What Does Chimney, Duct and HVAC Work Cost?
Where every service starts, what moves it, and how a range on the phone becomes a fixed figure on paper. Nothing here is a teaser rate that changes once somebody is standing in your driveway.
Starting Prices by Service
| Service | Starting price | |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney & Fireplace | ||
| Chimney Sweep Brushed clean, inspected the same visit, photographed throughout | From $169 | Details → |
| Chimney Inspection Camera scans, photographs and a report a buyer or insurer can use | From $139 | Details → |
| Chimney Repair Diagnosed first, scoped in writing, built to survive salt air | From $289 | Details → |
| Chimney Cap Installation Stainless, measured to the flue, fitted to last on a salt coast | From $189 | Details → |
| Chimney Relining Sized to the appliance, insulated, and warranted by the manufacturer | From $2,195 | Details → |
| Chimney Waterproofing Vapour-permeable, applied after repairs, never a film-forming sealer | From $329 | Details → |
| Fireplace Insert Installation Fitted to the fireplace you have, lined and vented correctly | Quoted | Details → |
| Heating & Air Conditioning | ||
| AC Repair Diagnosed properly, priced in writing, refrigerant last not first | From $89 | Details → |
| AC Installation & Replacement Sized by calculation, installed under permit, verified afterwards | Quoted | Details → |
| Furnace Repair Igniters, flame sensors, boards and blowers — plus a combustion safety check | From $89 | Details → |
| Furnace Installation & Replacement Correctly sized, correctly vented, permitted and verified | Quoted | Details → |
| Heat Pump Installation Heating and cooling from one system, sized for this climate | Quoted | Details → |
| Ductless Mini-Split Installation For additions, converted spaces and houses that never had ducts | Quoted | Details → |
| HVAC Maintenance & Tune-Up Measured, documented and compared with last year's readings | From $129 | Details → |
| Smart Thermostat Installation Configured for the equipment you actually have, not left on defaults | From $179 | Details → |
| Ductwork Replacement Designed, sized and sealed, with leakage tested afterwards | Quoted | Details → |
| Indoor Air Quality & Filtration Filtration that fits the blower, not just a higher number on the box | From $199 | Details → |
| Air Ducts | ||
| Air Duct Cleaning Source removal, camera footage, and advice you can act on | From $279 | Details → |
| HVAC System Cleaning Blower, coil and drain cleaned where it measurably restores capacity | From $319 | Details → |
| Air Duct Repair & Sealing Mastic and mesh, measured airflow, and the rooms that never worked fixed | From $269 | Details → |
| Gas Fireplace & Dryer Vent | ||
| Gas Fireplace Service Burner, pilot assembly, glass seal and vent path, once a year | From $159 | Details → |
| Dryer Vent Cleaning Whole run cleared, airflow measured, improvement shown as a number | From $109 | Details → |
| Dryer Vent Repair & Installation Re-routed, shortened and built in rigid metal to the code limits | From $169 | Details → |
What Changes the Price
Most jobs land at or close to the published figure, and what moves them is scope rather than appetite. A sweep moves for hardened creosote, a second flue on the stack, or a tile or hillside roof that has to be staged properly. Duct cleaning moves with the register count, a second system, or an attic you cannot stand up in. A dryer vent moves with the length of the run and whether the termination is on a wall or three storeys up on a roof.
Repairs span a wide range because the work does. Sealing a hairline crown crack and rebuilding a stack above the roof line are both filed under chimney repair, and the gap between them is enormous. Pricing either from a list without looking would mean quoting high to be safe or revising the number on the day, and neither is a way to run this.
On the heating and cooling side the diagnostic fee is the fixed part and the repair is the variable. A capacitor, a contactor, a flame sensor or a blocked condensate drain sits at the low end; motors, control boards, gas valves and leak repairs cost more because of the part. Anything involving a compressor, a coil or a heat exchanger is quoted in writing with a replacement comparison beside it, so you are choosing rather than being told.
System replacements are quoted after a load calculation and a duct assessment, never from a nameplate. Equipment, labour, duct work, the city permit and the Title 24 HERS verification appear as separate lines. If a competing bid is a single number with no permit line, those two quotes are not describing the same job.
No trip fee inside the service area, and no line items that appear only on the invoice. Where scope genuinely changes mid-job, work stops, you see the photograph and the reason, and nothing further happens until you say so.
How a Quote Becomes a Final Price
A phone call gets you a range: the service, the type of house and the access usually narrow it enough to be useful. The range is honest rather than optimistic, which occasionally means it is higher than the number a competitor will say on the phone, and that is a deliberate trade — the number you hear from us is the one you can plan around.
On site the technician confirms the scope and writes the price down. From that moment it is fixed. If something else turns up — a crown that has failed under a cap, a duct run disconnected above a ceiling, a flame sensor on its way out — it is photographed and explained as a separate item with its own price, and it is yours to approve, defer or decline. Work that nobody agreed to does not happen here.
Two things we will not do with a price. We will not quote a system replacement without a load calculation and a look at the ducts, because a nameplate is not a measurement. And we will not bury a permit or a HERS verification inside a single headline figure — they are listed separately, so that if you are comparing our quote with one that has no permit line, you can see immediately that the two are not describing the same job.
Pricing Questions
How much does a chimney sweep cost in Palos Verdes?
How much does an HVAC diagnostic cost?
Why is a new system quoted rather than priced from a list?
How much does air duct cleaning cost?
How much does dryer vent cleaning cost?
Why will you not price a repair or a liner over the phone?
Do you charge a trip fee?
Can you give me a number over the phone?
Want the Figure for Your Own House?
Tell us the service, the type of home and the access, and you will have a realistic range before the call ends.