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
AfterVent Cleaning in Schertz, TX
Dryer Vent Cleaning services in Schertz typically run $99 to $229 depending on duct length, configuration, and how long it has been since the last cleaning – and every CleanRun job starts with a written price before a single tool comes out of the bag. If your dryer is taking two cycles to dry a normal load, or you can feel heat radiating off the exterior wall near the vent cap, the duct run itself is almost certainly the problem, not the appliance.
Vent cleaning is the specific work of clearing the exhaust pathway that carries hot, moisture-laden air from your dryer drum to the outside of your home. It is distinct from simply pulling out the lint screen and calling it done. The duct run – the length of flexible or rigid metal pipe that travels from the back of your dryer through the wall cavity and terminates at an exterior cap – accumulates compacted lint, particularly at elbows and at the cap flap itself. In Schertz homes built after 2005, that run often travels through an interior wall and makes at least one 90-degree turn before exiting near the garage or an exterior wall facing Wiederstein Road or FM 1518. That geometry is exactly where restriction and buildup happen.
This work falls squarely under our broader Dryer Vent Cleaning in Schertz service, and it is the most requested single-duct job we handle in this city. Tomas Reyes and the CleanRun team have documented the inside of thousands of vent runs across the San Antonio metro – since 2013 – and what the camera shows is almost always the same: a first elbow packed with fine lint that a shop-vac wand cannot reach, and a cap flap that barely opens because the damper is glued shut with softener residue.
Call us at (830) 402-5110 and you will get a live person, a real price range for your specific situation, and a scheduled appointment – not a callback from a dispatcher three hours later.
When You Need Vent Cleaning
- Drying time has doubled. A standard cotton load that used to finish in 45 minutes now takes 80 or more. That is the most reliable early signal that airflow through the duct is restricted – often by a lint mass at the first elbow behind the dryer or at the exterior cap.
- The dryer cabinet or the wall near the vent is noticeably warm to the touch. When exhaust cannot exit freely, heat backs up into the drum and radiates through the surrounding wall cavity. In Schertz summers, when ambient temps are already above 95°F, this condition accelerates wear on the heating element and thermal fuse.
- You can smell something musty or burnt near the dryer. A musty odor usually means condensation is sitting inside a sagging section of flexible duct. A faint burning smell means lint is close enough to the heating element or duct walls to scorch during a cycle – a condition that warrants stopping use of the dryer immediately and calling for service.
- The exterior vent cap does not open fully when the dryer runs. A properly functioning cap flap lifts open when exhaust air pushes through it. If it barely cracks, or stays shut while the dryer is running, the duct is either blocked or the cap itself is clogged with a lint mat pressed against the damper from the inside.
- It has been more than 12 months since the last cleaning – or you have never had it done. Builders in Schertz neighborhoods like Schertz Crossing, Live Oak Hills, and The Crossvine sometimes install flexible vinyl duct runs that are longer than the 25-foot code maximum, or route them with extra bends to clear framing. Those configurations accumulate lint faster than a straight rigid-metal run and typically need attention every 9 to 12 months.
- You recently added a second person to the household, or switched to drying heavier items. Load frequency and fabric type change the rate of lint accumulation. A household doing 10 or more loads per week can fill a duct run in under a year, even if the previous cleaning was recent.
Our Vent Cleaning Process
Every step below is the same whether the job is a 10-foot straight run or a 30-foot run with three elbows. The process does not change because the duct is short or the customer seems like they might not notice if we skip something.
- Written price before any work starts. Haven Standard Clause 1 is not a marketing line – it is how every CleanRun job opens. After we confirm the duct length, configuration, and whether the run is flexible or rigid, we put a price in writing. You approve it or you do not. Nothing proceeds otherwise.
- Pre-cleaning camera inspection with documented photo record. We run a camera through the duct run from the dryer connection point and capture still images at the first elbow, mid-run, and at the cap end. These images become the “before” portion of your Documented Photo Record – a concrete deliverable you receive at the end of the job, not a vague promise that we saw something and handled it. In Schertz homes with longer interior runs (common in the Dobie Ranch and Kensington Ranch neighborhoods), this step occasionally reveals a disconnected duct section inside the wall cavity – a problem no amount of cleaning will fix without first identifying it.
- Negative-pressure extraction from the exterior cap end. Using Nikro professional-grade vacuum equipment, we establish a negative-pressure draw at the exterior cap – meaning air and debris move out of the home, not into it. This is the mechanical opposite of blowing air in from the dryer end, which dislodges lint into the drum compartment and the room.
- Rotary brush agitation through the full duct run. A Rotobrush system drives a spinning brush through the duct from the dryer end, breaking up compacted lint at elbows and along duct walls while the negative-pressure extraction pulls the debris out. One pass rarely clears a run that has not been serviced in two or more years – we make as many passes as the post-inspection camera confirms are needed, not as many as fit a time budget.
- Exterior cap cleaning and damper check. The cap flap and damper are cleaned manually and checked for free movement. If the damper is damaged, bent, or absent (we find missing cap covers on older Schertz homes regularly), we document it in the job record and provide a written price for replacement before touching it.
- Post-cleaning camera pass and photo delivery. The same camera run from Step 2 is repeated. The “after” images are added to the Documented Photo Record alongside the “before” images, and the complete record is delivered to you – digitally – before the crew leaves the driveway. The 365-Day Done Right Promise is written on every job receipt: if the work is not right, we make it right. That promise has been in writing on every CleanRun job since 2013.
