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.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterFull System Cleaning in Littleton, CO
Residential Duct Cleaning means every component that moves air through your home gets cleaned in a single visit: the supply and return duct runs, the main trunk lines, the plenum (the central air distribution box connected to your furnace or air handler), all register boots, and the air handler cabinet itself. In Littleton, where homes built between the late 1970s and mid-2000s dominate neighborhoods like Columbine Knolls, Wolhurst, and Ken Caryl, that means CleanRun technicians are regularly working through 18 to 28 individual duct runs before the truck leaves the driveway.
Most air duct cleaning companies clean the runs they can reach easily and call the job done. Full system cleaning, as CleanRun defines it, is different: every run is photographed before we touch it, negative-pressure extraction is maintained at the main trunk throughout the process using a Nikro or Abatement Technologies collection unit, and every run is photographed again when it’s clear. You receive that photo record as a standard deliverable, not as an add-on. If you want to understand what that broader service category involves, the Air Duct Cleaning in Littleton page explains the full scope and what separates a documented clean from a shop-vac visit.
Written price before any work starts. Documented before-and-after photos on every duct run. 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing. That’s what full system cleaning looks like at CleanRun. To get a written quote for your Littleton home, call (720) 315-7291 – a live person answers every call.
When You Need Full System Cleaning
Not every home needs a full system clean on the same schedule. These are the situations where it’s the right call, not a partial clean or a single-zone service:
- You’ve never had the ducts cleaned and the home is more than seven years old. In Littleton’s drier climate, fine particulate from the Front Range – construction dust, wildfire smoke drift from years like 2020 and 2021, and pollen from the urban tree canopy along the South Platte corridor – accumulates inside duct runs faster than most homeowners expect. A camera inspection in a home that hasn’t been cleaned since the original build commonly shows a quarter-inch to half-inch debris layer coating the interior walls of the sheet metal runs.
- You bought the home recently and have no service history. Homes in Littleton’s higher-turnover zip codes, particularly around the 80120 and 80128 areas, regularly change hands without any documentation of duct maintenance. A full system clean with a photo record gives you an accurate baseline for the home you actually bought.
- There was a renovation involving drywall cutting or demolition. Drywall dust is fine enough to travel past a standard furnace filter and coat every duct run in the system within 48 hours of a remodel. We see this regularly in the older split-levels in South Littleton where kitchen and basement projects are common. Partial cleaning after a remodel leaves the problem half-solved.
- The system had a moisture event – condensation, flooding, or a humidifier malfunction. Littleton’s relatively low ambient humidity means builders and homeowners often run whole-home humidifiers (Honeywell and Aprilaire units are the most common we encounter). When a humidifier pan overflows or a distribution tube cracks, moisture enters the duct system and creates the conditions for microbial growth inside the runs. Full system cleaning, including the plenum, is the appropriate response – not just cleaning the registers you can see.
- Occupant health complaints that correlate with HVAC runtime. When allergy or respiratory symptoms worsen specifically when the heat or AC kicks on, the duct system is a reasonable place to look. We’re not making a medical claim here – but a camera inspection that finds documented debris inside the runs is objective information a homeowner can act on.
- The home sat vacant for an extended period. Vacancy periods of six months or longer, which are not unusual for estate properties and investor-held homes in Littleton, allow dust to settle and stratify inside horizontal duct runs without the airflow that normally keeps it partially suspended. By the time an HVAC system fires up again, that settled material gets disturbed and redistributed through every room in the house.
Our Full System Cleaning Process
This is the sequence a CleanRun crew follows on every full system cleaning job in Littleton. Each step is the same whether the home has 12 runs or 30.
- Pre-job inspection and written scope. Before any equipment comes off the truck, a technician walks the system: counts every supply and return register, identifies the plenum configuration, checks whether the air handler cabinet is accessible, notes any damaged or disconnected runs that need documentation, and records what’s in the system. That inspection produces the written price, delivered to you before work starts. Haven Standard Clause 1 – written price before any work begins – is not optional on any CleanRun job.
- Pre-cleaning photography. Every duct run is photographed before cleaning begins. The camera goes inside each run at the register end and at the trunk connection where access allows. This is not a formality – it’s the baseline that makes the after-photo meaningful. CleanRun has documented every job this way since 2013, and those records have settled more than a few disputes about what condition a system was actually in before any work started.
- Negative-pressure setup at the main trunk. A collection unit – typically a Nikro or Abatement Technologies HEPA-filtered extraction system – is connected directly to the main supply trunk or the plenum, depending on the duct layout. Negative pressure (a controlled low-pressure zone inside the duct system that pulls debris toward the collection unit rather than into the room) is established and confirmed before agitation begins. This matters because agitation without negative pressure in place just redistributes debris.
- Mechanical agitation of every duct run. Each run is cleaned using a Nikro rotary brush or equivalent agitation tool sized to the duct diameter. The brush works from the register end toward the trunk, breaking debris loose so the negative-pressure extraction pulls it out. Flexible runs and rigid sheet metal runs are treated differently – flexible ductwork, common in Littleton homes built after the mid-1990s, requires a softer agitation method to avoid tearing the inner liner. Runs are done in sequence, not skipped. The camera record confirms which runs were completed.
- Plenum and air handler cabinet cleaning. The plenum is the part most cleaning companies skip. It’s the sheet metal box that distributes air from the furnace or air handler to all the supply runs, and it collects debris at its lowest points. We clean the plenum interior, the blower compartment, and the area around the coil if accessible, then photograph these areas as part of the same job record.
- Post-cleaning photography and job record delivery. Every run is photographed again after cleaning. The before and after photos are paired by run and delivered to you as a documented job record – the same format CleanRun has used on every one of its 52,000-plus jobs. You’re not asked to trust that the work was done. You can see it.
