What’s Crawling Around in Your Home’s Air Ducts?

It’s not fun to think about, but sometimes dust isn’t all that is in your duct system. You might hear animal noises coming from air ducts and notice you have unwanted visitors. You can try and lure the little guys out but if they’re nesting they may not leave their babies. Call Roland J. Down Service Experts for a thorough duct cleaning and we will confirm your duct system is free of all these uninvited house guests, for instance: 

Bugs and Insects 

Nothing is worse than trying to kill a spider and watching it run into your air vent. You can’t get to it now and all you can do is lie in bed and imagine the thing laying all those spider babies. You may even think you hear a few scrambling around your duct system. Don’t worry. Roland J. Down Service Experts will come out and give you a full duct cleaning and make sure that spider and any of her bug friends are good and gone. Babies, too. 

Rodents 

When rats, squirrels, and other wildlife make their way into your duct system, usually through holes in the duct work and breaks in the foundation or home exterior, it causes several issues. First, squirrels, mice, or raccoons can leave droppings behind and can destroy anything they come across, including Christmas decorations or baby toys you’re keeping in your attic. Second, those little guys tend to chew, which can cause exposed wiring. That combined with the dried grass and leaves they’re likely bringing in to create a nest, and now you have quite the fire danger in your duct system, your attic, or behind your walls. A complete duct cleaning can remove rodent droppings or nests, but you may also need to call animal control to remove the rodents and possibly an electrician if there has been any damage to wiring. 

Birds 

Birds typically get into safe and dry places to nest, like your air vents. Nests mean baby birds, which means they are feeding babies, and that means BUGS. If you have birds in your vents, you’ll likely end up with bugs in your home. But that’s not the worst part. Birds construct nests in your vents, and given the large amount of stuff they use to construct said nest, it can result in completely clogging a vent, preventing any airflow. As with rodents, a full duct cleaning from Roland J. Down Service Experts can remove any droppings, feathers, or other potential illness-carrying leave-behinds. You may also need animal control to actually remove the birds from your vents or attics. 

Mice in Air Ducts 

If you’ve got mice in the ductwork, you should take steps quickly to remove them. Mice chew through wires and leave droppings like most rodents, but they also multiply quickly. And when they run around in the ducts, treating it like the road system of your home, they eventually die in the ducts. This creates an unsanitary situation, and you may notice unpleasant scents. 
 
You may think of mice due to the sounds you hear – lots of scratching and scrabbling inside metal. Or you may actually spot one making an escape through the vents in your home. You may even confirm their status by inspecting the ducts for mice feces. Either way, if you suspect mice you have some options. You could trap them yourself, by placing traps just inside each duct and checking them in the morning. Or you could hire a professional exterminator. 
 
Once you’ve determined that the mice are gone, you should have your air ducts professionally cleaned by an HVAC company. If mice have been living in the walls, they will have left droppings in your ducts. Mice feces are toxic, and if you leave them in your ducts they can make you sick. Roland J. Down Service Experts offers duct cleaning services that will eliminate most debris from your home’s airways. 

Call Roland J. Down Service Experts today or schedule online for a full duct cleaning to help make sure the air your family is breathing is healthy and pest-free.