Hear from Our Customers
Reno has been identified as the fastest-warming city in the United States. That’s not a statistic that stays outside it follows your HVAC system indoors. When your ducts are leaking, your air conditioner is working up to 50% harder to compensate for conditioned air escaping into attics and crawl spaces. The result is higher energy bills, uneven temperatures room to room, and a system that wears out faster than it should.
Once those leaks are repaired and sealed, your HVAC doesn’t have to fight as hard. Rooms that were always too hot or too cold start to balance out. Your system runs shorter cycles. And your energy bill reflects the difference sometimes significantly, especially through a Reno summer.
There’s also the air quality side of it. Every wildfire season, smoke from fires across the region finds its way into homes through gaps in ductwork and recirculates through every room your HVAC touches. Sealing and repairing your duct system is one of the most direct things you can do to keep that smoke out. For homeowners in areas like Old Southwest or Caughlin Ranch where older homes and larger square footage mean more surface area for leaks that matters more than most people realize.
We’ve been doing this work for over a decade in Reno and Washoe County. Our owner, Jorge Mendoza, is directly involved in every job not as a figurehead, but as the person who built this business and whose name is attached to every review. That’s a different kind of accountability than you get from a national franchise sending out whoever’s available.
We were founded after a friend’s house caught fire from an uncleaned dryer vent. That’s the actual reason this business exists. It’s not a tagline. And it shapes how every service call is handled inspect first, tell you what’s actually there, quote a real price, and only do the work that’s genuinely needed.
We understand what the high desert climate does to duct systems over time. Whether you’re in a newer build in South Meadows or a home in Midtown Reno that’s been around for decades, our inspection process is the same: thorough, documented, and honest.
It starts with an inspection a real one, not a formality. Before any work is quoted or started, we examine the entire duct system: joints, connections, flex duct sections, boot seals, and any areas where conditioned air could be escaping. In Reno homes, that often means checking attic runs that have taken years of temperature extremes, or crawl space sections that have shifted or disconnected over time. You see what’s found before anything else happens.
From there, you get a clear price for the repair work that’s actually needed. Not a range. Not a “depends on what we find once we’re in there” open-door estimate. A number. If the inspection shows your ducts are in good shape, that’s what you’re told and there’s no pressure to add services you don’t need.
The repair itself typically involves sealing leaking joints with mastic or metal tape, reconnecting any disconnected sections, and reinforcing areas that are at risk. Routine duct sealing and maintenance-level repairs generally don’t require a permit under Nevada’s mechanical codes, but if the scope of work involves replacing duct sections or modifying the system layout, that gets flagged upfront so there are no surprises. After the work is done, you get before-and-after documentation photos of what was found and what was fixed. In a trade where the work happens inside walls and ceilings, that documentation matters.
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Air duct repair through our company isn’t a single-task visit. Our inspection covers the full system supply and return lines, all accessible connections, flex duct condition, and the areas most likely to fail in Reno’s climate. That means paying attention to duct runs in unconditioned attic spaces, where temperature swings between Reno winters and increasingly hot summers accelerate wear on seals and joints. It also means checking crawl space sections, where moisture and shifting soil can cause disconnections that go unnoticed for years.
We handle repairs the same visit when possible. Sealing is done with professional-grade mastic or foil tape not the hardware store duct tape that degrades quickly in high-heat environments. Disconnected sections are reconnected and secured. Damaged flex duct that can’t be reliably sealed is flagged for replacement with a clear explanation of why. The Washoe Zephyr winds that roll through the Truckee Meadows every spring don’t just bring dust they pressurize homes in ways that stress duct connections. That context shapes how we approach repairs here, not just what’s visible but what’s likely to fail next.
Everything is documented with photos before and after. The final price matches the quoted price. And if a follow-up is needed, Jorge follows up not a call center, not a scheduler, the person who ran the job.
The most common signs are ones people tend to chalk up to something else. Rooms that won’t cool down no matter how long the AC runs. Energy bills that keep climbing even though your usage hasn’t changed. Dust building up around vents faster than it should. A system that cycles on and off constantly without ever quite getting the house to temperature. Any of these can point to leaky ductwork.
