Before hiring a hood cleaning company, it’s important to have a good idea of the numbers involved in a hood cleaning. Having a budget for your kitchen maintenance is one of many key organizational tactics you will need to create to ensure a smoothly run kitchen. This article provides a bit of insight into hood cleaning prices to help you dial-in your cleaning budgets.
What Factors Play Into Hood Cleaning Cost?
Well, it can depend on a number of factors. One of the biggest factors is location. The closer you are to a major metropolitan area, the more operators you may have to choose from. However, if your restaurant needing hood cleaning is very far away from a central location, the company might charge a higher base price. It isn’t profitable for them to drive 45 minutes to a $200 job.
Multiple Locations
Another big factor is whether you have restaurants in multiple locations. Finding only one hood cleaning company to clean all your locations will save you money and make it easier to work with the cleaning company. The hood cleaning service might even offer a discount to very active customers.
Size and Configuration of Hood System
The size of your restaurant and its restaurant equipment might also factor in. Kitchens with more than one story will have longer ducts, meaning you will probably get charged more for your duct cleaning. The size and number of hoods will also play into the price, and if you have multiple exhaust systems, those will factor in as well.
Water Availability
Your cleaner will need water in order to do their job correctly. If you are not willing to let your cleaner use your restaurant’s water, then the cost of moving additional water to your location will be billed to you. Additionally, any responsible, proper cleaner will also use protective sheeting to cover your appliances while cleaning, so make sure that those are covered in your estimate.
Hood System Condition
Your equipment’s current condition also matters to your estimate. If your equipment has been properly maintained over the years, the costs should stay down. However, if your equipment is in really rough shape, there is chance you will be charged more for the additional work the cleaners will have to do. The amount of hood maintenance you need will also affect your price. If you work in a high grease kitchen, you will need to have your hood cleaned more frequently.
Contracts
Contracts also play into the overall cost of your cleaning. Sometimes contracts help save you money in the long run, but sometimes they do the opposite. Remember to only sign a contract with a cleaning company if you trust them and are pleased with the work they have done in the past.
That’s a lot of factors to keep in mind! We’ll get to how to break those down in a second, but for the moment, let’s take a look at average hood pricing.
Average Hood Cleaning Costs
When hiring a hood cleaning company, the most typical minimum charge is from $400 to $450. This charge includes the up blast fan(s), duct work, baffle filters and hood canopy. Additional charges include removing access panels, very complicated or long duct systems, and any minimums to cover the cost of showing up at a location.
For a more detailed look into average costs, you have to determine your hood company’s method of charging. There are two main methods to determine rate: hourly rates and flat rates on each aspect of cleaning. While the total price you will pay at the end of each of these methods actually often end up quite close, these two different methods count different aspects of the cleaning differently.
Hourly Rate Hood Cleaning
This is where the cleaning company charges you a fixed rate per hour. The average hourly cost for hood cleaning is $135 to $180 per hour, charging more for a larger crew. However, in addition to this flat hourly fee, there are also additional charges that will pop up:
- $50 to $75 for additional exhaust fans
- Around $5 for cleaning filters
- Around $150 for access panels (if needed.)
- Minimum charge for showing up at the job. These can fluctuate wildly, anywhere for $50 to $250 depending on the crew and the location.
- Extra fees if it is a first clean or a forced clean by Health Department, long/complicated duct runs, and if the system needs scraping not washing.
Flat Fee Hood Cleaning
In this method, each aspect of cleaning has a flat rate instead of an hourly rate.
The average flat fee cost for hood cleaning is $400 to $425, however a larger crew might increase the price.
- $10 to $20 per linear hood foot
- $40 to $60 per fan
- $55 to $75 per access panel
- Minimum charge for showing up at the job. These can fluctuate wildly, anywhere from $50 to $250 depending on the crew and the location.
- Extra fees if it is a first clean or a forced clean by Health Department, long/complicated duct runs, and if the system needs scraping not washing.
Duct Cleaning
Most companies charge duct cleaning by charging a specific amount per linear foot. The price of that will often be based on the size of your ducts, in addition to a few extra dollars if you have a wok/char broiler/other heavy cooking equipment.
An example of this would be $5 per linear foot plus $1 if you have a larger duct, plus $2 if you have a wok. That is $8 per linear foot, then multiply that times how many feet your duct is.
(Remember that this example is only an example. Check with the hood cleaning companies around you for how much they charge for duct cleaning and what your specific duct would cost per foot.)
A Few Key Elements on Hood Cleaning Prices
When scoping out the kitchen hood cleaning prices around you, there are a few key elements to remember.
If the deal seems too good to be true, it is.
In your area, there will be a price margin for hood cleaners that most of the cleaners, if not all, will fall into. Some companies will have lower prices than others due to competition, but if some prices are ridiculously low, then the job you will get in return won’t be good.
You can’t run a professional, perfect business on a very low price. The company’s ability to charge a low price might come from the company cutting corners, not having proper documentation or insurance liability coverage, doing a sloppy job, or using poor quality cleaners/materials.
Hood cleaning companies that are priced in the average range for your area are a much better bet when looking for good service. These companies use better materials, pay attention to the details, create a better customer service experience, and can charge more because they do more!
One the other hand, you don’t have to go with the highest priced company to get a good job done. You can identify the best company for you with a few choice methods – give our other blog post, Questions to Ask When Hiring a Hood Cleaning Service Company for Your Restaurant a read.
Any reputable company will offer a free estimate that you should definitely take advantage of before setting any cleaning appointments. While the estimates in this post are typical, the exact details and overall price will change from company to company.
