Steamatic

unknown

unknown

unknown

We live in a split level (or tril level) house, typical for our neighborhodd, and built in 1959. We have two air conditioners, and the one for the upper level is one year old. The a/c for that air conditioner comes our of the ceiling vents upstairs. We do not use it that much, but this summer, on a particularly hot and muggy day, I turned it on. Dark, dry bits of what looked like mud came droppping out on to the floor and beds in the bedrooms, along with a not so fresh smell (not bad, but more like stale). My adult son and I experiemented turning it on a few more times to see if this repeated and it did, so we left it off. We planned for over two years to have our HVAC vents cleaned. They had not been done before, but we were waiting until our pets (two cats)were no longer in the home. We did some internet searches, but my husband remembered his friend (who lives down the street) had gotten it done and was pleased with the result. Now, I know there are some controversies as to whether it is worth the cost, but having furry pets, and the bits of 'dirt' flying out seemed to warrant it. Unfortunately I could not find specific local reviews for this service at the time. I did see that in Yelp, the Steamatic company was highly rated, but not for this particular service. It turned out that the company who did our neighbor's house was the local Steamatic one. So we called them and they sent their representative (or salesman) to the house. The representative came to the house and did a thorough walk through, noting all of the vents-their number and placement. He explained the procedures, and answered all of our questions. I also asked him about the dryer vent, since we had never had it cleaned before as well. He did not try to upsell me, but did mention that he had just been in the neighborhood because they had had a dryer fire, and that they did fire damage mitigation alot because of these kinds of fires. Our priced was twice what our neighbor was charged, but we knew our house was larger and had two AC units, and therefore more vents. He told us that the two men who would be coming to the house had been cleaning ducts for over ten years, and that they were older men and attentive to detail. He explained that each and every vent would have to be removed, the duct cleaned, a temporary filter called and quot;a feltand quot; placed on it, and then afterwards, the vent screwed back on, but they had a lot of experience doing this in our neighborhood (as this is how older homes vents are attached). He was in our home for about an hour. We felt relieved that we made the right decision choosing them. He told us that although we could stay in the house during the cleaning, it would probably not be comfortable. We usually leave the home when our house cleaners are in the house, so we intended to do the same. He told us that they would arrive at 8 am, and that it would take most of the day. They would also show us the crud (and we would be amazed) they got out of the duct (we did not see it), and that afterwards we would see a noticeable improvement in the air quality and functining of the AC (we didn't). Originally, I had a misconception that 'Steam'-atic meant they would somehow steam and sterilize the ducts, but he explained they had these powerful brushes that could twist and turn in every bend of the ducts and really get it all out. The two men arrived, and one of them stank (like walking around with a private cloud) of cigarette smoke. We have people in our home who are allergic to cigarette smoke and cannot be exposed to it. I realize people can choose to smoke, but a business that depends on 'freshening' homes might encourage their employees to shower and change and do their smoking after work...because it lingers long after they are gone. So we left the house-but I asked him before they started roughly when he thought they would be done, 3. 4 ....? He said most likely 1 or 2 pm. I realize now there was a lack of communication between the representative, and the men doing the job. We saw him write down the details, but I don't think the workers read them. At 2 pm I went in the house to drop off a few groceries that needed refridgeration. There was an empty drywall bucket on the kitchen floor, but nothing (cords, tubes, hose, etc.) running from their van into the house. They called out that they were almost done, and just finishing up, so I left. When I arrived again at 3 pm they were in their van. The result...I fully realize that for many people, they would have no idea if anything had been done to their ducts. Only later I realized that several companies that do only air duct cleaning use a digicam to show people the innards of their ducts (because of course, just showing them dirt does not necessarily mean it came from their home). On my first walk through of the house, I noticed they replaced one of the long vents in the living room (it has two) with one from the dining room (which is visibly different). The ultimate test: the upstairs vents. So we turned on the AC upstairs and...the same thing happened: dirt and a stale smell. I also looked at different vents throughout the house and felt sure that they had done nothing to them, and had not even taken them off. We called their office and told them the situation. Their reply was that the grit or dirt coming out of the upstairs vents was what they called and quot;blowbackand quot; and would soon subside. We were then also told that they do not put filters in the ceiling vents. We performed some experiments, turning the upstairs AC on for several hours at a time, putting our own ad hoc filters under the vents to see if it prevented anything from falling out, and if it was getting better. The answer: no. My son then went around the house and checked some of the filters: out of the 5 he looked at, 2 had no filters (and these were on the floor). The problem,much like car work and dentistry, is that one cannot see and know what was done. They were called again and we got an appointment during the week at 8 am. This was on a Sunday, and I was impressed they working-there had been a lot of flood damage in our area from the rains, so they were doing a lot of water damage control. We then had to reschedule (illness) and this time I connected with the representative who had come out to our house first. I asked him if he knew WHY we wanted someone to come out, and he did not know. He also said we could choose a time NOT at 8 am, but at our convenience. This was much appreciated. One of the original men returned to the house, but although we thought he was coming to fix what had not been done, he was unprepared to do any work, and just looked around, (although he replaced the living room vent cover with its proper mate). He said they had forgotten to do the kitchen floor duct, and that they did not do the one in the master bathroom because they were afraid they would damage the floor (I did not realize it was caulked around the perimeter). So we needed to schedule yet another day for them to come, and they were willing to work with us. However, after much thought, we realized that someone would need to be at home the whole time to watch their work, and that all of the vents needed to be removed, to check which ones had been done or not. Finally, we decided it was not worth the hassle. They lacked professionalism, and I realized too late that Steamatic is a franchise, and more money the owner invests, the more services they can offer-so beyond carpet cleaning (their main mission), there is smoke damage control, mold mitigation, air ducts, etc. The owner does not need to have any experience or even interest in the services the company offers. This is a growth industry, and people are concerned about their health in ways that were non-existent in the past, so it is a good business investment. My final points and learning experience: 1.) check customer reviews for the particular service (I should have joined Angie's list earlier), not just the company. 2.) look at professional organizations recommendations, for example the people DOING the work should be certified in their work, such as by NADCA: The HVAC Inspection, Maintenance and Restoration Association, otherwise known as the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA), was formed in 1989 as a non-profit association of companies engaged in the cleaning of HVAC systems. 3.) Years of experience count for little if they haven't been done well. 4.) Ask for referrals (happy customers?). 5.) You begin with time spent researching about hvac maintenance and cleaning. Then you find companies that do it. They should do only do this-not a half dozen other things. NACDA recommends interviewing several companies before hiring. However, although they have a directory of companies whose personnel who have gone through their training and certification, they may not have anyone in your town, or even nearby, which is a big problem. 6.) All of this takes time, but it is preferable to having people come back (I really dislike the idea of the people who did a poor job to begin with coming back to 'fix' it. There should be someone -e.g. a supervisor who comes to check why the work was substandard. Otherwise the customer is essentially causing the worker to lose wages-repairing faulty work instead of doing a new job. On top of this can be a lack of motivation if you have already paid them. 7.) The whole point of hiring people to do these tasks is that you are willing to spend money to get the expertise and save yourself time. However, this is a slippery slope when you realize that you are getting neither, and spending more time attempting to get it is a zero sum game. Cut your losses and stop.

