Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about hood cleaning, kitchen exhaust systems, compliance and scheduling — answered by people who ran commercial kitchens before we cleaned them.
Getting Started
Hood Cleaning Basics
What hood cleaning actually covers, why it matters, and what your kitchen staff can and can't handle on their own.
Hood cleaning is the removal of grease, grime and combustible buildup from the exhaust system of a commercial kitchen. A complete service covers the hood canopy, plenum, grease filters, ductwork, exhaust fan and rooftop discharge unit — everything the grease-laden air touches on its way out of your kitchen. Professional hood cleaning means the parts your staff can't reach get cleaned too, because that's where the fire risk actually sits.
Grease buildup inside an exhaust system is a serious fire hazard, and it's one of the leading causes of commercial kitchen fires. Once a duct fire starts, the grease itself is the fuel and it spreads fast through enclosed ductwork. Regular kitchen exhaust cleaning reduces that risk, improves air quality in the kitchen, keeps your ventilation working properly and keeps you compliant with fire and health codes.
Restaurant hood cleaning usually means the kitchen-side components you can see: canopy, filters, plenum. Kitchen exhaust cleaning covers the full airflow path from the capture point to the rooftop fan. Our standard service is the complete system — a spotless hood with a grease-packed duct above it is still a fire waiting to happen, and that's the shortcut we saw too often as operators.
Beyond fire prevention: better airflow, a cooler kitchen, fewer odor complaints in the dining room, less strain on the exhaust fan motor, longer equipment life, cleaner inspections and documentation on file if an insurer ever asks. A system cleaned to standard also moves air with less resistance, which takes load off the fan and off your HVAC.
They can help — wiping hood surfaces and soaking filters between services makes a real difference. But grease travels deep into the plenum, duct runs and fan housing where it hardens into a fuel source. Removing it takes commercial degreasers, pressure equipment, duct access work and rooftop access. That's the part that needs hood cleaning experts with the right gear and the right insurance.
Scheduling
How Often
Cleaning frequency depends on what you cook, how much of it, and where you cook it. Here's how to figure out your interval.
It depends on what you cook and how much of it. Solid fuel (wood, charcoal): monthly. High-volume, high-grease kitchens — fryers, charbroilers, extended hours: every 1 to 3 months. Moderate-volume restaurants: every 3 to 6 months. Low-volume, seasonal or limited-use kitchens: every 12 months. Most LA restaurants land around the 3-month mark. We'll give you an honest interval after inspecting your system, not the shortest one we can sell you.
Every 1 to 3 months for most trucks, monthly for heavy fryer and grill operations. Mobile kitchens cook big volume in tight spaces with short duct runs and limited airflow, so grease accumulates noticeably faster than in a fixed kitchen.
Every 1 to 3 months depending on which stations are live. Deli hot counters, rotisserie units and in-store bakeries run for full retail hours, which puts continuous load on the exhaust system.
Grease dripping from the hood or filters. Smoke lingering instead of clearing. Noticeably weaker suction. Cooking odors reaching the dining room. Grease staining spreading around the rooftop fan. A fan that's suddenly louder or straining. Any of those, book an inspection.
Staying Compliant
Compliance & Fire Safety
What the code actually requires, what inspectors look for, and how we help you stay ahead of both.
Yes. Commercial kitchens are required to maintain their exhaust systems under fire code, and NFPA 96 is the standard most authorities having jurisdiction enforce. It requires the system to be inspected and cleaned by qualified personnel at intervals based on cooking volume, with grease removed to bare metal where accessible.
NFPA 96 is the fire safety standard covering ventilation control and fire protection for commercial cooking operations. It governs how kitchen exhaust systems are built, maintained, inspected and cleaned. Our work is performed in line with it.
hoody is a member of the National Hood Cleaners Association, our technicians are licensed and insured, and we clean to NFPA 96 standards. We can provide proof of insurance for your records or for a landlord or property management requirement.
It can. Inspectors check grease accumulation in the hood, filters and accessible duct, and they look for current cleaning records. Excessive buildup or missing documentation can mean a citation, a correction deadline, or in serious cases an order to stop cooking until the system is cleaned.
Yes. Every service comes with cleaning documentation, before-and-after photos and a service sticker showing the date of last cleaning, so an inspector can see it at a glance and you have it on file.
That's one of our most common calls. We'll clean the system, document it, and flag anything that could raise a compliance issue — inaccessible duct sections, missing access panels, damaged filters, non-compliant components. Better to hear it from us than from an inspector.
Fire risk climbs first. Then poor ventilation, a hot and smoky kitchen, odor complaints, an overworked fan motor heading toward failure, failed inspections, and potential insurance complications if a claim ever gets filed without maintenance records behind it.
