Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Masonry repair
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Fast, Reliable Dryer Vent Cleaning Across Santa Monica
Dryer vent cleaning in Santa Monica typically costs $145 – $225 for a standard single-story home, and the real issue here isn’t the dryer itself. It’s what the marine layer does to your exterior vent hood. We’re Ontario Chimney, and we’ve been up and down the streets of Santa Monica long enough to know that a rusted, salt-corroded vent flap is the single most common reason a dryer stops exhausting properly in this city. When that flap seizes, lint doesn’t blow clear. It backs up. If your dryer is taking 50 minutes to dry a towel or the laundry room feels muggy after a cycle, call us at (833) 467-7685. Al Vickers runs our crews, and he’d rather catch a packed duct before it becomes a problem than after.
Why Ontario Chimney Is Santa Monica’s Preferred Dryer Vent Cleaning Company
Most companies treat dryer vent work as a side job. We don’t. Dryer Vent Cleaning is a core service line at Ontario Chimney, done by the same trained techs who handle chimney flues in Ocean Park bungalows and north-of-Montana Spanish Revivals. That matters because dryer ducts and chimney flues fail in similar ways here: salt air eats metal, moisture mats lint, and old construction hides problems until airflow drops.
We know what a 1929 California bungalow off San Vicente looks like behind the laundry closet. We’ve pulled flexible foil ducting out of cold crawlspaces under 14th Street homes and found lint packed so dense it felt like felt. Santa Monica homeowners call us because we show them the camera footage, explain what failed, and replace the corroded part with something built for coastal air. We get specific about what we find. That’s the job.
Our crews are the same people who inspect chimney crowns on Montana Avenue rooflines for salt corrosion and replace rusted damper frames in Ocean Park. Dryer vent work isn’t a discount add-on for us. It’s fire-safety maintenance, and we treat it that way. Estimates are free, and we book work across 90410, 90411, 90401, and 90402. Call (833) 467-7685 and you’ll talk to someone who knows the difference between a duct problem and a dryer problem.
Styles & brands we work with
- Sweep & inspection
- Caps & crowns
- Flue relining
- Masonry repair
- Gas fireplace service
Our Dryer Vent Cleaning Services in Santa Monica
Dryer Vent Cleaning
A standard vent cleaning in Santa Monica runs $145 – $225 for a single-story home with a straight or single-elbow duct run. We disconnect the dryer, brush the full duct length with a rotary cleaning system, vacuum from both ends, and run a camera through to confirm the vent is clear. In older Santa Monica bungalows with long runs or multiple elbows, the job takes longer and costs more because the duct gets touched more. We’ll always quote before we start.
Dryer Vent Hood Replacement
This is the coastal-specific service. The exterior vent hood on a Santa Monica home gets hit with salt spray, marine-layer moisture, and sun all year. Galvanized hoods rust. Flaps stick open or seize shut. We replace them with corrosion-resistant hoods and stainless flaps that snap closed, so ocean air and rain stay out of the duct. Expect $85 – $160 for a quality hood replacement, installed, depending on stucco or siding work needed. Famco components are our default here; they spec out properly for coastal exposure.
Dryer Duct Inspection
A camera inspection is $75 as a standalone or included free when you book a cleaning. We run a push camera through the full duct and record what we see. In Santa Monica, the typical inspection finds one of three things: a rusted vent hood letting damp air in, an old foil or vinyl duct starting to delaminate in a cold crawlspace, or lint packing at a multi-elbow turn. We show you the footage. You decide what needs done. If nothing needs done, we tell you that too.
Dryer Duct Repair and Replacement
When we find split foil ducting or a vinyl run that’s collapsed, we replace it with rigid metal duct that handles Santa Monica’s humid air without sagging or tearing. Cost depends on access: a short crawlspace run under a 1930s bungalow might run $250 – $400; a longer multi-story replacement in a Mid-City condo with interior walls involved can hit $600 – $900. We use solid pipe, not the throwaway foil you’d find at a hardware store. The DuraFlex components we use on chimney relining inform how we think about dryer ducting: the material has to survive what the environment throws at it.
Trusted Brands We Service in Santa Monica
We stock and install vent hoods, dampers, and duct components from Famco and Copperfield, the same two distributors certified chimney professionals across the country order from. You won’t find this stuff on a big-box shelf. For Santa Monica specifically, that means the replacement hood we put on your stucco wall is rated to fight off the salt air instead of pitting after two winters. If your dryer vent needs a stainless flap, rigid duct, or a full hood assembly, we carry common sizes and can get oddball ones in a day or two. No waiting three weeks for a part that should have been replaced years ago.
Common Dryer Vent Cleaning Problems We See in Santa Monica Homes
- Rusted or seized exterior vent flaps. Salt air and marine-layer moisture pit galvanized hoods within a few seasons. Flaps stick open, let damp air into the duct, and lint clumps instead of blowing clear. We see this on stucco walls facing the ocean and on vent hoods tucked under eaves where the salt spray still reaches.