In Reno specifically, the high desert climate accelerates the wear on duct systems. Attic temperatures in summer can exceed 150 degrees Fahrenheit, which degrades flex duct material and breaks down sealant over time. Homes in older neighborhoods like Old Southwest or Midtown Reno may have ductwork that’s never been inspected or serviced, making leaks more likely and often more significant. The only way to know for certain is an inspection not a guess based on symptoms, but an actual look at the system. That’s where the process starts.
The honest answer is that cost depends on what the inspection finds but that’s not the same as leaving you with an open-ended number. After the inspection, you get a specific quote before any work begins. Minor repairs like sealing a few leaking joints or reconnecting a loose section will run less than a full system that’s been neglected for years. Most residential air duct repair jobs fall somewhere in the range of a few hundred dollars for targeted repairs, up to more significant investment for systems with widespread damage or deteriorated flex duct that needs replacement.
What you won’t get from us is the bait-and-switch that’s common in this industry the $99 special that turns into a $600 bill once someone’s in your home. Reno’s HVAC market has no shortage of that approach, and it’s worth being aware of before you call anyone. The quoted price is the final price, and if the inspection shows your ducts are fine, that’s what you’ll hear.
Yes, and it’s more direct than most people expect. When your HVAC system is running and your duct system has gaps or disconnected sections, it’s actively pulling air from unconditioned spaces attics, crawl spaces, wall cavities and pushing it into your living areas. During a smoke event, that means smoke-laden air gets distributed through every room the system serves.
Reno’s wildfire exposure is significant. The 2018 Perry Fire produced the worst air pollution levels ever recorded in the Reno-Sparks area, and events like that aren’t anomalies anymore they’re part of the seasonal reality for Washoe County residents. Sealing and repairing your duct system reduces the pathways smoke has into your home. It won’t make your home airtight, but it eliminates one of the most direct routes. For homeowners who’ve noticed a smoky smell inside during fire season even with windows closed, duct leakage is often the reason.
For most single-family homes in Reno, the full process inspection, repair, and documentation takes between two and four hours. Larger homes in areas like Somersett or Caughlin Ranch, where square footage and duct complexity are higher, may take longer. Homes with significant damage, multiple disconnected sections, or ductwork in difficult crawl space configurations can extend that timeline, but you’ll know what to expect before the work starts.
The inspection itself is not a quick walk-through. It’s a systematic check of the full system, which is what makes the repair work accurate rather than guesswork. Reno homes with attic duct runs that have gone through multiple years of extreme temperature cycles often have more issues than are visible from a single access point, so thoroughness at the inspection stage saves time and rework later. Most repairs are completed the same visit.
They’re different services that address different problems, and whether you need one or both depends on what the inspection finds. Duct cleaning removes the buildup inside the duct dust, debris, allergens, and in Reno’s case, the fine high desert particulate that the Washoe Zephyr blows through any gap in the system. Duct repair addresses the structural issues: leaking joints, disconnected sections, collapsed flex duct, and unsealed connections that are letting conditioned air escape or letting outside air in.
You can clean a duct system that has leaks, but the leaks will keep pulling in new debris and keep bleeding conditioned air. And you can repair a duct system without cleaning it, but if there’s significant buildup, airflow and air quality will still be compromised. For most Reno homeowners who haven’t had either service done in several years especially after a wildfire smoke season doing both in a single visit makes practical and economic sense. The inspection will tell you what’s actually needed.
It depends on the scope of work. Routine maintenance-level repairs sealing leaking joints with mastic, reconnecting loose duct sections, applying foil tape to compromised connections are generally considered maintenance activities and don’t require a permit under Nevada’s mechanical codes. That covers the majority of what most Reno homeowners need.
Where permits come into play is when the work crosses into structural modification: replacing significant sections of ductwork, changing the duct layout, or making alterations to the HVAC system configuration. Under Nevada Administrative Code, those types of modifications fall under mechanical permit requirements through the City of Reno or Washoe County, depending on your address. A contractor who knows the difference between maintenance-level repair and permit-required modification will tell you upfront which category your job falls into and if a permit is needed, you’ll know before any work begins, not after.
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