BeforeAfterVent Cleaning Pricing in Schertz
Dryer vent cleaning in Schertz starts at $99 for a standard run up to 15 feet with one or two elbows and goes up from there based on three factors: total duct length, number of direction changes, and how long it has been since the last cleaning. These are the actual numbers we quote – you will not see a different figure when the technician arrives.
| Scenario | Typical Price Range |
|---|---|
| Short run, 1-2 elbows, cleaned within 12 months | $99 – $129 |
| Standard run (15-25 ft), 2-3 elbows, 1-2 years since last cleaning | $130 – $179 |
| Long run (25+ ft) or 3+ elbows, heavy lint accumulation | $180 – $229 |
| Cap replacement (if damaged or missing, parts included) | $35 – $65 added to base |
| Disconnect/reconnect of dryer for access (if needed) | $25 – $45 added to base |
A few things that do not affect the price: the neighborhood you live in, whether you mention a competitor’s quote, or how far along in the job we are when we identify a scope change. If something changes the price, we stop and write a new number before continuing. Haven Standard Clause 1 applies at every step, not just at the beginning.
If you have a written estimate from another company, bring it. CleanRun’s free second opinion means we put our number next to theirs in writing – no pressure, no sales approach. Call (830) 402-5110 and ask for a second-opinion appointment. A live person will answer.
FAQs – Vent Cleaning
How long does dryer vent cleaning take in Schertz?
Most dryer vent cleanings in Schertz take 45 to 75 minutes from setup to photo delivery. A short, straight run with light buildup sits at the low end. A 30-foot run through multiple walls with heavy lint accumulation – the kind we often find in older Schertz homes near FM 78 where builders used flexible vinyl duct – will run closer to 90 minutes when camera passes are included. We do not quote you a time and then rush the camera step to hit it. Call (830) 402-5110 and we can give you a tighter estimate based on your specific duct configuration.
Is dryer vent cleaning something I can do myself?
The lint screen and the 12 inches of duct directly behind the dryer are reasonable DIY territory. Everything past the first elbow is not – and here is why that matters practically: a consumer brush kit sold at a hardware store does not establish negative-pressure extraction, so whatever lint the brush dislodges stays inside the duct or falls into the drum compartment. More importantly, if a duct section has separated inside the wall cavity (a condition we document several times a month across Schertz and the surrounding Guadalupe County area), a brush run will not reveal it and may compact lint directly into the gap. Dryer Vent Inspection before and after a cleaning is not an upsell – it is how you confirm the work actually did what it was supposed to do.
How often should dryer vents be cleaned in Schertz?
Once per year is the standard recommendation for a household doing 5 to 7 loads per week with a duct run under 20 feet. Schertz homes with longer runs, flexible duct, or high laundry volume (10 or more loads per week) benefit from cleaning every 9 months. The camera inspection at the end of each CleanRun job documents the condition of the duct, which gives you a real baseline rather than a guessed schedule. If the post-cleaning images show the duct walls are clear and the cap moves freely, a 12-month interval is appropriate. If the technician notes a duct configuration that restricts airflow, the written job record will say so. Call (830) 402-5110 to schedule or to ask about your specific home’s setup.
What is the 365-Day Done Right Promise and does it apply to vent cleaning?
Yes, the 365-Day Done Right Promise applies to every CleanRun job, including single-duct vent cleaning. It means that if the work is not right – meaning the duct is not clear, the cap is not functioning, or the documentation does not reflect what was actually done – CleanRun makes it right at no additional charge. This is a written guarantee on your job receipt, not a verbal reassurance subject to manager approval or a time-limited window that expires in 30 days. Tomas Reyes has backed this promise on every job since CleanRun served its first Schertz home in 2013, and it is the same promise whether your job is a $99 short-run cleaning or a full home duct system service.
Why Schertz Homeowners Choose CleanRun for Vent Cleaning
The market for dryer vent cleaning in Schertz is not short on $79 coupon offers. What those offers typically deliver is a shop-vac inserted at the dryer end, some suction noise, and a receipt. No camera. No negative-pressure extraction. No written price before the work starts. No documentation that anything changed between the technician arriving and leaving.
CleanRun has operated differently since 2013. Every job – across more than 52,000 homes served in the San Antonio metro – has started with a written price and ended with a Documented Photo Record. Not because it makes for good marketing language, but because the photo record is the only way a customer can verify that the duct is actually clear. A technician who says “it’s all clean” without showing you the camera footage is asking you to take their word for it. We show the before image before saying a word about what we found, and we show the after image before packing up the equipment.
Haven Standard Clause 3 – Verified Crews – means every technician is background-checked, uniformed, and identified by name before arrival. You know who is coming to your home. That is not a policy we occasionally follow; it is a standard that applies on every dispatch, every day.
Schertz neighborhoods like Crossvine, Homestead, and Verde Enterprise have grown quickly over the past decade, and a lot of those newer homes have longer interior duct runs than the builder’s spec sheet suggests. We know this because we have the photos to prove it, from hundreds of jobs in this specific area. That documented experience is why our written prices are accurate from the first conversation, not revised after we pull the dryer away from the wall.
If you have a competitor’s written estimate in hand, call us. We will put our number next to theirs in writing, at no cost, with no obligation to book. That offer stands for any Schertz homeowner, any time.
To schedule vent cleaning or get a written price for your Schertz home, call (830) 402-5110. A live person answers every call. No voicemail, no callback queue – just a straight answer and a real appointment.
Written by Tomas Reyes, Owner at CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning Schertz, serving Schertz.