- Old flexible foil or vinyl ducts through cold crawlspaces. Homes built in the 1920s through 1940s, especially north of Montana and in Ocean Park, often have original foil or vinyl ducting routed under the floor. Cold, damp crawlspace air condenses inside the duct. Lint mats into dense, felt-like plugs that cut airflow to almost nothing. The dryer works harder and the moisture rots the duct from inside.
- Long, multi-elbow runs in converted bungalow corners. When a laundry space got shoehorned into a back porch or a sealed fireplace corner, the duct takes a winding path with three or four elbows. Each turn drops airflow. Lint hides at the elbow joints. A casual look at the visible section won’t catch it; a camera will.
- Abandoned or capped flues confusing the vent path. In older Santa Monica homes where fireplaces were converted to gas or sealed, dryer ducts sometimes share weird chases with old flue remnants. We’ve found dryers venting into dead flue cavities rather than outdoors. That’s not a cleaning fix; that’s a re-routing job, and we’ll show you exactly what’s wrong before we touch it.
See the difference
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After
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AfterPricing for Dryer Vent Cleaning in Santa Monica, CA
A standard dryer vent cleaning in Santa Monica runs $145 – $225. A cleaning with a hood replacement lands at $230 – $385 all-in. If camera inspection shows old foil ducting that needs replaced, a typical full replacement in a bungalow crawlspace runs $250 – $400, with longer or wall-chase runs hitting $600 – $900. The number moves based on access, duct length, and whether the exterior hood has corroded to the point it needs swapped. We don’t guess at costs. We give you a flat price before we start, based on what we saw during inspection. Call (833) 467-7685 for a free estimate. The estimate is free, and Al Vickers will walk you through the breakdown himself if you want the detail.
Santa Monica’s pricing runs slightly above inland LA because the corrosion factor means more hood replacements and more old-duct fixes. You’re not paying extra for the same service. You’re paying for a tech who knows a rusted flap when they see one and replaces it before the duct packs solid.
We Also Serve Cities Near Santa Monica
If you’re outside Santa Monica proper but nearby, we also cover Venice, Century City, Culver City, and Beverly Hills. Dryer Vent Cleaning in Santa Monica is our home base for the Westside, but the same crews and same pricing apply across the neighboring cities. Call (833) 467-7685 and we’ll tell you straight if we can get to your street this week.
Serving Santa Monica, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Santa Monica 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 – Dryer Vent Cleaning in Santa Monica
Every 12 months for homes within a mile of the ocean, and every 18 – 24 months for homes further inland but still in the coastal zone. The salt air doesn’t create more lint, but it corrodes the vent hood faster, and a stuck flap means damp air and lint packing that would otherwise blow clear. A camera inspection tells you if your duct is holding up or slowing down. Call (833) 467-7685 and we’ll get you on the schedule.
Because the galvanized hinge has rusted. Salt air, marine-layer damp, and coastal sun degrade the metal, and the flap either freezes open or snaps shut. Either way, the duct stops venting properly. The fix is a replacement hood with a stainless flap, which is what we install. It’s a quick job and costs less than a single service call from a dryer repair company.
Yes, if it’s still functioning. Original foil ducting in 1920s – 1940s bungalows is often routed through cold crawlspaces, where condensation mats lint into dense plugs. The foil tears, the lint packs, and airflow drops to a trickle. If we find that on inspection, we recommend replacing it with rigid metal before it becomes a fire hazard or rots out the crawlspace sheathing. Call us and we’ll show you the camera footage before quoting anything.
Yes. Fire risk in a dryer vent comes from lint igniting near the dryer’s heating element or from static discharge in a packed duct, not from outdoor temperature. A dense lint plug can smolder at the dryer connection even on a mild day. Santa Monica’s damp air doesn’t make lint less flammable. It makes it clump, which is worse. NFPA data on dryer vent fires applies to every climate, and coastal moisture doesn’t exempt you.
Yes, every time. The vent hood is the first thing to fail in Santa Monica’s salt air, so we check the flap, the hinge, the louver, and the mounting seal as part of every cleaning. If it’s rusted open or seized, we tell you and quote a replacement on the spot. You don’t pay for a separate inspection. If it’s in good shape, you’ll know that too. Call (833) 467-7685 and we’ll show you what we find.
Contact Ontario Chimney for Dryer Vent Cleaning in Santa Monica
If your dryer has been running longer than it used to, or the laundry room feels damp, don’t wait through another Santa Ana season. Our Dryer Vent Cleaning crews are on the Westside every week. We’ll inspect, clean, and replace what’s rusted out, and we’ll show you the evidence at every step. Estimates are free, pricing is flat before work starts, and you’ll deal with one company from inspection to repair. Call (833) 467-7685 and ask for Al Vickers. He’ll get you on the schedule and send a tech who actually knows Santa Monica’s old ductwork.
Written by Al Vickers, Owner at Ontario Chimney, serving Santa Monica since day one.