Whole-home duct cleaning
Dryer vent cleaning
Camera inspection
Sanitizing & deodorizingWhole-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 Air Duct Repair Across San Mateo
Air duct repair in San Mateo usually means fixing ducts that have failed quietly for decades inside crawl spaces, walls, and attics. The typical repair job in San Mateo runs between $280 and $650, depending on what we find once we open the run. Homeowners in Baywood, Aragon, and San Mateo Park call us when a bedroom never cools, an air handler overheats, or a crawl-space inspection shows a crushed or separated run. We know where these systems fail in San Mateo’s older homes because we’re under the same houses every week. Call (951) 527-6259 for an honest diagnosis and a written price before any work starts.
Why Linden Air Duct San Francisco Is San Mateo’s Preferred Air Duct Repair Company
We’ve been repairing ductwork under San Mateo homes long enough to know the difference between a seam that just needs mastic and a trunk run that has to be replaced outright. Homeowners in San Mateo keep calling us back because our Air Duct Repair techs carry the same professional-grade Rotobrush and Nikro equipment on every job and follow the same written rule, no matter the neighborhood. You get the price in writing before a single section of duct is touched. We also stock common galvanized and flex sections sized for the runs found in mid-century homes, so a repair in San Mateo rarely waits on parts.
Our approach to San Mateo work starts with the Threshold Standard. That means every technician who rings your doorbell is background-checked, identity-verified, and wearing a photo ID badge at the door. Before the visit, we send you the tech’s name and photo so there is no stranger at the threshold. The phone answer is a live person 24/7, not a queue. For Marcus Veale and the rest of our team, that protocol is simply how you run a duct repair in San Mateo when the customer may be home alone with two kids and a dog.
We also stand behind what we fix with a 365-Day Done Right Promise, written into every repair. If a covered repair fails within a year, we come back and make it right. No charge. No argument. That is the guarantee that matters when the repair is in a fog-damp crawl space under a Baywood pier-and-beam home, where conditions resist shortcuts.
Styles & brands we work with
Ductwork Installation in San Mateo
Ductwork Installation in San Mateo is often the right call when we find a 60-year-old galvanized trunk that has corroded past the point where patching makes sense. The job means removing the failed sections, installing new sealed steel or properly supported flex runs, and connecting every branch to the boot with mastic at the seams. A whole-system replacement in an average San Mateo single-family home typically runs $2,800 to $6,200, depending on the crawl-space access and the number of runs. A partial section, like a supply trunk in a single pier-and-beam crawl space, usually lands between $900 and $1,800.
Replacing Corroded Trunk Lines
Original galvanized trunks in San Mateo homes from the 1940s through the 1970s often corrode at the seams where fog-damp crawl-space air worked on the metal for decades. We cut out the failed length and install new sealed steel, then reconnect each branch run and seal every accessible seam with mastic. The result is a duct that no longer leaks conditioned air into the dirt below the house.
Crawl-Space Flex Connectors
Where older steel meets a modern addition or a relocated register, flexible connectors are common. In San Mateo crawl spaces these connectors get chewed by rodents or sag free of their supports. We replace them with properly strapped and sealed flex, sized to match the air handler’s static pressure instead of whatever was on the truck.
HVAC Duct Installation in San Mateo
HVAC Duct Installation in San Mateo is a full-system job for homeowners replacing a furnace or adding a heat pump to a house that still breathes through 50-year-old ductwork. The old duct is removed, new runs are sized to the new equipment, and every connection is sealed and tested under pressure before the job closes. A complete HVAC duct installation in a typical San Mateo home runs $4,500 to $8,800. That range covers the labor to pull the old steel out of a tight crawl space, the new duct, and the sealing and testing work.
Right-Sized Runs for New Equipment
High-efficiency heat pumps and variable-speed air handlers do not tolerate the leaky runs that worked, more or less, with an old single-stage furnace. We size the new duct to the equipment, not the other way around. That is the difference between a San Mateo house that heats evenly and one where the front bedroom stays ten degrees off.
Pressure Testing After the Install
After any HVAC duct installation we run a pressure test to confirm the system holds. You can lose 20 to 30 percent of your conditioned air through small leaks, and that is money blown into a crawl space. We show you the numbers before and after so you know exactly what changed.
