Here at DUCTZ we often get calls in regards to Mice or Rat problems in someone’s air duct system. We felt it would be useful to give some tips on what you can and should do about any rodent issue in your duct system.
This August, we (DUCTZ indoor Air Professionals) were contacted by a realtor who was going to be showing a listing to some potential buyers in the Venetian Island area, located in Miami Beach, Florida. This listing was for a property worth $4.2 million dollars, and within a couple days of it being advertized, buyers were flying in from New York to view the listing.
The realtor had noticed a bad odor in the house previously, and had a cleaning company clean the entire property, but this did not take care of the odor issue. So, he contacted us, we came out to the property to do a free inspection on the ducts and AC unit. We did identify that the possible source of the smell was dwelling within the duct system. We proceeded to clean the duct system according to NADCA (National Air Duct Cleaning Standards). During the cleaning, our team discovered that a family of rats had built a nest inside of the duct system. Even though the rats were no longer occupying the nest, it was contaminating the air and was responsible for the bad odor that was lingering..
The nest was removed and the area was cleaned using a professional contact vacuum that is equipped with a HEPA filter. After the air duct and the AC were cleaned, we treated the system with a special odor eliminator. Identifying the proper source, and removing the source completely resolved the odor issue, using NADCA cleaning standards.
If ever you encounter a similar issue with an odor coming from your duct system, here is what we recommend doing to solve this odor problem:
- Contact a professional company, and request a free inspection of your ducts to see if it is in fact the problem or if it may require problem solving beyond just duct cleaning.
- Make sure the company performing your duct cleaning is certified in contamination cleaning, and will be performing NADCA quality cleaning for your duct system.
- Close all point of entry to your ducts that may have been created by rodents.
- Get detail proposal of service that will be preformed in your ducts.
- Inspect your ducts thoroughly for job execution.
DO NOT BE FOOLED BY COMPANIES CLAIMING TO DO ANY KIND OF CLEANING WHERE THEY WILL BE SPRAYING HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS INTO YOUR DUCTWORK TO GET RID OF THE PROBLEM. THE DUCTS NEED TO BE:
- Properly cleaned by removing the source of the contamination.
- Then treated with a special chemical called BBJ Fresh Duct Odor Eliminator that controls odors without using perfumes or oils that may add to indoor air pollution. It infiltrates and neutralizes odors at the source.
Following these guidelines will ensure that you get proper service and successfully resolve the issue of rodents in your ducts.
Note:
Sometimes cleaning the duct may not be enough to get rid of the odor lingering in your home. Rats and mice are known to burrow through duct systems from other locations, such as the addict or in between walls. If this is the case, you will need to have a professional exterminator resolve the rodent issue and possibly locate the source of that odor to clean that area as well.
For more information on how to treat and resolve odor issues related to your HVAC system, Visit or call DUCTZ