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Hood & Exhaust Cleaning

Commercial Exhaust Fan Cleaning

Kitchen smoky? Fan struggling? A grease-loaded fan can't pull air — we open it up, degrease it to bare metal, and flag anything mechanical we find.

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Signs your exhaust fan is grease-clogged

  • Smoke rolling out of the hoodCapture is the first thing a loaded fan wheel loses. When smoke escapes the hood edge during normal service, the fan is no longer moving the air it was sized to move.
  • Lingering cooking odorsLast night's fryer in this morning's dining room means the system isn't exchanging air. The fan creates the draw — when it's coated in grease, the whole system slows down.
  • Kitchen runs hotThe exhaust pulls heat off the line along with the smoke. A struggling fan shows up as a cookline your crew can feel — and a cooling bill that keeps climbing.
  • Grease staining the roofGrease pooling around the fan base is fuel sitting next to an ignition source, a slip hazard for anyone working up there, and a roof-membrane problem in the making.

What we do on a fan cleaning

  • Open or hinge the fan for full access — wheel, blades, housing, and the duct connection behind it
  • Degrease the fan wheel, blades, and housing down to bare metal
  • Visually check belts and bearings, and flag any wear or damage in your service report
  • Clean out the grease containment area around the fan base
  • Document the work — dated record and photos for your compliance file

Why the fan matters under NFPA 96

NFPA 96 doesn't stop at the hood. The standard covers the entire exhaust pathway — hood, filters, plenum, ductwork, and the fan on the roof — and it requires the whole run cleaned to bare metal on a schedule set by your cooking volume. The fan is explicitly part of that system, and your required cleaning frequency applies to it the same as everything downstream of the filters.

There's a practical reason the standard bothers naming it. The fan is the engine of the system — every cubic foot of greasy air your kitchen produces passes through it, and grease condenses on the wheel and housing exactly the way it does in the duct. A contaminated fan is both the most likely place for your airflow to die and the last stop a duct fire makes before open roof air, with a grease-filled containment tray waiting beside it.

It's also where inspectors and cheap vendors part ways. The fan is out of sight on the roof, so it's the component a "hood-only" crew skips and the component a fire marshal climbs up to check. If your last service report has no fan photos, assume it wasn't touched — and assume the inspector will figure that out before you do.

Fan cleaning is part of a full system cleaning

If you're booking fan service because your cleaning interval came due, what you actually need is complete exhaust system cleaning — hood to fan in one visit, with the fan covered as part of the scope. Booking the fan separately on top of that is paying twice for the same metal.

Standalone fan cleaning earns its keep between scheduled cleanings: airflow has dropped off ahead of schedule, grease is showing on the roof, or an inspection called out the fan specifically. We'll tell you which situation you're in when you describe the problem — and if the fan turns out clean but the kitchen still won't move air, the issue may be on the supply side, which is ventilation and airflow service territory.

FAQ

Common Questions

Trust the symptoms and the calendar. Smoke escaping the hood, odors hanging around into the next day, and a kitchen that runs hotter than it used to all point at a fan that can't move air. The roof tells the rest: grease staining the fan base or filling the containment tray means it's overdue. And if it's been longer than your NFPA 96 interval since the fan was last opened and degreased, it's due by definition — the schedule covers the fan, not just the hood.

Yes — it's one of the most common causes. The fan creates the draw that makes the hood work; grease buildup on the wheel and blades adds weight and drag, the fan moves less air, and capture velocity at the hood drops until smoke starts rolling out past the edge during normal cooking. A slipping belt produces the same symptom, which is why we visually check belts and bearings whenever we have the fan open.

Our service is cleaning plus a visual condition check. While the fan is open we look over the belts and bearings, and anything that's worn, loose, or damaged gets flagged in your service report with photos — so you can have it addressed before it becomes a mid-service failure. We don't perform mechanical fan repair as part of a cleaning visit; you'll know exactly what we found and what needs attention next.

In a proper one, yes. NFPA 96 treats the hood, ductwork, and fan as one system, so a compliant cleaning covers the fan as standard scope — if a vendor's price doesn't include the roof, the system is being left half cleaned and your records will show it. Standalone fan cleaning exists for the gaps between scheduled service: airflow problems, roof grease, or an inspection finding that names the fan specifically.

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Mon–Sun: 7:00 AM – 9:00 PMEmergency service available 24/7

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Get a Free HVAC or Hood Cleaning Quote

Fast response. No obligation. Speak with a real team member.

By submitting, you agree to be contacted about your request. We never sell your information — see our privacy policy.