[moongirl]

We're not near new construction, but we seem to have a lot of dust in our house. I would have to dust 2-3 times a day to keep it clear. I have been thinking of having our ductwork and dryer vent cleaned to see if that would help. We didn't need it in our last home (Glenview area) as the builder had it done before we took ownership. This builder (Sabal Chase area) was fired before we bought so don't know what was done for sure. We've been in this house for 3+ years and it hasn't gotten any better. Has anyone had this done? Who did you use? Would you recommend them? Did it help with dust inside? Thanks for any input.

[hoseman]

I'd try to identify what type of dust you have before spending money on duct cleaning. Gather up some dust fibers and put in clean zip lock bag. Gather up some carpet fibers into another clean zip lock bag. Same deal with lint off the dryer filter screen. Any other obvious sources of dust, collect in the same manner.

Now, go find you a microscope in a Dr office, dental office, library, or somewhere and it's really easy to accurately determine where the dust is coming from then fix that.

My bet is your house has wall to wall carpeting (like ours and we have given up on dusting so frequently plus the table tops are great to write notes and smiley faces on).

[villages07]

moon.... we've also been here about 3 years and recently had the dryer vent cleaned. It did have quite a bit of lint in the pipe and up where the vent comes out of the roof. Done by Desmond Harris, Covenant Janitorial, 352-308-7457. Good guy, highly recommended here on TOTV and other sources. Charges $50.

We did this mostly for safety and for efficient operation of the dryer.

We still have as much dust as we did before. Moreso in the master bedroom than anywhere else. Carpet there and in the guest room. Tile everywhere else.

I agree with hoseman...I think the dust comes more from carpet and our shedding of skin than anything. I have thought about duct cleaning but haven't done it yet.

[allairenjadea]

When we had our walk-thru with Munn's I asked about duct cleaning. His response was that they had purchased a machine to do duct cleaning but after a few cleanings the people doing the work reported that there was no or not enough dirt/dust to warrant cleaning. He told me it was just a way to get money for nothing. So they stopped doing duct cleaning and told us that we should never need it. This does not include the dryer vent.

[moongirl]

Thanks, Hoseman. I like the smiley face idea. Guess I just need to smile more. We do have wall-wall carpet in bedrooms and living room, so guess that's where the dust is coming from. I will get the dryer vent cleaned, tho. Ours vents straight up through the roof and I've heard that can be more difficult to keep cleaned. Anyone have any dealings with Wright Way, Odornix, or ABC Fredericks Appliance in regards to dryer vent cleaning?

[hoseman]

Didn't intend to make light of the importance of unrestricted dryer venting, it's a safety deal to keep that vent clean. (I've never heard of a vent running vertical to the roof but what it is is what it is - it needs to be cleaned. I take my flex line off every year and blast it out with the garden hose into the neighbors yard - kidding - but I do clean it every year as there is always a bunch of lint plus the dryer works about twice as fast after cleaning the hose).
Hey, if you are handy whatsoever, Home Depot or Lowes sells a device like http://www.rewci.com/lirodrveclki.html where you can clean the line yourself.

Now airconditioning ducts are a different deal - some contractors say how much that is needed - I disagree - as the return vent air goes straight through a furnace filter to catch dust. The supply duct is downstream of the filter so whatever was there after construction would have certainly purged itself within the three years you have lived in this house. (This Munn guy mentioned by Allair.... sounds like an honest guy that I would trust and no I am not Munn or even related...I just like honest people not willing to cheat people)

So clean the dryer vent, forget about the HVAC ducts, make smiley faces on tables until you replace the carpet with a better grade or go to tile or hardwood floors.

Great question Moongirl!

[downeaster]

Even though we don't live near new construction we still get a lot of dust. One of the first things I did after moving here was replace the furnace filter with a filter in the return air vent. I bought the necessary material at either Home Depot or Lowes (it was eight years ago). It doesn't solve the dust problem but it prevents a build up of dust in the duct work.
My HVAC people said they tried to get the builder to include return air vent filters as standard but they couldn't convince him.
I have also replaced carpet in all but 2 guest rooms with hard floors.
Having done all of that I would like to say problem solved. It helped but we still get a lot of dust.

[moongirl]

Great input. I will skip the duct cleaning and put those $$ towards new hard floors. But will definitly have the dryer vent cleaned. It does go straight up to the roof and out. There is sometimes clumps of lint on the roof and between ours/neighbors house. Will have it done professionally first time since we've been here 3 years. Then will use the link from Hoseman to get the self cleaning kit. My husband is very handy and will be able to do it regularly.

[jazzy48]

We recently used Covenant Janitorial to clean our dryer vent and was amazed at how much lint they removed. They did a great job.

We also recently replaced all of our carpet with tile, so we now have 100% tile floors. We still have dust, but not as much as we did before.

I've decided Florida and dust just go together.

[zcaveman]

Fredericks Appliances did my dryer ducts when they fixed my oven. They also cleaned out the underside of the dryer (the place I cannot get to easily) as part of the service.

[rjrex]

Desmond Harris just cleaned out my dryer vent. He cleaned it last year also. I could not believe how much lint had built up.

Desmond Harris owner operator Covenant Janitorial.

(352) 308-7457

[billethkid]

charge to clean them out?

btk

[GMONEY]

Ther is a guy named Mike Hogan that does it also, he use to do the ones for Desomnd. I will see if I can get his number for you. Great Guy and will do what ever you need done. I believe it is 45 or 50 for the cleaning.

[golfnut]

btk, v07 said she paid $50....gn

[jazzy48]

We paid Desmond $45 for cleaning out our dryer vent.

At no additional charge, Desmond will change all of your smoke detector batteries, if you have the batteries available. You will never deal with a more pleasant individual.