
| Woodlawn | 1976 | townhouses, about 4 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Houses from before 1980: original sheet metal, and returns built into the floor framing. |
| Lincolnia | 1982 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | 1980s and 90s houses: sheet-metal trunks, flexible runs and one big return. |
| Mount Vernon | 1967 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Houses from before 1980: original sheet metal, and returns built into the floor framing. |
Alexandria houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise.
The City of Alexandria
- Median home built1970 Census
- Built before 1980about 6 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes arecondo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 6 in 10 Census
- Houses that age often have returns built into the floor framing, which pull dust from the whole floor. We clean returns first.
- Condo systems are small and quick to clean; anything shared through the building belongs to the association.
The Fairfax County side
- Built before 1980about 5 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 1 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 4 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 3 in 10 Census
- Townhouse dryer vents run long, to the roof or the back wall, and long runs clog sooner.
What duct cleaning costs in Alexandria.
The same price book as our air duct cleaning page, for a home up to 2,000 square feet on one system. We look first: a camera goes in at a return while you watch, about ten minutes, and it costs nothing if yours are fine. Then you get the price in writing, then we clean.
- Return Air Duct Cleaning$298
- Whole Home Air Duct Cleaning$598
- Whole Home Air Duct Cleaning with ActivePure Air Scrubber$1,798
- Dryer Vent Cleaning, on its own$299
- Dryer Vent Cleaning, added to a duct cleaning$199
A second system bills at 90 percent of the tier, because it’s isolated and cleaned on its own. The calculator on our air duct cleaning page does the arithmetic for a bigger house.
The dryer vent is the yearly one, and it’s in the Family Care Plan at $199 a year along with a heating inspection, an AC inspection and a plumbing inspection.
When duct cleaning is worth it in Alexandria.
Nobody remembers the last time
Which is most houses. Nobody opens a duct, so it never comes up until somebody looks.
You just finished a renovation
Drywall dust goes wherever the air goes, and the system was running while they sanded.
You’re in a condo
In most condos the unit’s own system is the owner’s to keep up, even when the building handles the roof; your association documents say for sure. A small system is a shorter job, and moving in is the time to do it.
What the county says about dryer vents.
Fairfax County
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue tells every household to clean the lint out of the dryer vent pipe once a year, sooner if clothes are taking longer to dry, and to have a gas dryer checked by a professional. Source.
How to pick the best duct cleaning company in Alexandria.
Questions to ask anybody who quotes you, us included.
In an Old Town or Parker-Gray house, do they know about the historic rules?
Duct cleaning is all inside the house, so the Board of Architectural Review doesn’t come into it. A new vent cap or a moved dryer vent on a wall people can see from the street can, and a company that works in Old Town should tell you before they cut anything.
Do they look before they quote?
A camera look at one return takes ten minutes. A price given at the door, sight unseen, is a price for the average house, not yours.
Do they clean the returns, or only the supply vents?
The returns are the big grilles that pull air back to the system, and they’re the side that collects dust. A job that only counts supply registers leaves half the system alone.
Is the price for the whole system, in writing?
Ask what it covers: every supply and return, the main trunk, the blower compartment. The $59 mailbox coupon covers getting somebody into the attic.
What our customers say.
Hard to find service like this in Alexandria.
Aaron and Marshall were honest with me and did a good job cleaning the dryer vent.
…we had swift and professional responses for multiple plumbing and HVAC needs in our Rosemont Alexandria condo
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Duct cleaning questions from Alexandria.
Do you clean ducts in Alexandria condos?
Yes. We clean the unit’s own ductwork and the air handler or fan coil in the closet, which is usually a quicker job than a house. Anything shared through the building, like a riser or a common vent run, belongs to the association, so we’ll show you what we find and tell you who handles it.
Do you work on both sides of the Alexandria city line?
Yes, and most of our Alexandria calls are on the Fairfax County side: Kingstowne, Franconia, Rose Hill, Mount Vernon. Same crew, same prices. The city line changes who issues permits and who supplies your water, not what duct cleaning costs, and duct cleaning doesn’t need a permit anyway.
How long does duct cleaning take in a City rowhouse or condo?
A condo with its air handler in a closet is a shorter job than a house, often half a day or less. A City rowhouse with ducts run through closets and the attic takes longer, because getting at them is most of the work. You get the time window after the camera look, before we start.
How much does air duct cleaning cost in Alexandria?
$598 for Whole Home Air Duct Cleaning on a home up to 2,000 square feet with one system, $298 for Return Air Duct Cleaning, and $1,798 with an ActivePure air scrubber installed. A dryer vent is $299 on its own or $199 added to a duct cleaning.
Is it worth it?
Sometimes, and the camera is how you find out. If the duct walls are furred over, cleaning takes that out of the loop your air runs through, and the before and after are obvious. If the metal is clean, it isn’t worth doing and we’ll say so. The EPA’s position is that routine cleaning hasn’t been shown to prevent health problems, so we don’t sell it that way.
Duct cleaning in the towns next door.
More from SwiftPro in Alexandria
See inside your ducts first.
Call, or book online and pick a window. The camera look takes about ten minutes and costs nothing, including when yours turn out to be fine.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Alexandria and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, 4230 Lafayette Center Dr, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151, (703) 997-9757. Book online, read our reviews, or see every town we serve.