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Commercial Kitchen Hood & Exhaust Cleaning

Restaurant hood, duct and exhaust fan cleaning

Duct Kings cleans commercial kitchen exhaust systems across the New York Capital Region and Hudson Valley: hood canopy, filters, plenum, the full duct run, and the exhaust fan on the roof.

Grease doesn't stay in the hood. It travels up the duct, coats the fan housing on the roof, and collects in the horizontal runs where nobody can see it. That buildup is why a fire inspector will ask for your last cleaning record, and why your insurance carrier wants to see a service tag on the hood.

Every job ends with the record and the tag that New York fire code requires, so when the inspector walks in, the answer is already on the wall.

Capital Region (518) 718-3828 Hudson Valley (845) 622-6371
  • MFS Trade School Certified Hood Cleaner and Inspector, trained to NFPA 96
  • Licensed & Insured
  • Free Quotes

Certificate No. MFS000922

How Often Do You Need It?

It depends on what you cook, not how big your kitchen is. New York sets it like this:

Your cooking operation How often
Solid fuel: wood-fired ovens, charcoal, smokers Monthly
High volume: 24-hour kitchens, charbroiling, wok cooking Every 3 months
Most kitchens Every 6 months
Low volume: church halls, seasonal spots, senior centers Every 12 months

Those are inspection intervals. If there's grease, it gets cleaned, which in a working kitchen usually means both happen on the same visit. A church hall might pass without a full clean, and we'll tell you that rather than sell you one. Your fire inspector can also put you on a shorter cycle if they've seen buildup before.

Not sure which row you're in? Call and describe your line. It takes about a minute to sort out.

What the inspector asks for

Two things: a record naming who cleaned the system and when, and a dated tag on the hood with the servicing company's name and phone on it. A paid invoice is not a record, and a lot of operators find that out during the inspection.

We leave both on every job, and the old tag comes down.

What Gets Cleaned

A hood cleaning that stops at the filters is not a hood cleaning. Grease in the duct run and the fan is where the fire risk actually lives. On a full service, Duct Kings cleans:

  • Hood canopy and interior surfaces cleaned down to bare metal.

  • Grease filters removed and degreased. They have to be UL-listed and in place any time the line is running, so we flag any that are damaged, warped or missing.

  • The plenum behind the filters, where grease collects first.

  • Horizontal and vertical duct runs through existing access panels.

  • The exhaust fan blades, housing, and the fan curb on the roof.

  • Rooftop discharge area including grease containment if your system has it.

  • Wash-down and containment so the grease and cleaning solution leave with us instead of going down your floor drain or across your roof.

Rooftop kitchen exhaust fan hinged open over its curb, with the grease-coated blower wheel being washed down

Where the Grease Actually Is

Most of a kitchen exhaust system is out of sight, either inside a duct chase or up on the roof. This is what we are cleaning, and where the grease collects.

Cut-away diagram of a commercial kitchen exhaust system showing the cooking line, hood canopy, grease filters, plenum, horizontal and vertical duct runs, rooftop exhaust fan, access panel locations and the points where grease collects
Grease leaves the cooking line as vapor, condenses on the filters and plenum, and keeps building through the duct run to the fan on the roof.

Older Buildings and Access Panels

In older downtown buildings in Albany, Troy and Schenectady, the duct usually makes a long vertical run to the roof through a chase with no cleanouts. If your system doesn't have enough access panels to reach the whole run, we'll tell you where it needs them before we start, not after.

Signs Your Exhaust System Is Overdue

  • Grease dripping from the hood, filters or the duct seams

  • A visible grease pool on the roof around the fan curb

  • Smoke hanging in the kitchen instead of pulling up through the hood

  • A rancid or stale grease smell in the kitchen, the dining room, or near the roof vent

  • Filters that stay tacky within days of cleaning

  • Fan noise, vibration, or a belt that keeps slipping

  • No service tag on the hood, or a tag with a date you cannot remember

  • A fire inspector already asked you for a record you did not have

The fan one is worth spelling out, because it's the one operators treat as a maintenance problem rather than a grease problem. A rooftop fan that's noisy, shaking or throwing its belt is usually loaded with hardened grease, which throws the blade out of balance and wears the bearings. Cleaning it often fixes the noise. If it doesn't, the bearings or the belt are worn and that's a repair, which we'll tell you about rather than cleaning it and walking away.

