The Graphite Lab
The Graphite Lab
Sign inBrowse the Catalog

A day in the life · Duct Cleaning

From the 7amIAQ call to theafternoon dryer run.

We followed a duct cleaning shop owner for one full day. Every moment a tool got used. Every moment a tool was missing. Here's what we're building, in the order it happens.

07:30

ACT 01

Pre-clean camera inspection

2,400 SF home, original ductwork from 1987. Tech runs a camera through the main trunk before touching anything — finds a collapsed flex section behind the furnace and photographs it. Scope just changed. Homeowner gets a revised estimate on the spot.

InspectionsEstimatesCustomer comms

10:15

ACT 02

Mechanical agitation and vacuum extraction

Rotary brush on the supply runs, negative pressure from the truck-mount pulling debris back through the main. Tech works branch by branch, seals registers as he goes. System gets an antimicrobial fog at the air handler before reassembly.

Job templatesInventoryCompliance

13:45

ACT 03

Commercial dryer vent cleaning

Eight-unit apartment building, dryer vents running to the roof — 35 feet of lint-packed aluminum flex. NFPA 211 §14 flags this on the annual inspection. Tech cleans and documents each unit, building manager gets a signed service record.

Multi-assetReportsCompliance

17:00

ACT 04

EOD photo delivery and review

Owner sends before-and-after photo packages to three homeowners before the vans park. Upsells on the collapsed flex section converted — the photo did it without a sales pitch. Tomorrow's route is weighted toward IAQ follow-up calls.

Customer commsReportingPipeline

Why we built for duct cleaning

The photo closes the job. Everything else is setup.

Duct cleaning shops live and die on trust — the homeowner can't see what's inside the duct. The shops doing it right bring the camera. Here's what they told us.

  • 01

    IAQ is the selling point

    Allergy season, post-renovation dust, mold concerns — customers calling a duct cleaner have already decided they have a problem. The job is confirmation and remediation, not conviction.

  • 02

    Before-and-after photos are the invoice

    The homeowner can't see the ductwork. The photos are the only proof the work happened and the only thing that converts an upsell. They need to leave the job site, not sit on a tech's phone.

  • 03

    Dryer vents are a separate business

    Commercial dryer vent cleaning — apartment buildings, laundromats, senior living — books differently, prices differently, and recurs on a schedule. It's not an add-on. It's a product line.

  • 04

    Equipment certification matters

    NADCA ACR standards and EPA guidelines on antimicrobial application aren't suggestions — they're the credentials that separate a duct cleaning company from a guy with a shop vac.

After the day ends

The before-and-after sells the next job too.

Browse the products that show up across this day, or talk to a duct cleaning specialist who has run a shop like yours.

Browse Duct Cleaning productsBook a 45-min walkthrough