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.
Fast, Reliable Dryer Vent Cleaning Across Kensington
Dryer vent cleaning in Kensington typically costs $149 – $289 for most homes, but hillside properties with long, roof-terminated runs run higher because the work is more involved. The job usually takes 60 – 90 minutes when a single technician can reach the full lint pathway. We schedule every Kensington visit with a live arrival window you can track from your phone, and the price is handed to you in writing before a single tool comes off the truck. Call (737) 727-2314 to get a straight answer and a real number.
Kensington’s mix of post-war tract homes and steep hillside custom builds means no two dryer vent jobs are identical. The tract homes on the flat streets near Colusa Circle typically have short, direct runs that terminate through an exterior wall. The hillside houses above Arlington Avenue and along the higher stretches of the Berkeley border are a different animal entirely: long, multi-elbow runs that climb to a roof or side-wall termination, often with years of packed lint hidden behind the first clean-looking elbow. Local knowledge here isn’t a nice-to-have. It changes how we quote, how we clean, and how long the job takes.
Why Cardinal Air Duct Cleaning Is Kensington’s Preferred Dryer Vent Cleaning Company
Homeowners in Kensington call us because we don’t do bait-and-switch pricing and we don’t sell work that isn’t needed. The air duct trade has a reputation for the $49 coupon that becomes a $900 invoice once the van is parked. That’s not how we operate. Every job is quoted as one flat price per system, agreed before work starts, and it does not change at the door.
We’re part of the Relay Home Co. family, founded in 2005, and every booking is held to The Relay Visibility Guarantee. That means you get a live trackable arrival window, before-and-after photo proof of the work, and a digital invoice you can pay from a link. Our technicians are background-checked, arrive in uniform, and you’ll know their name before they ring the bell. If the work isn’t right within 365 days, we return and correct it at no charge. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it applies to every single job without exception.
Omar Haddad leads our Dryer Vent Cleaning team, and he’s the kind of operator who’d rather tell you your vent is fine than charge you for a cleaning you don’t need. That’s why Kensington homeowners keep our number saved.
Dryer Vent Inspection in Kensington
Dryer Vent Inspection in Kensington is the first step we recommend for any dryer that’s taking longer than normal, running hot, or tripping a thermal fuse. A camera inspection costs $75 – $125 as a standalone service, and it’s credited toward the cleaning if we find buildup that needs to come out. We run a borescope camera down the entire lint pathway, not just the visible stub, because in Kensington the visible portion is often clean while the concealed run is packed.
On the flat streets, a short run can be inspected in about 15 minutes. On the hillside homes where the vent climbs to a roof termination, the inspection takes longer because the camera has to navigate multiple elbows. Either way, you’ll see the footage yourself and get still photographs of anything we find. We don’t expect you to take our word for it.
When to Book an Inspection
Dryer taking two cycles to finish a load, clothes coming out damp, a burning smell while the dryer runs, or a flap that barely moves when the dryer is on. Any one of those is a reason to get the run looked at, and in Kensington’s older hillside homes, the answer is usually a partial blockage nine or ten feet in.
What the Inspection Covers
We check the full pathway from the dryer connection to the exterior termination, measure airflow at the vent, and look for compression, crushed sections, disconnected joints, and bird or rodent screening issues. If it’s clean, we say so and you pay for the inspection only. If it’s not, the inspection fee rolls into the cleaning price.
Commercial Dryer Vent Cleaning in Kensington
Commercial Dryer Vent Cleaning in Kensington covers the small businesses and multifamily laundry rooms along Arlington Avenue and Colusa Circle, where shared dryer stacks and higher cycle counts mean more frequent cleanings. Commercial pricing runs $189 – $395 per dryer stack depending on run length, accessibility, and the amount of compacted lint we’re dealing with. The process is the same as residential work: inspect first, quote one flat price, clean with professional-grade equipment, and hand over photo documentation of the before-and-after.
Laundromats, salons, gyms, and any building with shared laundry needs a schedule, not a one-off cleaning. We work with Kensington property managers to set a cadence that matches actual usage, and we keep a record of every job with photos and airflow readings so there’s a paper trail.
Shared Laundry Rooms
Multi-unit buildings in Kensington tend to have longer common runs and dryers that run back-to-back all day. Lint accumulation accelerates, and the fire risk goes up with it. We clean during off-hours when possible and keep the disruption minimal.
Restaurants and Care Facilities
Commercial dryers running towels, linens, or uniforms all day can pack a vent in half the time of a typical home. We’ll baseline the airflow, clean the full run, and schedule the next visit before we leave so it doesn’t get forgotten.