Our Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Process

  1. 1

    Walk the system.

    We look at the hood, the filters, the accessible duct, and the fan on the roof, and we tell you what condition it's actually in before quoting.

  2. 2

    Set the schedule.

    We match your interval to what you cook. Solid fuel is monthly, charbroiling and 24-hour kitchens are quarterly, most kitchens are twice a year.

  3. 3

    Protect the kitchen.

    Equipment, floors and wall surfaces get covered, and we contain the wash-down so nothing ends up in your floor drains.

  4. 4

    Clean to bare metal.

    Hot water and degreaser through the hood, plenum, accessible duct and fan, to the ANSI/IKECA C10 standard New York points to.

  5. 5

    Clean the roof side.

    Fan blades, housing and curb, with grease containment checked and serviced.

  6. 6

    Document and tag.

    You get a written service record, and a new tag goes on the hood with our name, address, phone and the date. The old tag comes down.

  7. 7

    Remind you.

    We schedule the next service before we leave so the interval doesn't slip.

What We Do Not Do

Your hood almost certainly has a wet chemical fire suppression system over the cooking line. That system is on its own service schedule under the same fire code, and it's a different trade. Duct Kings doesn't inspect, service or recharge suppression systems. If yours is due, your fire protection contractor handles it, and we'll coordinate scheduling so the two don't collide.

We also don't do grease trap pumping or hood installation.

Kitchens We Work With

  • Restaurants, bars and breweries

  • Pizzerias with wood-fired ovens, which fall under the one-month interval

  • Hotel and banquet kitchens

  • School, college and senior living dining halls

  • Church halls, fire company halls and senior centers, which the code names specifically as low-volume operations

  • Seasonal kitchens, including the Saratoga Springs restaurants that run at full volume through track season

Seasonal volume matters more than most operators expect. A kitchen that charbroils through July and August is running at a high-volume interval during the season even if it sits at low volume the rest of the year.

Opening a new place, or taking over an existing one? Get the system cleaned and tagged before you open rather than after your first inspection. On a takeover you're inheriting whatever the last operator left in the duct, and there's usually no record of when it was last done.

What Affects the Price

We quote per system after looking at it. The things that move the number:

  • Number of hoods and fans, and whether they share a duct run

  • Length and routing of the duct, and how much vertical run there is

  • How many access panels exist, and whether the run can be reached at all

  • Roof access, height, and whether the fan is hinged

  • How long it has been since the last cleaning. First cleans on a neglected system take longer

  • Your required interval, since ongoing scheduled service prices differently than a one-off

Call for a free quote. We'll look at the system and give you a number before any work starts.

Areas We Serve

Out of Mechanicville, we cover Saratoga Springs, Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Clifton Park, Latham, Glens Falls, Ballston Spa, Malta and the surrounding Capital Region.

Out of Poughkeepsie, we cover Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, Wappingers Falls, Beacon, Hyde Park, Rhinebeck, LaGrange and the surrounding Hudson Valley.

Capital Region: (518) 718-3828
Hudson Valley: (845) 622-6371

Contact Duct Kings For Commercial Kitchen Hood Cleaning

If your tag is out of date, your inspection is coming up, or you have never had the duct and fan cleaned at all, call and we will come look at the system. We serve the Capital Region from Mechanicville and the Hudson Valley from Poughkeepsie, and we also handle air duct cleaning for the supply side of commercial buildings.

Free quotes. We'll tell you what your interval should be and what it takes to get the system compliant.

