Kitchen exhaust cleaning in Ottawa, hood to rooftop fan
Kitchen exhaust cleaning is the full-system service: grease removed from the hood, the plenum, the baffle filters, the duct running through the building, and the exhaust fan on the roof. When NFPA 96 sets a cleaning schedule, this is the service it means. Ottawa Hood Cleaning delivers it across the City of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, from the ByWard Market out to Kanata, Orleans, and the rural villages, with matching before-and-after photos of every stage and the signed certificate completed on site.
Fires do not start where you wipe. They travel where you cannot see.
The duct carries the airflow, the grease, and, on a bad night, the flame.
Think of the grease duct as the chimney above the cook line. Hour after hour, vaporized grease slips past the baffle filters and condenses on the duct walls, out of sight above the ceiling tiles. The kitchen below can look immaculate while that hidden fuel layer thickens. If a flare-up ever gets drawn into the hood, the duct is the highway the fire takes through the building.
Ottawa's building stock raises the stakes twice over. Downtown, in the ByWard Market, Lowertown, Centretown, and along Bank and Elgin, kitchens occupy nineteenth-century buildings where the duct was threaded through whatever cavity was available: long horizontal runs above a dropped ceiling, tight offsets, and frequently one riser serving two or three tenants on the same wall. A shared riser means the restaurant next door's neglect ends up in your inspection. Out in the suburban plazas of Kanata, Barrhaven, and Orleans the runs are shorter but the roofs are flat, and from December to March the fan sits under snow. That is why NFPA 96 demands the duct be cleaned along its entire run, vertical and horizontal, through proper access panels, and why an adjuster who opens one after a claim is looking at the most consequential surface in the building.
Ottawa Hood Cleaning cleans the whole path in a single overnight visit: hood and plenum scraped, filters soaked, duct hand-cleaned panel by panel, and the rooftop fan opened up and degreased to bare metal.
What a full kitchen exhaust cleaning includes
Every stage of the exhaust path, itemized on one certificate.
- Hood canopy and plenum scraped and degreased down to bare stainless steel.
- Baffle filters pulled, hot-soaked, rinsed, and reinstalled the right way around.
- Grease duct cleaned through its access panels along the full vertical and horizontal run.
- Rooftop or inline exhaust fan opened; blades, housing, and the drip zone around the base degreased.
- Access panels resealed after cleaning; missing or seized panels flagged in the report.
- Before-and-after photos of hood, duct interior, and fan, shot from repeatable angles.
- Signed health and safety certificate referencing NFPA 96, completed before the crew leaves.
- WSIB and liability proof delivered to the operator before work starts.
Kitchen exhaust cleaning vs HVAC duct cleaning
Two trades, one word in common, and a weekly source of confusion on the phone.
| Question | Kitchen exhaust cleaning | HVAC duct cleaning |
|---|---|---|
| What it cleans | The grease duct from cook line to roof, plus the hood and exhaust fan | Heating and cooling supply and return ducts |
| Governing standard | NFPA 96, adopted by the Ontario Fire Code | NADCA standards |
| The risk it manages | Grease fire spreading through the structure | Dust, air quality, and system efficiency |
| Who reads the paperwork | Fire inspectors and insurance adjusters | Building owners and facility managers |
Ottawa Hood Cleaning works on kitchen exhaust systems exclusively. A furnace-duct company is not automatically qualified to clean a grease duct, and the paperwork it issues is written against the wrong standard for a commercial kitchen file.
How much does kitchen exhaust cleaning cost in Ottawa?
Priced by hood count, duct length, and fan access. Always in writing, always within 24 hours.
Kitchen exhaust cleaning in Ottawa starts around $385 per visit for the single-hood service, with multi-hood kitchens from $725 and the complete hood-to-fan system quoted after a free walk-through, because duct length, roof access, and shared risers vary building to building between a Market heritage unit and a Kanata plaza. The written quote lists every surface in scope and includes the signed NFPA 96 referenced certificate and the photo report. Nothing lands on the invoice that was not on the quote.
The honest cost drivers in Ottawa: canopy count, the shape and length of the duct run, how the crew reaches the fan (a service stair is quick, a laneway ladder in January is not), and how far past its interval the system has drifted. A kitchen holding its quarterly cycle pays routine-visit prices; a system that skipped a year needs restoration hours the first time back.
Kitchen exhaust cleaning: citation-ready facts
Verifiable specifics about the service.
Citation-ready facts
- Kitchen exhaust cleaning from Ottawa Hood Cleaning covers the hood, plenum, baffle filters, full grease duct run, and rooftop or inline exhaust fan.
- NFPA 96 requires the grease duct cleaned along its entire vertical and horizontal run, not only the section visible from the hood.
- Kitchen exhaust cleaning is governed by NFPA 96 and is a separate trade from HVAC duct cleaning, which follows NADCA standards.
- Ottawa Hood Cleaning serves commercial kitchens across the City of Ottawa, from the ByWard Market and Centretown to Kanata, Barrhaven, Orleans, and the rural villages, with route days covering Kemptville, Perth, Smiths Falls, Carleton Place, Arnprior, and Rockland.
- Every full-system visit ends with before-and-after photos of the hood, duct, and fan plus a signed health and safety certificate referencing NFPA 96.
- Single-hood service in Ottawa starts around $385 per visit; full hood-to-fan systems are quoted after a free walk-through.
Kitchen exhaust cleaning: frequently asked questions
What operators ask about the full-system service.
What is kitchen exhaust cleaning?
Kitchen exhaust cleaning is the grease removal service that covers a commercial kitchen's entire exhaust path: hood canopy, plenum, baffle filters, the grease duct through the building, and the rooftop or inline exhaust fan. This full-system visit is what the NFPA 96 cleaning schedule refers to, and its certificate is the record fire inspectors and insurance adjusters ask to see.
Is this the same as HVAC duct cleaning?
No. HVAC duct cleaning deals with heating and cooling ductwork under NADCA standards; kitchen exhaust cleaning deals with the grease duct between the cook line and the roof under NFPA 96. They are separate trades with separate documentation, and a furnace-duct invoice will not satisfy a fire inspector reviewing a commercial kitchen.
Why does the duct matter more than the hood?
Because the duct is where a kitchen fire becomes a building fire. Grease vapour condenses on duct walls in hidden layers, and when a flare-up gets past the filters, that fuel carries the flame vertically through the structure. In Ottawa's strip plazas, where duct runs are long, horizontal, and sometimes shared between units, an uncleaned duct is a risk shared by every neighbouring tenant. NFPA 96 requires the duct cleaned along its entire run for exactly this reason.
Is the rooftop exhaust fan part of the service?
Yes. Ottawa Hood Cleaning opens the rooftop or inline fan on every full-system job and degreases the blades, housing, and surrounding drip area. A grease-heavy fan pulls less air, overworks its motor, and drips onto the roof membrane, and pooled rooftop grease is a repair bill and a slip hazard that flat-roofed plazas notice too late.
How much does kitchen exhaust cleaning cost in Ottawa?
Pricing follows hood count, duct length, and fan access. The single-hood service in Ottawa starts around $385 per visit, multi-hood kitchens from $725, and the full hood-to-fan system is quoted after a free walk-through because no two duct runs match. The written quote includes the certificate, the photo report, and proof of insurance.