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Cigarette Stained HVAC Ductwork?

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Kent55

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Jun 8, 2023
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Previous owners were heavy smokers inside the house. We painted everything with Zinsser Primer when we moved in. Now I looked inside the ductwork. See photos. Covered in brown! I used a Magic Eraser type sponge and it comes off pretty easy. The tricky part is cutting open the duct artery to reach all areas.
I'm also replacing the 6" round runs that go to the rooms.
What's the easiest way to cut 11"x22" holes in the duct? Aviation Snips? Something with as little metal shavings as possible.

ODD thing is about my 3rd photo - Those circles and odd shape "Clean" areas are from a UV-C light (Air Scrubber - Reme Halo)

PXL_20240402_021255145.jpgPXL_20240402_021115328~3.jpgPXL_20240324_174922615~2.jpg
 
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PoorUB

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Fargo, ND
Kent55 said:
Previous owners were heavy smokers inside the house. We painted everything with Zinsser Primer when we moved in. Now I looked inside the ductwork. See photos. Covered in brown! I used a Magic Eraser type sponge and it comes off pretty easy. The tricky part is cutting open the duct artery to reach all areas.
I'm also replacing the 6" round runs that go to the rooms.
What's the easiest way to cut 11"x22" holes in the duct? Aviation Snips? Something with as little metal shavings as possible.
Click to expand...
Finished or unfinished basement?

Unfinished I would open up the ends of the run, spray with Simple Green or the degreaser of your choice and hose or pressure wash it out.

If you can not have water flying al over perhaps removal, cleaning outside and reinstalling would be the best way. It isn't very hard to do once you get the hang of it.
 
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beltfeed

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USA
Wow, that's terrible looking. What does the interior of the house look like. I would think all the carpets have to be pulled and a complete repaint inside.
 
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stubbsrodandcustom

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Aug 30, 2012
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I would get a few quotes from some duct cleaning companies close by. The bad part is its always going to be down in the seams as those are hard to clean.

No matter what, its due for cleaning/replacement cause it will always have an odor with that much lined tar.

Last Idea and maybe cheapest if its a short run, install new duct.
 
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Wiz02

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+1 on the duct cleaning service quote before you start taking ductwork apart.

Air sealing is a great idea, but check with your electric utility first to see if they have some energy savings programs that will help you with the cost of duct sealing.
 
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Jim greengo

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Behind my house
mike93lx said:
What is that going to do?

Merv13+ may have kept them cleanish, but filters arent going to clean them and 3 won't control any odor
Click to expand...
Help clean the trash that flakes off in dump work over time,I'm pretty sure I said to buy a box of them and keep them changed.
A merv13 is just going to clog up.
 
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bwringer

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Indianapolis
Excuse me please, I would like to go vomit now.

This thread would have been JUST FINE without pictures... barfo.gif

And yeah, scrubbing isn't going to come close to fixing that. Lining the ducts will help.
 
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arlo_g

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Dec 21, 2013
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GTA, Canada
Been there, feel for youKent55. My first house had suffered 40 years of heavy smoking.

In my case, I had gutted the basement, and after seeing how bad the inside of the ducts looked, I pulled everything apart and scrubbed the inside with hot water and ammonia. I was glad to have opened it all up: there was a crazy u-turn/p-trap(!) in the return duct that still had a cat sized hairball soaked in nicotine left after I paid for duct cleaning. The duct cleaners did do a pretty good job cleaning the evaporator coils for central A/C though -- and it had needed it!

I wished I had learned about duct stretcher tools before I struggled through re-assembling everything.
 
T

Tex981

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Jul 24, 2020
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Location
TX
Similar experience with heavy smoked in house. Did all the cleaning, Kills, Zinser, ozonator, etc. I remember the brown nicotine stains running down the wall as we wiped. But on humid days the smell returned, even after years of constant cleaning. We could never get into all the crevices and crannies where the smoke and residue permeated. Best to remove it and put in fresh ducts. I wasted so much time and money. The best advances we made were where we simply replaced ducts, windows, wall surfaces, insulation, etc.
 
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AA/FC

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If the duct is exposed in an unfinished basement and it can be easily removed.... just replace it with new. That's what I would do, anyway.
 
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bonneyman

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Imagine what their lungs looked like! Just saying.

Pretty much agree with most of the advice previously given. Depending on how bad any smell is and how much gross you can handle will dictate how far you want to go. Anywhere you can reach to clean will help, but replacement will be the only option for odor-free operation once they get that bad.

And don't forget the heater and evap coil. Chances are they are coated as well. The heat exchanger will have it baked on and the evap coil getting constantly moist will be a continual source of odor.

Cal-Clean HD was what I used to clean coils and reachable areas. Specifically designed to remove tars and nicotine. Be careful to catch any spills and runoff as it it strongly basic and can damage unprotected items. And PPE is a must!
 
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