Request A Free Quote

Frequently Asked Questions About Commercial Kitchen Hood Cleaning

How often does a restaurant hood need to be cleaned in New York?
New York fire code Table 606.3.3.1 sets the interval by cooking type: monthly for solid fuel appliances like wood-fired ovens and charcoal grills, quarterly for high-volume operations such as 24-hour kitchens, charbroiling and wok cooking, every six months for most other kitchens, and annually for low-volume operations such as places of religious worship, seasonal businesses and senior centers. If the inspection finds grease, the system has to be cleaned.
What does a fire inspector look for?
A visible service tag on the hood showing the servicing company's name, address, phone number and date of service, and records naming the individual and company who did the work and when. Both are required by sections 606.3.3.3 and 606.3.3.3.1 of the 2025 Fire Code of New York State. Inspectors also check that grease filters are in place and in good condition.
I just failed my fire inspection. How fast can you get out here?
Call and tell us what the inspector wrote up. Failed inspections usually come with a re-inspection date, so tell us that date when you call and we'll work backward from it. Most of this work happens after close, so tell us your hours and we'll schedule around them. Capital Region (518) 718-3828, Hudson Valley (845) 622-6371.
Will my insurance deny a claim if the hood wasn't cleaned?
That depends on your policy, and your broker is the right person to ask. What we can tell you is that commercial food service policies commonly carry maintenance or protective safeguard conditions, and after a kitchen fire the exhaust cleaning history is one of the first things an adjuster asks for. Keep the record current, which section 606.3.3.3 requires anyway.
Is hood cleaning the landlord's responsibility or the tenant's?
The fire code doesn't split the bill. It puts the obligation on the operating establishment, so a violation is cited against the restaurant, not the building owner. Who pays is a lease question: check who your lease assigns the duct chase and the roof penetration to, because those are often written differently from the hood itself. If it's ambiguous, get it cleaned and settle reimbursement afterward. We'll send the report to both parties.
Is a hood cleaning invoice the same as a compliance record?
No. The code requires a record that states the individual and the company performing the cleaning, and when it took place. A payment invoice usually names neither the technician nor the scope. Ask your provider for a service report, and make sure a dated tag goes on the hood.
Do I need monthly cleaning if I have a wood-fired pizza oven?
Solid fuel appliances fall under the one-month inspection interval in Table 606.3.3.1, which is the shortest interval in the New York table. Wood and charcoal produce creosote as well as grease, and it builds up faster and ignites at a lower temperature than grease alone.
Why does my dining room smell like old grease?
Grease that sits in a duct goes rancid, and the smell carries back out through the hood or down from the rooftop fan. The tell is timing: if you can smell it first thing in the morning before anything is cooking, it's coming from the system rather than from the line. Your staff usually can't smell it anymore, so guests notice it before you do.
Can my kitchen staff just clean the hood and filters themselves?
Staff should be wiping the hood and washing filters regularly, and that's worth doing, but it doesn't satisfy the code. Filters are the easiest part to reach and the least of the fire risk. Grease that gets past them collects in the plenum, the duct run and the rooftop fan housing, which is where a hood fire spreads, and that has to be cleaned to bare metal and documented by whoever did the work. Staff cleaning produces no record and no tag, which section 606.3.3.3 requires. Our kitchen exhaust work is done by an MFS Trade School Certified Hood Cleaner and Inspector trained to the NFPA 96 standard, certificate no. MFS000922.
Will you have to shut my kitchen down?
No. Most of this work happens after close or before opening, so the kitchen is clean and dry for your first service. Tell us your hours when you call and we'll schedule around them.
Do you service the fire suppression system over my cooking line?
No. Suppression systems are serviced under a separate section of the fire code by a fire protection contractor, which is a different trade and a separate certification. We clean the exhaust system and will coordinate timing with whoever services your suppression system.
What if my ducts have no access panels?
Part of the run can't be reached or verified, which is common in older Albany, Troy and Schenectady buildings. We'll show you where panels are needed before we quote, so you aren't paying for a cleaning that covers half the system.
How long does a hood cleaning take?
It depends on the number of hoods, the duct routing and how long it has been since the last service. A single-hood kitchen on a regular schedule is usually a few hours. A first clean on a neglected system with a long vertical run and a roof fan takes considerably longer. We give you a time window with the quote.

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