Trusted Brands We Service in Kensington
We work on dryers from Whirlpool, LG, Samsung, Maytag, GE, and Speed Queen, and we carry common replacement parts for Kensington customers so a vent cap or bird guard doesn’t require a second visit. Our cleaning fleet uses Rotobrush rotary brush systems for agitation and Nikro HEPA-rated vacuums for extraction, running under negative pressure so loosened lint goes into the vacuum rather than back into your laundry room. For tighter access and containment situations, we use Abatement Technologies units. We don’t run a truck-mounted shop vac and call it professional-grade.
Common Dryer Vent Cleaning Problems We See in Kensington Homes
- Long roof-terminated runs with hidden blockages. Hillside homes above Arlington Avenue often have dryer vents that run ten to twenty feet with three or four elbows before reaching a roof cap. Lint packs into the middle elbow, and a blower that only cleans from the laundry room end never touches it.
- Short wall stubs that look clean but aren’t. Many Kensington houses have the dryer against an exterior wall, so the visible stub gets wiped and looks fine. The concealed portion behind the wall is where the buildup actually is. This is exactly why we camera-inspect before quoting anything.
- Wrong work sold by other companies. Homeowners get sold a full air duct cleaning when the actual problem is a blocked dryer vent, or told a MERV rating mismatch is an emergency. Honest work means telling you what’s actually wrong and leaving when there’s nothing to fix.
- Rotted or damaged vent caps on hillside exposures. Kensington’s hill-facing homes take full weather on their roof and side terminations. We replace cracked or corroded vent caps and install bird guards to keep nesting material out of the run.
Pricing for Dryer Vent Cleaning in Kensington, CA
Most standard dryer vent cleanings in Kensington run $149 – $289. Hillside homes with roof terminations and multi-elbow runs sit at the higher end because we need additional equipment and time to reach the full pathway. If the run requires roof access, that’s priced into the quote up front, not added on after we arrive. Commercial jobs run $189 – $395 per stack. Every quote is one flat price per system, handed to you in writing before any work starts, with no per-vent pricing and no door-knock surcharge. Estimates are free. Call (737) 727-2314 and we’ll give you a number you can actually plan around.
We Also Serve Cities Near Kensington
Our Kensington customers often refer us to family and friends across the Bay Area. We serve homes throughout the East Bay and beyond, including Dryer Vent Cleaning in Kensington neighbors in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. Scheduling works the same way wherever the job is: live arrival window, written price first, photo proof when the work is done.
Serving Kensington, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Kensington 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 Dryer Vent Cleaning in Kensington
A vent on a flat-lot tract home with a short, straight run typically needs cleaning every 18 – 24 months. A hillside Kensington home with a long, multi-elbow run to the roof needs it every 12 – 18 months, sometimes more often if you run the dryer daily. The honest answer is that usage, run length, and the number of elbows matter more than a calendar. If your dryer is taking noticeably longer or the exterior flap isn’t moving properly, call (737) 727-2314 and we’ll inspect before recommending anything.
We charge one flat price per system, never per vent. That’s a firm rule. You’ll get the full number in writing before any work starts, and it won’t change when the technician arrives. Per-vent pricing is how the duct cleaning industry runs up invoices, and we don’t play that game. Call (737) 727-2314 for a straight quote.
Yes, and this is a big part of our work in Kensington’s hillside homes. Roof-terminated runs require accessing the exterior cap from the roof or an extension ladder, running the brush from both ends, and verifying airflow at the termination. We do this regularly and quote the roof-access labor up front. If the roof pitch makes safe access unreasonable, we’ll tell you that too and explain the alternatives.
Yes. Every job includes before-and-after photographs of the interior of your dryer vent, taken with our inspection camera. You’ll see the packed lint we started with and the bare metal we finished with. It’s part of The Relay Visibility Guarantee, and it’s automatically included on every booking in Kensington. No photos, no ambiguity.
We don’t promise same-day service because we schedule work properly and don’t rush a job to fit a marketing promise. But we do answer the phone live, 24/7, and we’ll get you a real, trackable arrival window. Most Kensington cleanings are scheduled within a few days, and if you’re dealing with a blocked vent and can’t run your dryer, call (737) 727-2314 and we’ll work you into the soonest slot we have.
Need a dryer vent cleaning in Kensington? Call (737) 727-2314 for a free estimate. One flat price, written up front, with before-and-after photos of your own ducts when we’re done.
Written by Omar Haddad, Owner at Cardinal Air Duct Cleaning, serving Kensington and the greater Bay Area through the Relay Home Co. family, founded 2005.




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