Trusted Brands We Service in San Mateo
Our techs work on ducts tied to systems from Honeywell, Aprilaire, and Carrier, among others, and stock the common connectors, dampers, and sealants needed to match repair work to whatever equipment your home has. We also keep Guardsman air-quality products on hand for San Mateo jobs where a repair exposes filtration that should be addressed while the run is open. Because we’re in and out of San Mateo neighborhoods weekly, we can usually turn a repair around within one or two days of diagnosis, without waiting on parts shipped from across the country.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Air Duct Repair Problems We See in San Mateo Homes
- Separated galvanized seams under pier-and-beam homes. In Baywood and Aragon, original steel ducts in vented crawl spaces corrode at the seams from decades of fog-damp air. The seam separates, the run pressurizes the crawl space instead of the bedroom, and the system works twice as hard for half the result.
- Rodent-chewed flex connectors. Flexible connectors where steel meets a newer boot are an open invitation in San Mateo crawl spaces. We regularly find connectors with holes the size of a fist, sending heated or cooled air straight into the dirt.
- Crushed return ducts under the house. Pier-and-beam foundations settle, supports rot, and return runs sag until they kink. A crushed return starves the blower and overheats the air handler, which shortens the life of the entire system.
- Disconnected runs serving back rooms. We see disconnected branch runs all over San Mateo, especially in homes where some past repair or pest-control work disturbed the crawl space. The back bedroom never cools because it simply is not attached to the system anymore.
Pricing for Air Duct Repair in San Mateo, CA
Here is what San Mateo homeowners should expect to pay. A focused repair like reconnecting a branch run or sealing a separated seam runs $180 to $420. Replacing a short section of damaged flex or repairing a crushed return run typically lands between $350 and $800. Replacing a full trunk line in a crawl space runs $900 to $1,800. A complete ductwork or HVAC duct installation in San Mateo starts around $2,800 and goes up from there based on the number of runs and crawl-space access. Every quote is written before work begins. No per-vent pricing, no padded invoice at the end. Call (951) 527-6259 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near San Mateo
Our crews cover San Mateo and the surrounding Peninsula communities, including Burlingame, South San Francisco, Redwood City, and Pacifica. If you live in one of these nearby cities and need duct repair, the same Threshold Standard applies. Call us at (951) 527-6259 and we’ll get you scheduled.
Serving San Mateo, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the San Mateo 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 Air Duct Repair in San Mateo
We work entirely from the crawl space or the register opening, never through the floor. The process means cutting out the failed galvanized section, connecting new sealed steel with mastic at every seam, and supporting the run so it cannot sag again. San Mateo’s pier-and-beam homes in Baywood and Aragon are built for this kind of access, which is a genuine advantage when the alternative in a slab home would be far more invasive. Call (951) 527-6259 for an exact quote after a crawl-space inspection.
Yes, and it is one of the first things we check in that neighborhood. Pier-and-beam construction means the supply runs are under the house, and a disconnected branch simply dumps air into the crawl space instead of the register. We reconnect the run, seal the boot, and check the rest of the trunk while we are under there. The fix often runs $250 to $500, and you’ll feel the difference in that room within the hour.
We repair them. We locate the chewed sections, remove and replace the damaged flex or insulation, and then wrap the new material properly so it is less inviting to the next rodent. We have done this in crawl spaces all over San Mateo, and it is a common reason a room suddenly loses airflow. Every repair includes our 365-Day Done Right Promise, so if a covered section fails again, we come back at no charge.
Go to the return grille while the system is running and feel the pull. A weak or fluttery pull, combined with a blower that runs hot and a house that never quite tempers, points to a sagged or crushed return under the pier-and-beam foundation. We inspect the run from the crawl space and either re-support it or replace the collapsed section. Most crushed return repairs in San Mateo run $350 to $700.
They can last anywhere from 40 to 60 years in San Mateo, but the vented crawl spaces common in neighborhoods like Baywood and Aragon push the metal hard. Fog-damp air settles against the steel, the seams corrode, and the run starts leaking before it collapses. By the time we are called, most original 1960s ductwork is past its useful life. We’ll tell you honestly whether a patch will hold or whether a section should be replaced. Call (951) 527-6259 and we’ll put that assessment in writing.
Written by Marcus Veale, Owner at Linden Air Duct San Francisco, serving San Mateo with duct repair, installation, and cleaning since 2004.