Air duct cleaning

General Landlording & Rental Properties
3yFollow

Air duct cleaning

Albert Johnson
Member since 2022 · 115 posts · 22 votes

Hi, 

I have a tenant that is proposing to clean their air ducts. They have been there for  few months. 

Would air duct cleaning fall on the tenants or landlord?


How do some of you approach this?

Thanks

1Reply
180 views

Most Popular Reply

Bjorn AhlbladPro Member
Investor · Shelton, WA · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 6k+ votes
3y

If the air ducts needed cleaning that would decided by me and paid for by me. I would not allow the tenant to decide that. My property my tradesmen/women. Others may operate differently. All the best!

1Reply
See this reply in the discussion

6 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Bjorn AhlbladPro Member
    Investor · Shelton, WA · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 6k+ votes
    3y

    If the air ducts needed cleaning that would decided by me and paid for by me. I would not allow the tenant to decide that. My property my tradesmen/women. Others may operate differently. All the best!

    1Reply
  • Terrell Garren
    Rental Property Investor · Concord, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    3y

    Owner responsibility.  IMO tenant maintenance is not a thing. 

    1Reply
  • Kevin Sobilo
    Realtor · Hanover Twp, PA · Member since 2018 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    3y

    @Albert Johnson, duct cleaning is one of those things that half of people think sounds good and half think it never needs to be done.

    If you are in the camp where you think you should do that as part of normal maintenance, then you pay for it. Otherwise, explain to the tenant that you don't offer that as a maintenance item and quote them a price to have it done and just hire someone to do it and bill them back. This way you still are in control of who works on your house if work is done. 

    0Reply
  • Chris Merchant
    Member since 2023 · 216 posts · 133 votes
    3y

    IMO this is more of a personal preference and comfortability thing.  I personally would have my handyman do it or hire a contractor on my own to go in and do the work.  I have a few tenants that do small basic tasks at the properties, I trust their ability to do so and do the work correctly but that it typically tasks such as unclog drains, replace leaky faucets and things of that nature.  They do the work in their unit and submit the receipt for parts and I reimburse them for the parts.  Again I trust these few tenants and their ability.  

    I will say though that you do own the HVAC system and it would be in your best interest to do the recommended upkeep and maintenance on it and it should be your responsibility to pay for such repairs/maintenance.  It should not be the tenants responsibility to pay for or complete upkeep tasks on your property unless they want things done more than the recommended frequency by the manufacturer of the product.  

    If the manufacturer suggests the filter should be changed twice a year but the tenant wants it done every 3 months than you explain to them that per the recommendation of the manufacturer I replace the filters every 6 months however if you would like to have it done every 3 months than you are more than welcome to have that done the extra 2 times per year at their expense but they must use your contractor as only they are authorized to perform work on HVAC systems in properties you own and ask them to submit a copy of the invoice after it is completed for the record of the property.  But don't use that to avoid having it done regardless the two times per year that you would normally.

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2020 · 562 posts · 554 votes
    3y

    @Albert Johnson what does the lease say?

    0Reply
  • JD MartinBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Albert Johnson:

    Hi, 

    I have a tenant that is proposing to clean their air ducts. They have been there for  few months. 

    Would air duct cleaning fall on the tenants or landlord?


    How do some of you approach this?

    Thanks


     Don't ever let your tenants do anything like this. First off, a lot of duct cleaning is just a freaking scam. Second, if they don't know what they are doing they can punch holes in your duct feeds, which are nothing but coiled wire wrapped in plastic wrapped with fiberglass insulation. 

    There's no logical reason to go through the expense unless you suspect a large amount of construction debris is lodged in the vents. Any regular dust that's in there that is friable enough to move around is going to be blown out of the vents every time the forced air comes on, become airborne, and then either settle on the furniture or be trapped in your system's filters. If you want to blow out the vents, turn the heat/cooling off, turn your fan to "on", and monitor the condition of the filters. You can even do this when your tenants will be gone for a holiday weekend or similar, let the fan run 24/7 and just keep the filter changed. 

    Podcast Guest on Show #243
    Skyline Properties
    View Page
    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free