Shaun and Justin phoned to let me know they were running 15 minutes behind schedule (WHO does that anymore??) and when they arrived, they immediately went to work. I pointed out the urine stains on the white carpet and they pre-treated all stains with a special enzyme product. Even with intensive attention to the one bad stain, they were able to fade it but not totally remove it. They were very concerned but I explained that we have a lifetime guarantee against pet stains with the carpet manufacturer so we will hopefully get new carpet. I would definitely use Steamatic again and would be very happy if the technicians are Justin and Shaun. Very good experience.

It went well I had them do the same type of cleaning done before and the same person came out both times. He was very nice and did a good job. I thought the price was reasonable. And the carpet dried fast.

Prompt, efficient, polite. There was one spot with rust stains where they said the more they cleaned the more the stain seemed to spread, so they stopped working on it; this made sense to me.

They were about ten minutes early and performed the work quickly, yet thoroughly. It was amazing how much lint can collect over the years. My dryer is working much more efficiently now. I had purchased a new hose to go from the dryer to the wall and the man who put the dryer back in place was very careful to make sure it was in a straight line from the dryer to the wall instead of being coiled up.

Very nice. Looked great when completed!

They have flexible hours (they did mine on a Saturday at 3pm), showed up on time, worked quickly, and were very professional. They were unable to get a few spots out, but I bought an old house so it was expected. They pointed them out to me after finishing. I would highly recommend Steamatic.