BeforeAfterFull System Cleaning Pricing in Littleton
Full system cleaning in Littleton typically falls in the range below, based on the homes we service in this market. Written price is delivered before work starts on every job – these ranges are here so you can evaluate a quote before agreeing to anything, which is exactly how we want it.
| Home Size / Configuration | Typical Duct Count | Estimated Price Range |
|---|---|---|
| Small single-story (under 1,400 sq ft) | 10-14 runs | $320 – $420 |
| Mid-size two-story or ranch (1,400-2,200 sq ft) | 15-22 runs | $420 – $560 |
| Larger two-story or finished basement (2,200-3,200 sq ft) | 22-30 runs | $560 – $720 |
| Large or multi-zone home (3,200+ sq ft) | 30+ runs | $720 – $950+ |
A few things that move price within those ranges:
- Number of HVAC zones. Homes in the larger subdivisions near Ken Caryl Ranch and Columbine Valley often have two-zone or three-zone systems. Each zone has its own air handler and trunk, which affects time and equipment placement.
- Access to the plenum and air handler cabinet. In some Littleton homes, especially those with finished basements and utility areas that were built out over the years, getting clean access to the plenum requires moving shelving or working around finished walls. That adds time.
- Debris load. A home that has never been cleaned and has a documented half-inch of debris through the runs takes longer than a home on a regular cleaning schedule. The camera shows this before the quote is written, so you’re not surprised by it afterward.
- Flexible duct condition. Collapsed or partially disconnected flexible runs are common in Littleton homes from the 1990s. Cleaning a partially collapsed run takes longer, and if it needs repair or replacement, that’s a separate written line item before any additional work proceeds.
If you have a written estimate from another company, bring it to CleanRun. We’ll put our own number next to it in writing – that’s a free second opinion, no appointment needed for the comparison itself. Call (720) 315-7291 to schedule a written quote for your Littleton home.
FAQs – Full System Cleaning
How is full system cleaning different from a standard duct cleaning?
Full system cleaning covers every component that moves air: all supply runs, all return runs, the main trunk lines, the plenum, register boots, and the air handler cabinet. A standard or basic Air Duct Cleaning – especially the kind advertised at $79 to $99 – typically means a shop-vac at the registers and nothing beyond the first few feet of each run. The distinction matters because debris accumulates at elbows, at trunk connections, and inside the plenum, not just at the register face. If those areas aren’t cleaned and documented, the job isn’t done. Call (720) 315-7291 and we’ll describe exactly what our written scope covers before you commit to anything.
How long does a full system cleaning take in a typical Littleton home?
A mid-size Littleton home with 15 to 22 runs takes three to four hours when done properly: inspection and setup, negative-pressure establishment, agitation of every run, plenum and cabinet cleaning, and post-job photography. A larger home with a finished basement and 28 or more runs, which is common in neighborhoods like Roxborough Park and Heritage Hills, runs four to six hours. Any company quoting less than two hours for a complete system on a standard Littleton home is either describing a partial clean or working very fast through steps that affect the result. The written scope we deliver before the job starts identifies exactly how many runs we’re cleaning, so you can hold us to it.
Do I need to do anything to prepare before the crew arrives?
Clear a path to each register and make sure the furnace or air handler area is accessible – that means moving anything stored in front of the utility closet or mechanical room. In Littleton homes with finished basements, the cleanout access to the main trunk is sometimes behind a storage shelf or drywall panel; it helps to locate that before we arrive. We’ll confirm access requirements when we schedule the job. Technicians arrive in uniform, identified by name before arrival under Haven Standard Clause 3: Verified Crews.
How often should a Littleton home have a full system cleaning done?
For most occupied Littleton homes without pets or known air quality issues, every four to six years is a reasonable cycle. Homes with dogs or cats that shed significantly, or homes near active construction (which describes a lot of the western Littleton corridor as development continues toward C-470), benefit from a three to four year cycle. The before-and-after photo record CleanRun delivers at the end of every job gives you a documented baseline, so the next cleaning isn’t guesswork – you can compare what the technician finds to what the photos showed last time and make a decision based on actual evidence rather than a general calendar.
Why Littleton Homeowners Choose CleanRun for Full System Cleaning
The answer isn’t complicated. It’s the same reason homeowners in Columbine Knolls, Centennial-adjacent South Littleton, and the newer builds near Chatfield State Park keep calling back: CleanRun does the work, photographs it, puts the warranty in writing, and charges a price you saw before the job started.
Since 2013, CleanRun has completed full system cleaning jobs in more than 52,000 homes. Every one of them started with a written price and ended with a photo record. The 365-Day Done Right Promise means that if something wasn’t cleaned right, we come back and do it right – not subject to manager approval, documented in writing on your job record.
The equipment on the truck is professional grade: Nikro extraction systems, Abatement Technologies HEPA collection units, rotary agitation tools sized to the duct diameter. These are brands you can look up independently before agreeing to a price. That’s intentional. CleanRun’s position since day one is that customers who can verify the equipment, the price, and the result before committing are the customers who trust the work when it’s done.
For homeowners who’ve received a quote elsewhere, the free second opinion is available on any written estimate – CleanRun puts its number next to the competitor’s in writing, at no cost, with no pressure attached.
Tomas Reyes and the CleanRun crew serve the full Littleton area, including zip codes 80120, 80123, 80127, 80128, and surrounding neighborhoods. Every call goes to a live person. To get a written quote for a full system cleaning at your Littleton address, call (720) 315-7291. The estimate is free, the price is written before work starts, and the photo record comes standard when the job is done.
Written by Tomas Reyes, Owner at CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning Littleton, serving Littleton since 2013.