The Service
What's Included
A full breakdown of what a complete hood and exhaust cleaning covers, and where kitchens beyond restaurants fit in.
Hood canopy inside and out; hood plenum; grease filters and filter tracks; grease cups and collection trays; accessible ductwork and duct risers; exhaust fan blades, housing and motor area; rooftop unit and surrounding grease containment; final inspection, photos and service documentation.
Yes — grease duct cleaning is standard, not an upsell. Ductwork is where hardened deposits build up out of sight, and it's the most dangerous part of the system to leave alone. We work through access panels to reach duct runs and clear the buildup.
We'll tell you. Long duct runs with no interior access are both a cleaning limitation and an NFPA 96 concern. We document inaccessible sections and can install access panels so the full system can actually be maintained going forward.
Yes. Exhaust fan cleaning is part of every service. Grease-coated blades lose efficiency and put mechanical strain on the motor. We clean blades, housings and rooftop units, and clear grease pooling at the discharge point before it stains roofing or becomes a hazard.
Hood filter cleaning is standard, and we offer hood filter exchange for kitchens that would rather swap in clean filters than wait on soaking and degreasing. If your filters are warped, damaged or the wrong type for the system, we'll say so and quote replacements.
We bring professionally cleaned replacement filters, install them, and take your used set for off-site degreasing. Faster on site, and a clean set stays in rotation — useful for high-volume kitchens where every hour of downtime costs money.
Yes. Kitchen wall and ceiling degreasing, floor degreasing, equipment surface cleaning, vent cleaning and grease removal around cooking stations. Plenty of clients pair restaurant deep cleaning services with a scheduled hood visit since we're already on site and set up.
Yes — vent hood cleaning for hotels, grocery stores, food courts, ghost and commissary kitchens, catering operations, schools, hospitals, senior living and corporate cafeterias. Anywhere there's a commercial cooking exhaust system.
Beyond Cleaning
Repairs & Installations
Cleaning and repair belong with the same company. Here's what we handle when something's broken or being built from scratch.
We do both. Fan belts, motors, bearings, hinge kits, damaged filters, access panels, fan repairs and full hood installation. This is the part of hoody that exists because of a specific bad night — a single broken fan belt that couldn't be replaced until morning cost a restaurant 275 covers. Cleaning and repair belong with the same company, and we built it that way on purpose.
That's what our 24/7 emergency service is for. Downtime is the expensive part of a hood problem, not the part. Call us and we'll tell you honestly what we can get done and when.
Yes, including sizing and airflow assessment for new builds, remodels, multi-station setups, and bakery or deli integrations. How a hood is sized and installed directly affects how well it captures grease and how often it'll need cleaning afterward.
Usually. Smoke escaping the hood, grease traveling unusually far into the duct, or a fan working harder than it should all point to a system that doesn't match the equipment beneath it. We'll assess capture performance during inspection and tell you what we see.
Noticeably, in most cases. Grease narrows the effective diameter of the duct and coats fan blades, cutting the volume of air the system can move. Clearing it restores suction, pulls heat and smoke out properly and eases strain on the motor.
Working With Us
Pricing & Scheduling
What things cost, how we schedule around your service, and where we work.
We quote upfront, in writing, before we start — no surprise line items after the fact. Price depends on system size, number of hoods, duct run length, how many fans are involved, roof access and how much grease has built up since the last cleaning. A system that hasn't been touched in two years takes real labor and we'll tell you that honestly rather than quoting low and adding to the invoice. Estimates are free.
Usually because they're not quoting the same work. A low quote often covers the hood and filters only, leaving the ductwork and fan — the parts that matter most for fire safety and the parts an inspector will look at. When you compare quotes, ask specifically whether duct interior and fan cleaning are included. We include both.
Yes, and we recommend it. Scheduled kitchen maintenance keeps you continuously compliant, makes cost predictable, and means grease never reaches hazardous levels. We track your interval and reach out when service is due, so it's off your plate.
Yes. Estimates and system inspections are free. You'll get a grease level assessment and a recommended cleaning interval based on your actual cooking volume.
24/7. Failed inspection with a short correction window, sudden loss of exhaust airflow, a fan or motor down mid-service, pre-opening deadlines, post-fire cleanup.
Usually not. We schedule during off-hours, overnight or on slower days. Equipment under the hood needs to be off and cool while we work, so we build around your service times. As operators ourselves, we know what a lost dinner service costs.
No. We tarp and protect cooking equipment, counters and surrounding surfaces before any degreaser goes on, contain the wash-down, and leave the kitchen ready for service.
Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Venice, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Hollywood, Newport Beach and Studio City, plus surrounding areas. Not sure if you're in range? Ask — if we can't get to you we'll say so.
Fill out the consultation form on the site with your details and we'll be in touch shortly, or call for anything urgent.