Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning in Etobicoke
Kitchen exhaust cleaning is the removal of grease from the ductwork that carries cooking vapour from the hood to the roof. Etobicoke Hood Cleaning Pros opens the access panels along the horizontal run and the vertical riser, scrapes and degreases the duct back to bare metal, and photographs every opening. The duct is the part of the system nobody sees and the part that turns a flare-up on the line into a fire in the building. Pricing starts at $385 per visit.
Why the duct is the part that matters
Grease leaves the cook line as vapour. The filters catch most of it and the plenum catches more, but whatever survives both condenses on the inside of the duct as the air cools on its way to the roof. It builds in layers, and the layers harden. A duct that has run for two years without cleaning is lined with a fuel source that has a clear path from the cook line to the roof.
That is the whole reason NFPA 96 exists and the reason a certificate names the duct specifically. A contractor who cleans the filters and the visible canopy and calls it done has cleaned the two parts a fire is least likely to travel through.
Etobicoke's building stock makes this worse in one specific way. A large share of kitchens along the Queensway, Bloor Street West and Lake Shore Boulevard West sit in older mixed-use buildings, which means the riser runs vertically past residential floors before it reaches the roof. The consequence of a duct fire in that building is not a kitchen closure. Production kitchens around Rexdale have the opposite problem: horizontal runs long enough that a single access panel at each end leaves most of the duct unreachable.
Duct cleaning vs hood cleaning: what the difference actually is
The two terms get used interchangeably, and they are not the same job. This is what separates them.
| Point of difference | Duct cleaning | Hood cleaning alone |
|---|---|---|
| What is reached | Horizontal run, vertical riser, elbows and the fan housing. | The canopy and plenum only, up to the duct collar. |
| Access needed | Panels along the run, roof access, and a hinged or liftable fan. | None beyond the kitchen floor. |
| Time on site | Three to five hours for a single canopy, a full night for a long run. | One to two hours. |
| Standing under NFPA 96 | Satisfies the requirement for the whole system. | Does not. The duct is explicitly in scope. |
| What the certificate says | Names each section cleaned and any section unreachable. | Cannot honestly claim system coverage. |
| Typical price gap | The service quoted from $385 per visit. | Cheaper, and the saving is the part you needed. |
The canopy and plenum work is covered on the exhaust hood cleaning page. Both happen on the same visit.
How the duct run gets cleaned
Etobicoke Hood Cleaning Pros works the system in one direction, from the roof back down, so nothing loosened upstream lands in a section already finished.
Protection first. The cook line, floor and any equipment under the hood are covered before a panel is opened. Nothing that comes out of a duct belongs on a food contact surface, and the cleanup at the end is shorter when nothing landed in the first place.
The fan and the riser. The rooftop fan is disconnected and tilted back, the housing and blades are degreased, and the top of the riser is cleaned from above. On a vertical run this is where the heaviest deposit usually sits, because the vapour cools most on the last stretch.
The horizontal run. Access panels are opened along the run. Deposits are scraped by hand where they have carbonised, then a hot alkaline degreaser is applied with real dwell time and the section is wiped and rinsed. Panels are refitted with fresh gaskets where the old ones have hardened.
The record. Each opening is photographed before and after. Anywhere the run is unreachable because there is no panel is photographed too, and named on the certificate with a recommendation. Nothing gets quietly skipped. If your run needs new panels to be cleanable, that is quoted separately and never installed without approval, and the access and hinge kit page explains what is involved.
How much does kitchen exhaust cleaning cost in Etobicoke in 2026?
Etobicoke Hood Cleaning Pros charges from $385 per visit for a single-hood kitchen up to ten feet and from $725 per visit for a multi-hood kitchen of two to four canopies on one system. Production, banquet and multi-tenant kitchens are quoted on site, because duct length and access are what move the number and neither can be assessed over the phone.
The duct is the variable. A ten-foot canopy with a short run straight up to a roof fan is the base case. A run that crosses a ceiling void, turns twice, and climbs three storeys is several hours more work and needs more openings. A run with no access panels at all cannot be fully cleaned until panels are cut in, which is why the walk-through looks at the ceiling as well as the hood.
Frequency also matters to the total. A kitchen on a quarterly interval pays less per visit over a year than one that leaves it until the deposit has carbonised, because dissolving soft grease is faster than chipping hard grease. The full set of variables is on the cost page and the required intervals are on the NFPA 96 page.
Next step: call 647-370-5780 or request a written quote. Say how many canopies you have, roughly where the fan sits, and whether you know of any access panels. The written number comes back within 24 hours.
Kitchen exhaust cleaning in Etobicoke: frequently asked questions
How do you clean kitchen exhaust ducts?
Etobicoke Hood Cleaning Pros cleans a duct through its access panels, working from the rooftop fan back down toward the hood. Hardened deposits are scraped by hand, then a hot alkaline degreaser is applied and given time to work before the section is wiped and rinsed. The objective is bare metal, and the before-and-after photograph at each opening is what proves it was reached.
What if my duct has no access panels?
Then part of the run cannot be cleaned, and the certificate will say so. That is not a sales tactic, it is what an inspector will find. Access panels can be cut in at the right intervals so the run becomes cleanable, which is quoted separately and only done with your approval.
Does exhaust cleaning include the rooftop fan?
Yes. The fan, its blades, the housing and the curb are part of a full system clean, and the top of the riser is cleaned from the roof. A fan that cannot be tilted safely needs a hinge kit first, because cleaning under a fan that is bolted flat is not possible without lifting it.
Will the kitchen smell of chemicals afterwards?
No. The degreaser is rinsed and the surfaces are wiped down before the crew leaves, and the system is run to clear the duct. Kitchens booked overnight open the next morning with nothing left behind but a cleaner line and a report.
How is this different to air duct cleaning?
Completely. Air duct cleaning covers the building's heating and ventilation ducts, which carry dust. Kitchen exhaust cleaning covers a grease duct, which carries a fuel, is governed by a fire code, and is cleaned by hand rather than by vacuum. The building side is covered on the commercial HVAC cleaning page.