Rooftop Grease Containment in Etobicoke
Rooftop grease containment is the set of measures that stop kitchen exhaust grease from reaching a building's roof surface. Etobicoke Hood Cleaning Pros degreases the upblast fan, its housing and the curb beneath it, then fits or services the containment boxes and absorbent pads at the discharge. Everything the exhaust system fails to hold ends up here, and a roof membrane is one of the few building surfaces that grease genuinely destroys.
Why the roof becomes somebody's bill
An upblast fan throws exhaust upward and outward, and some of what it throws is liquid grease. On a fan with no containment, that grease runs back down the housing, over the curb, and out across the roof. It spreads further every time it rains.
Grease attacks most single-ply and modified bitumen roof membranes. It softens them, it lifts seams, and the damage is progressive rather than sudden. By the time a stain is obvious from the parapet, the membrane underneath it is usually already compromised.
In Etobicoke this lands as a lease problem more often than a maintenance problem. Most restaurant kitchens here are tenants, in strip plazas along the Queensway and Dundas Street West, in mixed-use buildings, or in multi-tenant units around Rexdale. The roof belongs to the landlord, the grease belongs to the tenant, and almost every commercial lease makes the tenant liable for damage caused by their own equipment. A landlord's roofing contractor writes a report naming the kitchen exhaust as the cause, and the repair invoice follows.
Containment options vs no containment
There are three ways an Etobicoke kitchen handles rooftop grease, and they cost very different amounts over five years.
| Approach | What it does | What it costs you later |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing fitted | Grease runs freely from the fan across the roof surface. | Membrane repair or replacement, charged to the tenant under most leases. |
| Absorbent pads only | Media laid at the discharge soaks up what runs off the housing. | Cheap to fit, but useless once saturated. Needs a real change schedule. |
| Containment box with media | A housing collects the runoff and holds it in replaceable media. | A unit cost up front and a servicing interval. The membrane stays intact. |
| Cleaning without containment | The fan is degreased regularly but nothing catches the runoff between visits. | Better than nothing, and still leaves months of runoff between services. |
Containment units are quoted after a roof inspection, because fan size, discharge direction and how the curb sits all decide what will actually fit.
What happens on the roof during a visit
Roof work is the first part of a scheduled exhaust service, because everything cleaned above the riser has to happen before the duct below it.
Access and isolation. The fan is switched off and isolated before anyone touches it. Roof access in most Etobicoke multi-tenant buildings needs the landlord's or property manager's permission, which is why WSIB clearance and liability certificates are supplied with the quote rather than produced on the day.
The fan. The unit is tilted back on its hinge, or lifted where no hinge is fitted, and the blades, housing interior, and the underside are degreased. The wheel is checked for imbalance and the belt, where the fan has one, is checked for wear and reported. A fan that cannot be tilted safely gets a hinge kit quoted before the next visit.
The curb and the top of the riser. The curb the fan sits on collects grease that has run down from the housing, and the top of the vertical duct is cleaned from above while the fan is open. That top section is usually the heaviest in the whole run.
Containment. Saturated pads or media are removed and disposed of, the containment housing is cleaned out, and fresh media goes in. The roof surface around the unit is degreased and photographed. If the membrane already shows damage, that is photographed too and named in the report, so you find out from your contractor rather than from your landlord.
How much does rooftop grease containment cost in Etobicoke in 2026?
Fan, housing and curb cleaning is included in a scheduled exhaust service, which starts from $385 per visit. Containment units and their servicing intervals are quoted separately after a roof inspection, because the unit has to suit the fan and nobody can specify that from the ground.
The ongoing cost is media replacement, and the interval is set by cooking volume rather than by the calendar. A high volume fryer line saturates media far faster than a church hall kitchen that runs at weekends. Getting that interval wrong in either direction is wasteful: too long and the media stops working, too short and you are paying for pads that had life left.
Against that sits the number this service exists to avoid. Roof membrane repair is a building-scale cost, and under most commercial leases in Etobicoke it lands on the tenant whose exhaust caused it.
Next step: call 647-370-5780 or request a written quote. Say whether you have roof access, who controls it, and whether anything is fitted at the fan today.
Rooftop grease containment in Etobicoke: frequently asked questions
Is a grease containment system required by code?
NFPA 96 requires that the exhaust system be kept clean and that grease not be allowed to accumulate, and it requires the fan and its housing to be cleaned. It does not mandate a specific containment product. What makes containment close to compulsory in practice is the lease: most commercial leases hold the tenant liable for damage their equipment causes, and roofing contractors identify grease damage readily.
Who is responsible for the roof, me or my landlord?
The roof is almost always the landlord's structure and the grease is almost always the tenant's responsibility. Read your lease. The practical protection is a photographic record showing the roof area was cleaned and contained on a schedule, which is why every visit here is photographed from the roof.
How often do the absorbent pads need changing?
It depends entirely on volume. A busy fryer or char-broiler line can saturate media in weeks. A low volume community or banquet kitchen may run months. The first service sets a provisional interval and the second one confirms it by how much life was left in the media that came out.
Can you fit containment if my roof already has grease damage?
Yes, and it is worth doing immediately, because containment stops the damage getting worse. It does not repair what is already there. Existing damage is photographed and reported so you can take it to the landlord or a roofing contractor with a dated record rather than an argument.
Do you need my landlord's permission for roof access?
Usually yes in a multi-tenant building. Most property managers in Etobicoke want notice, a WSIB clearance certificate and proof of liability insurance before granting access. All three are supplied with the quote so the booking is not held up on paperwork the day before.